Tony Iommi Reveals What Kept Black Sabbath Going

What kept Black Sabbath going through the years and made them one of the most influential bands in metal history? If you listen to Tony Iommi, he'll tell you it was their belief in the music.

While speaking with Full Metal Jackie on her weekend radio show, the legendary guitarist spoke about the praise they've received over the years from peers and what it's meant. "It's lovely to hear that to me because what we've believed in and done, we'd done it because it was natural. We loved doing it. When we started playing more what we played and came up with the sort of music we did play, or we do play, was different. We did it because we loved it," shared the guitarist.

"Not for any money and this and that and the other," he continued. "It was because we loved it and enjoyed it. And it took a long time before it broke through to the world 'cause there was no MTV, There was no internet or anything. So you had to physically go and play these places. It was word of mouth and it took a long time. But it was belief that we had in our music and that's the thing that's kept it together all these years and people have respected that and sort of will come up and say, you know, 'Without you, we wouldn't be here,' which is fantastic to hear, you know?"

Within the chat with Iommi, the guitarist speaks about his new solo album From the Dark, how he put together his solo band and the common enjoyment they had out of making the new record. Iommi also speaks with Full Metal Jackie about his longtime friendship with Brian May, who guests on the record and reveals where his musical career goes from here.

Jackie also spoke with Tony Iommi about Sabbath's recently resurfaced Earth demos, the thing in his music history he was least prepared for and the rock world's response to Back to the Beginning. Check out more of the chat below.

It's Full Metal Jackie, and I am so honored to welcome a true legend to the show. We are talking to the one and only Tony Iommi. We are super excited to have new music in the form of the From the Dark album. I know you've been working on music for some time. So I was curious when the band came in on this, how much was in place before you found the players for this record? And how much were they able to add their own identity to it?

First and foremost, when I started putting this idea together, it was gonna be an instrumental album. So I wrote three instrumentals and then I thought, I'll put them on the side. I wanna do one with a vocal and do it as a band really. So it's a band situation.

That's really basically how it started. And then I'd got Jorn [Lande] in mind. I knew what Jorn sounded like. I've worked with Jorn before. And I thought it was the right direction. That's the direction I wanted to go.was, well, with him really.

The other guys I've known, Karl Brazil is with Robbie Williams. He plays drums with Robbie Williams mainly, but he does heavier stuff as well. I wanted to use him. He's great player. I wanted nice people in within the band so you can really get on well and enjoy it and people who really wanna play. They really love playing. And the same as Jorn. Jorn's done loads of albums of his own solo stuff, but he loves doing it and that's what I wanted. I wanted that enthusiasm.

Tony Iommi, "World Alone"

Tony, "World Alone" was our first introduction to this album. Between the lyrics and the video, it paints a pretty dark picture with a heavy shadow cast. Jorn ultimately is the one who has to deliver the message. And I understand that the lyrics largely came from him, but how much discussion went into what was being presented, and did it mirror what you initially had in mind?

Yeah. You wait till you hear the others. Jorn had done all the lyrics on this album and what he'd do was [come up with] an idea and then he'd send it over. Then we'd get him over to England and then we'd start going through it.

I just loved the way he presents it. It's always good for a vocalist, I think, to write his own lyrics because they know how they're gonna present that word and that song.

it's like with Dio. It's certain words that you can really pronounce that is you. You get that right vibe. And Jorn's the same. He's got that sort of power. No, I really thought it was great what he's done.

Tony, so much of your career has come under the Black Sabbath umbrella that in itself kind of has its own expectations. Can you speak about being in the rare position of what it was like to work unencumbered? There's no label asking for a record. There's no trying to fit what people might expect from Sabbath. It's just you with time to create and the ability to play with who you want and just let it flow through you. What did that mean to you to have this experience at this point in your career?

It was great 'cause there's no pressure whatsoever. I could do it when I I felt like it. I'd say to Mike Exeter, my engineer, he's worked with me for 30 years or whatever it is and he's a producer now as well. So I'd say, "Let's work Monday and Tuesday every week and if we can't do it certain weeks, we won't do it." We had a little schedule going and that's what we'd do. We'd walk in and I'd start putting ideas down. And it was great 'cause there was no pressure.

