Sabbaths

Ozzy Osbourne was rock ‘n’ roll’s Prince of Darkness — and also a much-beloved bumbling reality show dad. Inventive bassist Geezer Butler put words into Ozzy’s mouth as Black Sabbath’s main lyricist, his muscular playing anchoring the quartet’s rhythm section alongside drummer Bill Ward.

But it’s guitarist Tony Iommi whose iconic riffs built the Sabbath sound. The hugely influential aural architect found his signature style after a horrific accident at a sheet-metal plant when he was just 17. The teen was about to quit the factory, but on his last day, the tips of his middle and ring fingers of his right hand were sliced off in a piece of machinery. As a left-hander, Iommi used his right for fretting, and for creating a song’s mood and melody.

From the ominous timbre of the first song in their 1970 debut LP, “Black Sabbath,” to legendary cuts including “N.I.B.,” “Paranoid” and “Iron Man,” Iommi’s self-made fingertip “thimbles” and adaptive way of playing created unforgettable and hugely influential riffs. The guitarist’s instantly recognizable style and tone are as vital and memorable more than 50 years later on his new solo album, “From the Dark.”

Via phone from his home in the Cotswolds, England, a day before the London premiere of the concert documentary film “Ozzy & Black Sabbath: Back to the Beginning,” Iommi is humble, low-key and congenial. While he’s excited about “From the Dark,” he’s still stunned by the 2025 loss of his longtime friend and bandmate Osbourne.

He speaks with slight trepidation about his upcoming viewing of the concert documentary, which chronicles Osbourne’s final live performance and Sabbath reunion.

Tony Iommi’s amputated fingertips could have ended his guitar career. Instead, homemade thimbles and a new playing style helped create Black Sabbath’s defining, generations-shaping riffs.

(Ross Halfin)

“It’s weird for me,” Iommi says. “In my own heart, I don’t particularly really want to see it because it brings back so many memories with Oz of course. For me, on that last gig, seeing him not being able to move wasn’t particularly the way I’d seen him — all the years he’s been running around the stage. That’s how I know him, and then to see him sitting down on a throne…”

However, for most of the four-song final performance, which saw Sabbath reuniting with drummer Ward for the first time in more than two decades, Osbourne was not in the guitarist’s sights. “I stood at the back because Bill wanted me to stand by him. We hadn’t played live with Bill for 20 years, so Bill said, ‘Would you stand by me, if I forget anything or miss anything?’ I don’t know what I could have done, but I did do that,” Iommi says.

“[The event] was a very strange experience. It’s great for all the other bands who came to the show and supported Sabbath. That was fantastic, and they were all really nice and no egos. It was a great setup, and I was really proud of everybody coming along to be involved in it and tip their hat towards us. It was lovely, of course, for the fans.”

In rehearsal, while Osbourne was joking around, “you could see he was in pain,” recalls Iommi. “Basically, he was carried in, and we were all shocked. We just didn’t know what to say. It was a strange, strange feeling.”

When the singer died only 17 days after the concert, even his bandmates were shocked by the suddenness. “I spoke to him the night before he passed, and he said to me, ‘Oh, God, I’ve been really tired, I feel really tired. I can’t stay awake. I’m exhausted.’ I said to him, ‘You’re bound to feel it.” We’ve been rehearsing the show, it’s been a bit stressful. We’ve had a lot of things to do.’ Ozzy said, ‘But I just can’t.” I just feel tired.’ And of course, the next day he’d gone. Really, it was such a shock.”

At 78, the Birmingham-born guitarist is releasing From the Dark, a solo album built around his signature heavy sound and a new lineup of collaborators.

