Trashed: Black Sabbath reunion just 'speculation'

Tony Iommi: 'I was merely shooting the breeze'

Daniel Fahey - 17 August 2011

As revealed yesterday (Tuesday), the guitarist told the Birmingham Mail that the original band line-up of Ozzy Osbourne, Tony Iommi, Geezer Butler and Bill Ward had already begun rehearsing for a tour and new album.

He was quoted as saying: “We’re really looking forward to it and I think the stuff we’ve been writing is really good, it’s more back to the old original stuff.”

Now, these reports have been refuted by Iommi, who has written that he was “merely speculating, shooting the breeze”.

A statement on the guitarist’s website reads: “I'm saddened that a Birmingham journalist whom I trusted has chosen this point in time to take a conversation we had back in June and make it sound like we spoke yesterday about a Black Sabbath reunion.

“At the time I was supporting the Home of Metal exhibition and was merely speculating, shooting the breeze, on something all of us get asked constantly, "Are you getting back together?"

“Thanks to the internet it's gone round the world as some sort of "official" statement on my part, absolute nonsense. I hope he's enjoyed his moment of glory, he won't have another at my expense.

“To my old pals, Ozzy, Geezer and Bill, sorry about this, I should have known better.

“All the best, Tony”.

Black Sabbath was one of the bands mentioned by Sonisphere 2012 organiser Stuart Galbraith when asked about possible line-up targets for next summer.

Having said that Foo Fighters and Red Hot Chili Peppers were "two in a long list we're talking to," and confirming that no-one was yet pencilled in, he stressed that “making the event as broad as we can” was the priority.

"We could have Green Day or Blink 182. We could equally have Rammstein, Black Sabbath, Metallica or Iron Maiden. But there's no point us booking [for example] Metallica, Rammstein and Slayer, and equally no point booking Blink [182], Green Day and My Chemical Romance. We need a balance across the weekend."

Keep your browser pointing at our Sonisphere Festival 2012 rumours page for updates on acts that could be appearing.

Comments

Related Artists

Related Events

Related Articles