TONY IOMMI: 'I Need To Be At Home More And I Need To Pay More Attention To My Friends And Family'

BLACK SABBATH guitarist Tony Iommi spoke to The Irish Times about his health, four months after revealing that his cancer was finally in remission.

"I went for a check four weeks ago and the doctor said that at the moment there is no activity where I had the cancer before, but there is activity in the throat," he said. "When I get back to England, I have to have an operation to remove this thing at the back of my nose. The doctors found a lump there and we don't know if it is cancer or what, but I feel okay at the moment."

Asked how his cancer diagnosis has changed his perspective on life, Iommi said: "I was knocked for six when the doctors told me that it was, that it was stage III cancer. It really did change my life as far as what I have to do now. I have to live what life I've got because I have been on the road nearly 50 years. I need to be at home more and I need to pay more attention to my friends and family."

Iommi went on to say that "the lowest moment" for him was being diagnosed. He explained: "You automatically wind yourself up saying, 'That's it then,' but that is not always the case. When they tell you, you think, 'Oh God.' That was a low time. I have had a few low times in my life like everybody has, but that was one that stuck in the head.

BLACK SABBATH will bring its storied career to a close in its native England, with seven shows booked there in January and February. The last two, on February 2 and February 4, will take place in SABBATH's hometown of Birmingham and will likely be their final shows.

"It is very sad that we are going to finish touring, but I hope that we will do something else," Iommi told The Irish Times. "I'm not going to tour the world again, but it would be nice even if we did the occasional one-off show or an album."

Pressed on where there is a possibility of a new album, Iommi said: "We haven't talked about it. This is my view thinking it would be nice. At the moment, I think there is a call for a bit of time off, really. I think anything is possible. It is down to how everyone feels and if people want to do it."

Iommi recently told Ultimate Classic Rock that he plans to stay busy with music even after SABBATH plays its final shows. He said, "I'm not going to leave the music business. I still want to write and play and I'll be doing some TV for something over here in England called 'Guitar Star'. But I love the playing, I love gigs, I just can't travel anymore."

SABBATH played the last U.S. shows of its career last month, on November 8 in Tulsa, Oklahoma, November 10 in Houston, Texas and November 12 in San Antonio.