I didn't have to have an album ready in six weeks. So you could really put something down and then I could listen to it and say, "Hmm," over for a week and say, "I'm gonna change that bit. I'm gonna put a new bit in there." And that's how we did it.

Where in the past when we've had Sabbath stuff, we've had a timescale to work to 'cause you've got tours coming up and you've got this and album has to be released.. So there was always [stuff that] had to be done. There's always pressure there. But this time, no pressure whatsoever and I could use who I wanted on the album and it's been good.

And I got Brian May to play on it as well, which has been great.

Tony it's always a treat when you get to work with those that are close to you and as you mentioned this earlier, I know that there's a, a mutual admiration there with Brian May of Queen and he guests on "Death Wake." Can you talk about what having Brian's friendship has meant to you throughout the years? With two guitar greats, is music often what's at the forefront when you get to hang out or do you have other, other mutual interests?

it's been great. We've known each other so long, well, 56 or 58 years. He's a great friend and a real true friend. We can be ourselves with each other. We can say what we feel and we're always there for each other.

If I ever needed him, I'd say, "Well, I've got this problem," he'd be there. And the same goes for me. We've been that close. When we do get together, he comes over to the house and we sit in the studio and play for a bit. And it's just fun, you know. We talk about music, we talk about guitars or our life. It's very special.

I had two people who I always stayed in contact with and Eddie Van Halen was the other one and that's it really. They've always been close friends.

What about each of the players on this record drew you to wanting to work with them?

Well, Karl Brazil, first and foremost, I used him on one of the instrumentals I did for the Xerjoff perfume, the Iommi perfume. I liked his playing and I liked his attitude. He loves playing. He's a great player, and he's constantly working.

He works with Robbie Williams, and they're always doing tours and stuff. So we have to plan it, so when he's got finished Robbie's tour, we get together quick and start putting the stuff together. He's great and he's got a great attitude. He loves playing and that's what I wanted. I wanted people in this band who love what they do and enjoy what they do and it means everything then.

And Becky [Baldwin], I wasn't familiar with Becky. I met her again through Mike Exeter, who's worked with me and he's playing bits of keyboards on the album as well. And he mentioned about Becky and I went, "I don't know Becky." And he said, "Well, watch some of the videos. She's done instructional videos and whatnot." So I did, and I thought, "Oh yeah, she's really, really good." So we got in touch with her, well my office, and we got her over to my house. And we went in the studio and she played one of the tracks.

And then afterwards she said, "Can I have a photo?" I said, "Yeah." And she went, "'Cause I might not see you again." 'Cause she didn't think I was gonna [pick her], she didn't think she was good enough. I said, "You will see me again. You're gonna see me again next week." So it was quite, quite funny really. And he's worked out great.

She's a really lovely person. She loves what she does. That's the thing on this album, the attitude for everybody has been really positive. They really enjoyed it. It makes it great when everybody loves doing it instead of having to do, "Oh God, here's another album." Everybody was so into it, it just made it really happy.

Even though the album sounds miserable, but...

Yeah, it's the happy experience.

Tony, in the year since Black Sabbath's last show and Ozzy's death, there's been a couple of interesting things come up. One has been securing the old Earth demos from the early days which Sharon Osbourne shared that the band were now in possession of. It has to be wild that that's now available to you after you probably hadn't thought about it in decades. Can you speak to what it was like checking that out for the first time and are there plans to ultimately release it?

When I first heard them, it took me right back to when we actually was at these gigs and what we used to do. I actually forgot some of the things we used to do. So being able to hear them again, I thought, "Wow, blimey." Obviously the sound quality was very iffy 'cause they were done in a club and, at gigs. And of course the recording facilities in them days weren't very good.

But it was good to hear them. Yeah, there are plans to release it. It's gonna come out at some point. I don't know. I've not been in control of that. But they will be coming out.

But it was interesting to hear the band as we were when we started all them years ago.

It must bring back some memories.

Yeah, it certainly did. As soon as you start hearing them, and I sat there listening to them, remembering the things we did. We'd do long jams and guitar, lots of guitar solos and drum solos and all sorts of stuff. It was interesting.

Did you ever think that at that point that this many years later you'd be sitting there listening to that and going, "Well, maybe we'll release this?"

No.