(Ross Halfin)

At that time, Iommi had the seeds of the songs that would become “From the Dark.” It began with a scent: “I did a couple of instrumental tracks for a perfume [ad campaign]. Then I thought, ‘I’ll start writing some instrumentals for an album,’ and I did three or four. Then I changed my mind and thought, ‘I want to do one with a vocalist.’ ”

If Tony Iommi were a perfume, he’d smell like cinnamon, patchouli and leather. In fact, he is one, with three unisex fragrances by Italian luxury brand Xerjoff under his name. One — with notes of rum, bergamot and Ambergris, is called Monkey Special, named after his 1964 Gibson SG guitar. “It’s not a cheap perfume, I might say,” Iommi says. “In England, they stock it in Harrods and Selfridges. It’s been very successful and very different for me to do something like that.”

Following his perfumey instrumentals, the songwriter began collaborating with journeyman Norwegian vocalist Jørn Lande, bassist Becky Baldwin and drummer Karl Brazil, who has worked with pop icons Robbie Williams and James Blunt. The latter two hail from Iommi’s and Sabbath’s hometown, Birmingham, England.

“I met Jørn years ago when I was going to do another album, and it ended up with [former Deep Purple bassist/singer] Glenn Hughes on it. But I’d done a track with Jørn, and I liked the idea. But at the time, the record company wanted to use somebody a bit more known, so I did the album with Glenn.”

Lande ended up singing on a 2010 live show following the death of second Black Sabbath singer Ronnie James Dio, stepping into the frontman’s shoes for the band, which was then going by the name Heaven & Hell. “I was really pleased with what he’d done, and I always had it in mind to use him somewhere along the line, doing an album together, and that’s how it worked out.”

Born 78 years ago, in Birmingham — the town where Sabbath first formed and later performed its final show in 2025 — Iommi remains defined by his signature look. It is hard to imagine the guitar legend without his trademark black shirt, large silver cross, blue-tinted glasses and leather coat. His playing — down-tuning his guitar to lower the pitch for a menacing and heavier sound — may have morphed very slightly over the years, but “I think you just do it naturally without even thinking about it. My writing ideas are still the same. I still come up with miserable stuff,” he says, chuckling. “I like to do riffs and whatnot, so I enjoy that.”

Tony Iommi with his band vocalist Jørn Lande (far right), bassist Becky Baldwin, and drummer Karl Brazil and producer Mike Exeter

(Tina Korhonen)

On “From the Dark,” lyrics are all Lande; Iommi has no interest in telling his own stories using words. Yet a new tune like “Beyond the Dead” seems as if it could be about Iommi’s 2011 diagnosis and treatment for early-stage non-Hodgkin lymphoma.

Not so, the guitarist affirms, while acknowledging that the lyrics could be read that way.

“It was about beyond the living, beyond the dead, and coming back. Really deep, but that’s good. I do love what he’s done. When somebody like Jørn comes in, as with Dio, they’d write their own lyrics, and I prefer that because they’re going to sing them,” Iommi explains. “It’s like somebody saying to me, ‘Play this and play that.’ I want to play what I feel and what’s coming from me.”

There was a time when Sabbath did take a slightly different approach to writing and recording, but it wasn’t at their own initiative. In 2001, the band recorded “13,” Sabbath’s 19th and final studio album. It was the first studio record with Osbourne since 1978’s “Never Say Die,” and producer Rick Rubin was on board for the reunion.

What did Iommi learn from Rubin?

“I learned not to use a producer again,” he quipped. “It was strange because Rick wasn’t there most of the time. He’d be there for a certain recording, then he’d disappear. I’d written a lot of the stuff, and then we’d play it, and he go, ‘I don’t like that bit, I don’t like that part,’ and then disappear.

“One Friday he phoned me up — because he wouldn’t talk to the others [Osbourne, Butler]. He wanted me to relate what he’d said to the others. He said, ‘Could you write a song over the weekend that’s like “Planet Caravan,” so we can record it on Monday?’ I went, ‘What?!!’ But it happens that I did do it.” The end result was “Zeitgeist.”

Iommi is still processing Ozzy Osbourne’s death, just 17 days after Black Sabbath’s final performance, and says watching the concert film will bring back painful memories.

