Kerrang!'s Nick Ruskell recently caught up with Black Sabbath guitar legend Tony Iommi, who talked about life after Ozzy Osbourne was fired from the band on April 25th, 1980. Black Sabbath went on to enlist Ronnie James Dio as their new vocalist, and they would go on to record the classic Heaven And Hell album. Following is an excerpt from the chat.
K: The last Ozzy album at that point, Never Say Die!, was really quite difficult and trying and it was a bit miserable. Did the change help you rediscover your enthusiasm for what you were doing?
Iommi: "Absolutely. It gave us a new lease of life. And it also gave us that challenge. Because, obviously Sabbath has been around a while, we knew we could go out and do certain gigs and sell out certain places or whatever. But it was nice, because we had to prove something. You’re trying to bring a different singer into the band, which is very difficult, and he’s got to get accepted, and he's got to prove himself. And we have to sort of prove ourselves that it was working, and that we liked it. And I believed in what we’d got, I really did. I really liked what we what we had with Ronnie at that point."
K: What do you remember about people’s reactions when they first heard Sabbath with Ronnie at the front?
Iommi: "It was pretty positive. We had to work really hard to promote that album, which was good, I think, because it made us work. It wasn’t just something where you go, 'Oh, that’s going to do alright.' We had to prove it and prove that the band was good and could do it live. It was a lot of ups and downs, but eventually we pulled through. We were always proud of that album, and we believed in it. If we hadn't believed in it, we wouldn't have done it. It was one of those things where we knew it was right at that time."
Read the complete interview here.
Iommi recently announced the passing of his longtime guitar tech, Mike Clement.
Says Tony: "It’s a very sad day for me today - Mike Clement my dear old friend and my guitar tech for the last 33 years passed away this morning. Mike was a really lovely man, very loyal, and I could depend on him hundred percent. He will be so missed by so many people and all the Sabbath members and the crews around the world. My deepest condolences go out to his family and his many friends. R.I.P. MY DEAR FRIEND."
Black Sabbath bassist, Geezer Butler, shared Tony's post, adding: "Very sad news today about the passing of Mike Clement, Tony's long time guitar tech and one of the greatest people to ever grace this Earth. We shared many a fun time together, on and off the road. A true wonderful gentleman and scholar. RIP Mike."