Tony, the advances of technology can be pretty amazing. And one of the things revealed by the Osbournes recently was their intent to showcase a new Ozzy AI avatar to where fans can interact with it and ask questions, and it would answer as Ozzy would based on his past interactions. You recently spoke about Ozzy being still present thanks to the media and YouTube, but missing the conversations you had once had with him. Obviously this would mean different things to different people, but would checking out the Ozzy AI avatar be of interest to you and how do you feel about it helping to keep his legacy going?

I'm on the fence with that, to be honest. I don't really know. It's probably good for some people and not for others. I'll stay out of that one, if you don't mind.

It's okay.

I think it's great. His legacy's not gonna disappear. It's there. Regardless of the AI or whatever. He's gonna live on forever.

Oh, absolutely.

Tony, you have enjoyed a lengthy career, seen the music industry evolve, technology advance and the ways of promoting your music expand into different areas. I'm sure when you got into it, it was primarily for the music. What is one thing in the music industry you really felt you weren't prepared for?

Probably AI.

I guess I can't imagine when you guys were starting out thinking that someday that kind of thing would exist. It must blow your mind.

No. To me, I love the natural, getting onstage, playing and it's a natural sound. There's no tapes and it's just you playing. I've always been about that. Whatever floats your boat.

Some people really like it and rely on it, you know? It's not my cup of tea. I'd like to actually physically get on and play and have a band that plays. But that's me. That's my catch on it.

First with Black Sabbath's farewell tour, then last year with Back to the Beginning. I'm sure there have been many special moments with other acts making you aware of how Black Sabbath's legacy has impacted metal. Do you have any favorite moments over the years in seeing the reach of your music go to places you never expected or having a direct correlation to someone's career that you're excited to see?

Oh, it's been incredible, really. The whole thing has spanned out over the years and bands covering Sabbath stuff and more and more people getting influenced by Sabbath. It's been just remarkable, really. And doing the Back to the Beginning, the amount of bands that turned up to support Sabbath and and pay their respects was just fantastic.

I was blown away with it, seeing such major bands coming forward to play on that show.. It was just amazing.

And how does it feel still to this day with people coming to you and saying, "If it wasn't for this, I wouldn't have got into music," or the impact? I'm sure you've heard it a million times over the years, but does that still hit you in the feels, so to speak, when that happens?

It is. It's lovely to hear that to me because what we've believed in and done, we'd done it because it was natural. We loved doing it. When we started playing more what we played and came up with the sort of music we did play, or we do play, was different. We did it because we loved it.

Not for any money and this and that and the other. It was because we loved it and enjoyed it. And it took a long time before it broke through to the world 'cause there was no MTV, There was no internet or anything. So you had to physically go and play these places.

It was word of mouth and it took a long time. But it was belief that we had in our music and that's the thing that's kept it together all these years and people have respected that and sort of will come up and say, you know, "Without you, we wouldn't be here," which is fantastic to hear, you know?

It really is.

With From the Dark out there, what is next for you, Tony? Would you be interested in playing a show or some shows for audiences? Do you continue to write and create? What's your plan for moving forward now?

I'm always gonna write and try and create. That's what I do. I don't know anything else. I love to do it. I enjoy it. And I've enjoyed making this album and I shall enjoy still going on playing.

I'll go and sit in the studio and I'll come up with another riff and another riff and that's what I do. And I've been asked to go and play on certain shows with other bands, which is nice, you know? It's nice to hear that they still want you to come and play.

So the whole thing is expanding for me. I've got no pressure. I can just say yes or no. I can do that or I can't and that's the way I live now.

Tony Iommi with us. The new record is From the Dark. Tony, thank you so much for being on the show. I'm honored to have you here. And I just have to say, truth be told, you don't have to do any of this and the fact that you still wanna get out there and make music and create is so inspiring.

As a fan, we are so happy to have something more creatively coming from you. So thank you for continuing to do what you do.

Thank you very much, Jackie. And thanks everybody out there. We've got some great fans and I'm so overwhelmed with it.

Thanks to Tony Iommi for the interview. Tony Iommi's From The Dark is coming Oct. 23 and pre-orders are underway. Stay up to date with Tony Iommi through his website, Facebook, X, Instagram, TikTok and Threads platforms. Find out where you can hear Full Metal Jackie's weekend radio show here.

Below see how we ranked Black Sabbath's albums from worst to best.