(Ross Halfin)

Iommi’s key plans for his new lineup and record were to make sure the players brought a healthy dose of enthusiasm. Baldwin is the first female he’s been in a band with. Iommi has a comfort zone, so he’d originally wanted Butler on the new album, which didn’t work out logistically. “Becky happened to be a big fan of Geezer, so we got Becky over to my home studio, and I did throw her in the deep end a bit,” admits Iommi. “I gave her the first track, which was ‘World Alone.’ I said, ‘Play that.’ She listened to it a bit and started playing it. It was really good. I just wanted to see what she’d be like straight away, just to see what she came up with, which was a bit horrible of me, I suppose.

“She worked out really good. The other thing is enthusiasm,” he continued. “I wanted people involved in this that really love what they do and really enjoy playing, and she constantly wants to play and be involved in the music, and it’s a great attitude.”

Another Brit superstar who also opts to play with relatively unknown, ardent players is Zeppelin’s Robert Plant. “He’s the same,” Iommi acknowledges. “We spoke about this, myself and Planty, because obviously we’ve known each other a long time. He could have easily done Zeppelin, but he wanted to do what he wanted to do.”

What a collaboration Iommi and Plant would be.

“I did say to him one time about doing something together, but again, he got his own thing, and I did [too]. Who knows? We’ve talked about it a couple of times, but he’s into a certain flavor of music that he likes to play, which is different to what I play, really. I don’t discard anything that way. If something comes up that’s a good idea and somebody’s into it, then I’m going to have a go.”

It’s been 26 years since Iommi’s debut, a self-titled solo album with a roster of guest vocalists including Osbourne, Dave Grohl, Henry Rollins and Pantera’s Philip Anselmo. “How fast it goes,” Iommi says with a chuckle. “Twenty-one years ago was my last solo album. And that’s long enough, isn’t it? But I was just busy with the Sabbath thing and then other things, including the Sabbath ballet.”

While fans would adore a tour, Iommi says he’d only do the occasional “one-off.” He will allow a moment of supposition, if pressed. “I suppose if I did something like that, I’d probably do some Dio stuff and maybe [one-time Sabbath vocalist] Tony Martin and maybe ‘Paranoid,’ ‘Iron Man.’ I haven’t really thought about it. Again, it’s not Sabbath,” he concludes. “It would be an Iommi thing, but it is part of my background. So I suppose I would play some of the old ones.”

“WE’D known each other for 60 bloody years. It was a hell of a shock.” 

Black Sabbath guitarist Tony Iommi is still coming to terms with the loss of his brother in arms, Ozzy Osbourne. 

“The night before he passed, I was talking to him — and the next day he was gone,” says the affable guitarist in his soft Brummie tones. “God, that was strange.” 

As members of the hard-rocking trailblazers, Iommi became “The Godfather Of Heavy Metal” and Ozzy “The Prince Of Darkness”. 

They came from humble backgrounds with precious little cash but a combination of inspiration and perspiration carried them to phenomenal global success. 

Recalling their first gigs together in the late Sixties, Iommi says: “We could just about afford enough petrol to get us home in the van — and to share a bag of chips. 

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“It’s mad when you think about it, but I’m so proud of what we did because we stuck to what we believed in.” 

It was Iommi, the only ever-present member, who laid the foundation on which Sabbath — and a whole new genre of music — was built. 

His immense, doom-laden riffs adorned songs like Iron Man and Paranoid, providing a platform for Ozzy’s manic vocals and wild stage antics. The best part of six decades later, Sabbath are no more but Iommi is still creating vibrant new variations on his signature sound. 

He is releasing an album under his own name filled with some of those immense riffs, called From The Dark. 

He has done it by assembling an ace band including Norwegian singer Jorn Lande, who, with his flowing locks and beard, looks every inch a Viking marauder. 

In the words of the guitarist himself, “It rocks!” 

I find myself speaking to Iommi a few days after he had visited Windsor Castle to receive his MBE from Princess Anne. 

“I don’t know how she does it,” he says of the redoubtable royal. “She was really nice, professional and relaxed.” 

