Former BLACK SABBATH Singer TONY MARTIN Rehearsing For HEADLESS CROSS Shows

Former BLACK SABBATH singer Tony Martin is rehearsing for upcoming shows with his band TONY MARTIN'S HEADLESS CROSS. Joining Martin for the sessions at RB Studio in Birmingham, England are Danny "Danté" Needham (VENOM) on drums, Dario Mollo (ex-GRAHAM BONNET) on guitar, Eddie George (ex-MAGNUM) on keyboards and Magnus Rosén (ex-HAMMERFALL) on bass.

Martin wrote on his Facebook page: "HEADLESS CROSS …. Ok... so I wasn't going to say anything yet but the guys have already posted about it so now I have to explain.... I have been rehearsing with my band to initiate the new keyboard player Eddie George. After the death of Geoff Nicholls it has been hard for me to fill the gap that will always be where Geoff stood... He was a big part of what I did with SABBATH and beyond... SO … to that end I spoke with Eddie George who was actually in a band with me many years ago called the ALLIANCE … he is a great player and friend. This was the first step to introduce him to the band and the music and the huge task of filling the role that I need to have on stage and potentially on recordings. … I need to give Eddie the space to feel comfortable with the role so I wasn't going to announce anything officially. In due course I will let you know more details of what we will be doing … that is if the guys DON'T POST IT FIRST!!!!!"

BLACK SABBATH released six albums with Martin on vocals: "The Eternal Idol" (1987),"Headless Cross" (1989),"Tyr" (1990),"Cross Purposes" (1994),"Cross Purposes Live" (1995) and "Forbidden" (1995). Eventually, Martin and his "Forbidden"-era bandmates were ousted when guitarist Tony Iommi reunited with SABBATH's fellow original members.

In a 2012 interview with Über Röck, Martin said that he was "surprised" to see Iommi criticizing him in the guitarist's "Iron Man: My Journey Through Heaven And Hell With Black Sabbath" book (referring to the Martin period, especially the touring phase following the release of "Cross Purposes" in 1994, Iommi lambasted his former singer as "unprofessional" and having "no stage presence"). Martin said: "I mean, they never said anything to me. Surely, if you've got a problem, the first person you should say something to is the person that's in the band with you... It sounds like a really stupid thing to say, as they didn't say anything to my face — and, if that's the case, then more fool them for not saying anything, because, you know, we could have fixed it. I said to them, endlessly, that if there was anything they wanted changed, done differently, just to say and we could fix it, but clearly, they didn't, they hadn't got the guts to, obviously, and to write about it in a book afterwards seems a bit daft to me. I'm not bitter about it, but it is surprising... It seems a bit stupid to say that after the event."

Three years ago, Iommi told I Heart Guitar that "it's a shame" that "it took a lot for people to accept" Martin as SABBATH's vocalist. "It's taken all these years later for people to say, 'Oh blimey, that was a good band with good singing.' So it took a long time to get people to really realize how good it was."

Last year, Iommi spent time in the studio remixing "Forbidden" for a 2019 release. The LP, which features Martin, drummer Cozy Powell and bassist Neil Murray, is often regarded as SABBATH's worst studio recording.

Martin's last solo album, "Scream", was released in November 2005 via MTM Music.