Back In Black
From The Stone Roses to Van Halen, 2012 is shaping up to be the year of reunions. And the heavy rock get-together fans have been crying out for is on, with Ozzy Osbourne rejoining Black Sabbath for a new album and tour. Guitarist Tony Iommi discusses the historic get-together and fondly recalls their only Irish performance, in Dalymount Park a lifetime ago.
Roisin Dwyer, 23 Jan 2012
The mayhem of a Black Sabbath tour. Picture the scene: it’s somewhere in the Midwestern United States, a little after 4am. Following various shenanigans, the band are sleeping soundly in their hotel rooms. Well, most of
the band.
“Ozzy was in the corridor letting off fireworks, all the guests were screaming and running about, smoke was everywhere and the sprinkler system started,” laughs Tony. “He was arrested and
taken away. I remember getting a call from the police saying, ‘You better get down here and bail him out’.
We said: ‘You keep him tonight. We’ll bail him out tomorrow. We’ve got to get some bloody rest!’”
Thirty-two years since Ozzy’s official departure in 1979, it seems Iommi et al are sufficiently rested. The recent highly-anticipated reformation announcement will see them play a slew of festivals and stadium shows in 2012 and release their first album of original material with Osbourne since 1978’s Never Say Die.
Over the years the Ozzy line-up has had a couple of dalliances, a reunion in 1997 that spawned a live album and a legendary Live Aid appearance.
Relaxing in his hotel suite in Birmingham, Tony Iommi remembers the charity concert extravaganza for other reasons than the reunion performance. (shortly after this interview the guitarist was diagnosed with cancer)
“We were in the rehearsal room and started playing and then the doors opened and these two girls came in,” he recalls in his soft Brummie tones. “I said to one of the crew, ‘You better get rid of them, we don’t want people coming in’. I didn’t realise one of them was Madonna! She had dark hair and I had never known her to have dark hair! It was supposed to be a closed session. It was very embarrassing, we basically told her to leave. I felt like such a fool!”
Iommi did encounter Madge again in later years when he and bassist Geezer Butler attended a party in New York.
“It was a really strange party, we walked down the red carpet and into this room and it was like walking into another world,” he says. “There were half-naked people painted gold walking around and all these weird costumes, it was like we’d walked into a freakshow. We stuck out like two sore thumbs because we had clothes on! Geezer said, ‘Will we leave?’ And I said, ‘We can’t leave, we’ve just come down the red carpet!!’ Then she came in dressed like an Egyptian queen with all these slaves in chains. It was a very interesting party but we didn’t stay very long!”
Page 1/4 <Previous 1 2 3 4 Next>
©Hot Press 2011. Why be a member? | Terms of Service | Privacy Policy