For Tony, it was official recognition of not only his guitar and songwriting heroics but also of his unstinting support for hospital charities in Birmingham. 

Having been treated for lymphoma in 2012, he says “it’s been lovely to give something back” to the health sector “because they work hard and were so good to me”.  

As our chat moves back to music matters, it’s clear that the events of last summer are still very much on his mind. 

On July 5, 2025, he and fellow Sabbath founders Geezer Butler (lyrics, bass) and Bill Ward (drums) joined ailing Ozzy for one last hurrah at Villa Park in their hometown. 

The momentous Back To The Beginning shindig featured a who’s who of hard rock royalty paying their respects — Metallica, Guns N’ Roses and Alice In Chains among them. 

Next Tuesday, a concert film opens in Birmingham cinemas, and the next day, it goes nationwide. 

A mere 16 days after that momentous show, Iommi phoned Ozzy for what turned out to be the last time. The next evening, on July 22, came the sad news that his bandmate had passed away aged 76. 

Describing the call, he says: “Ozzy was going, ‘I’m really tired. I just can’t seem to pull myself together’.  

“I said, ‘You’re bound to feel like that — it’s been a tough few weeks’.” Iommi adds that when Sabbath convened for the Back To The Beginning rehearsals, he wasn’t prepared for his bandmate’s declining health.. 

Poor Ozzy had been battling Parkinson’s as well as the effects of injuries caused by his quad bike accident in the UK and a fall at his LA mansion. 

Iommi says: “The last time I saw him was when we did the Commonwealth Games together (in 2022). I didn’t fully realise quite what he was going through. 

“When he was back in LA, we’d talk on the phone every other week but I didn’t get to physically see him. 

“He’d be telling me he had this pain here and that pain there — and I sort of took it with a pinch of salt. 

“I’d be saying to him, ‘Well, I’ve got a pain in my neck. I’m suffering, too’. That would be the extent of our bloody conversation!” 

Iommi recalls the moment he, Butler and Ward set eyes on Ozzy again: “We were all shocked — and it went very quiet in the room.” 

But thankfully their time rehearsing in an Oxfordshire studio proved to be a life-affirming chance to catch up and indulge in a trip down memory lane. 

Iommi says: “We sat down on the couch, the four of us, and we were having a laugh and taking the piss out of each other. 

“It felt like the old times, but then Ozzy would get tired and lose concentration.” By that stage, however, Black Sabbath were on course to perform four of their best-loved, bone-shaking numbers, War Pigs, N.I.B., Iron Man and Paranoid. 

It’s important to note that Iommi needed persuading to take part. He says: “When I was first asked to do the show, I said I didn’t want to do it.  

“We’d done a tour called The End in 2017 — and to me it was the end. 

“But then Bill (Ward) wasn’t on that tour and we hadn’t played with him for 20 years. Then they said the show was for charity, so I said, ‘Of course I’ll do it’.” 

When it came to finally appearing on stage, Iommi, Butler and Ward had to deal with a new dynamic — Ozzy stuck on a big black throne adorned with skulls and a huge bat. 

Iommi says: “It was really strange for myself, Geezer and Bill because we had Ozzy in front of us in that chair. 

“We couldn’t see him! In the past, we would watch him running around.” 

Despite that, the band played their socks off and gave their final bow after Paranoid had ended with a spectacular pyrotechnic display. 

Iommi continues: “When we came off, there was a big, chaotic backstage and I went to my dressing room and Ozzy to his. 

“But as Ozzy was leaving, they wheeled him into mine. He said he was so pleased we did it, that he’d even been able to do it and that he’d enjoyed it. 

“I thought he did an incredible job, given the state of his health.” 

If that night truly marked the end of Sabbath, Iommi had already been keeping his hand in by working on new music that is eventually appearing on From The Dark. 

There is also the not-so-small matter of the barnstorming first track on Robbie Williams’ latest album Britpop called Rocket, which Iommi co-wrote and played on. 

“That was something I never expected but really enjoyed,” he affirms. “It was so different for me to do that. 

