In a recent interview with Planet Rock, guitarist Tony Iommi said he wouldn’t rule out BLACK SABBATH ecording new material or playing a one-off event.
“I’m going to miss playing on stage because that has been my whole life, the band and playing on stage. I like [playing on stage] and I’m sure it’s not going to end like that; I’m sure we might do a one-off show somewhere.
“It’s just the touring for me — it’s time to stop roaming the world and be at home for a bit… I’m still going to write and put stuff out.”
Asked if SABBATH‘s recording days are truly over, Tony said: “No, I don’t think we’ve ruled anything out apart from me not wanting to tour any more on that scale, but who knows, we may do something. We haven’t spoken about it. That’s another thing — we haven’t talked about anything, really, that’s to do with what’s going to happen afterwards. But I’m sure something can happen somewhere.”
Tony added that he is looking forward to the new chapters ahead in his life. “It’s nice just to take some time off and really think about it,” he said. “I’ve been offered quite a lot of stuff at the moment. It’s quite exciting. There are lots of different things coming in, things I would never have thought, to be honest. It’s all there and needs some thought. I don’t want to rush into anything.
“Thing is, when you’re touring, you’ve got to go out for six, eight, twelve months or whatever and you’ve got a schedule that you have to do. Now… if I want to do some TV for a month, I can do that.”
SABBATH‘s “The End” tour was its last because Iommi, who was diagnosed with cancer in 2012 and is currently in remission, can no longer travel for extended amounts of time. He said: “It was only when I got ill, that’s when I stated getting vulnerable. Before that, I could do anything… And they’re going, ‘You shouldn’t be flying, really.’ And, ‘You shouldn’t be doing this, you shouldn’t be doing that.’ So that’s what brought that about — the end of this, really, because the constant touring does eventually get to you.”
