BLACK SABBATH's TONY IOMMI Talks About OZZFEST Cancellations, OZZY's 'Voice Problems'

Classic Rock Revisited recently conducted an exclusive interview with BLACK SABBATH guitarist Tony Iommi. A couple of excerpts from the chat follow:

Classic Rock Revisited: Let's talk about Ozzfest for a minute. How are things really going?

Tony: "It has been going good. We had to cancel a couple of shows because of Ozzy's [Osbourne] voice. It was very unfortunate and I hate doing that. Ozzy has had problems with his vocal chords. He had to take a few days off and fly back to Los Angeles to see his doctor. It is just one of those things that he seems to have problems with. I hate having to cancel shows. If it was up to Bill [Ward], Geezer [Butler] and myself then we would be doing four shows in a row but you just can't expect Ozzy to do it when he has a problem with his voice."

Classic Rock Revisited: After 35 years of playing, how do you still enjoy being together?

Tony: "Bill and I go out for walks every day. We talk about how the last show was. We are really into what we are doing — more so even on this tour. We have really enjoyed playing. The real bummer of it all is when we have to cancel a show. That really pisses all of us off because you just really don't want to do that. We sort of lose a bit of momentum when we do that. You want to keep the machine going and you want to improve on what you are doing. When you have to cancel a show and then have three days off, it puts you back a bit."

Classic Rock Revisited: We just ran an article with Steve Harris of IRON MAIDEN where he explains Bruce Dickinson's outrage at the Ozzfest's fans for not being lively enough in concert. Is that disappointing when you are on a package tour and other bands are talking negative?

Tony: "It is hard for the fans to get up and jump around after they have been there all day. I know I certainly could not stand there all day, drinking in the heat and then jump around all night. As long as people enjoy themselves and they see what they have came to see then it is all great. That is what it is all about. Every band is going to try to get everyone to get involved with their show. After the kids have been jumping around for several bands then it is very hard to keep them going at nine o'clock at night."

Classic Rock Revisited: Is Iommi going to tour with Geezer Butler opening up? Is that really going to happen?

Tony: "Geezer started this idea and I think it is a good idea. When we get to the point where the Ozzfest is actually done he may go, 'I am not going back out so soon.' I am certainly going to go out and tour. It would be nice if we did it together."

Classic Rock Revisited: Was it tempting to do something on Ozzfest?

Tony: "I think we could have done something but I would not want to do that. I see this [solo career] and SABBATH as two separate things and if SABBATH was on the Ozzfest then I would have done it with Glenn [Hughes]. I don’t want to detract from BLACK SABBATH on the Ozzfest — that would not be right."

Read the entire interview at www.ClassicRockRevisited.com.