“Robbie was great, asked a lot of questions — but he was always honourable and polite. 

“He actually asked me if I’d join him on stage when he played Birmingham but I was away at that time.” 

Iommi has another connection with Robbie in the shape of Karl Brazil, the singer’s studio and touring drummer. 

He plays on From The Dark along with bassist Becky Baldwin and the aforementioned singer Lande, who reminds Iommi of Sabbath’s other great vocalist aside from Ozzy, the late Ronnie James Dio. 

Recommended by Mike Exeter, co-producer of the album, Brazil turns in a powerhouse performance. 

“Karl’s a good player and he loves doing what he does,” says Iommi. “That’s the thing with this album — I wanted people who enjoy playing.” 

As for Lande, he worked with Iommi on sessions as far back as 2005, as well as a Ronnie James Dio tribute concert in 2010. 

“I liked Jorn’s voice and he is a nice person to get on with,” he says.  

“I had him in mind for a while so he was the obvious choice when I decided not to make an instrumental album but use a vocalist.” 

It was up to Lande to provide lyrics to songs such as the searing opener, Over The Violent Sun, and next track, Black Times, both informed by the dangerous times we live in. 

Iommi says: “When Jorn first sent me the lyrics, I was, like, ‘Blimey! This is what’s happening in the world, isn’t it?’  

“It reminded me of old Sabbath stuff like War Pigs, which was about the Vietnam War but could be about today. 

“I was happy for Jorn to do his own thing — and he came out with real power and feel.” 

This brings us to bassist Baldwin, who, like Iommi and Brazil, is from Birmingham. 

“Apart from Jorn, I wanted to keep things as local as I could. First, I asked Geezer if he wanted to play on the album but he was away so Mike (Exeter) suggested Becky.  

“The good thing is she’s a fan of Geezer. She’s got his playing style.” 

Iommi reports that Sabbath bassist and chief lyricist Butler has given his new album his seal of approval. 

“We always keep in touch and as soon as the single (World Alone) came out, Geezer emailed to say he really liked it.” 

The cinematic video for the song includes black-clad Iommi playing guitar against a backdrop of menacing black clouds. 

“To be honest, I don’t like being in videos,” he says.  

“I’m a guitar player, not an actor, and I always feel uncomfortable.” 

But he adds that the video makers were a “good bunch” and “great to work with”. 

“And all they wanted me to do was ‘just stand there and play’.” It’s fair to say that of all From The Dark’s ten tracks, World Alone has the most upbeat guitar passages. 

Iommi smiles and says: “When I started writing this album, the immediate thing for me to do was come up with a doomy riff.  

“Then I’d come up with another doomy riff, and another one — so I had to do something up-tempo to give it a break.” 

Rather than call on several of his high-profile musician mates from down the years, there’s just one special guest on From The Dark. 

He is Iommi’s close friend — Queen’s legendary guitarist, Sir Brian May, who applies an epic solo to standout track Death Wake. 

“Brian comes up to see me when he’s got time and we sit and play,” Iommi says. 

“When I told him about the album, he brought his guitar and played on Death Wake, which was really great. 

“After that, I said, ‘Play on another one’. Brian went, ‘Oh no, it’s your album and your solos are good!’” 

Iommi says he first met May more than 50 years ago “and we hit it off from day one”. 

“He’d be in a studio. When Freddie (Mercury) and everyone left and he was on his own, I’d go round to keep him company. 

“Then when I’d be doing some Sabbath stuff, Brian would come and sit with me.  

“It became a really good friendship.” 

So would they ever make an album together? I venture. 

“Do you know how many years we’ve spoken about that?” laughs Iommi.  

“Then, of course, he gets busy and I get busy. We’ve gone on and on about it for so long that it’s become a joke.” 

For now, metal fans the world over will have to make do with Iommi’s From The Dark, guest starring Brian May. 

It’s got plenty of those epic “doomy riffs” we’ve come to expect from The Godfather Of Heavy Metal. 

TONY IOMMI 

From The Dark 

★★★★☆