Tony Iommi has taken to Instagram to pay tribute to his former bandmate, Ozzy Osbourne, a year after his passing.

After one hell of a retirement gig in Back to the Beginning, Ozzy passed away aged 76, leading to an immense outpouring of love from the rock and metal community. Everyone from Wolfgang Van Halen’s Mammoth to Grace Bowers and Billy Strings paid tribute to the legendary Black Sabbath singer.

A year on from losing a man with whom he conquered the music world, Iommi has shared a heartfelt tribute.

“Well, it’s now a year since Ozzy’s passing, and I still can’t believe that he’s not with us,” he writes. “I watch him on YouTube, and it feels like he’s still here with us. We always stayed in touch, almost every week or so, and we’d usually talk about our ailments and then about what we’d been doing that particular week.

“The fans have been absolutely brilliant, and the love and respect that they have shown for him has just been amazing.

“I’m so glad that we were able to play one final show with the original line-up of Sabbath at the Back To The Beginning show in our home town of Birmingham,” he adds. “There will never be another Ozzy. I miss you, my dear friend.”

In January, Gibson launched a multi-part documentary on the rags-to-riches rise of heavy metal’s progenitors, with Iommi reflecting on what would become Black Sabbath’s “horrible” first jam.

More recently, a story from their final show – relayed by Ozzy’s son, Jack – further underscored the pair’s relationship, which was at the heart of Black Sabbath’s success.

Iommi had called his passing “heartbreaking” in his initial tribute, offering the same sentiment that has been repeated by so many – there will never be another like Ozzy.

For all the discussion of Mastodon’s latest album, Marrow Deep – their first since the passing of guitarist Brent Hinds – Troy Sanders is quick to point out that the album’s biggest bass guitar moment doesn’t actually belong to him. Instead, it comes courtesy of one of his lifelong heroes.

“There’s definitely a bass highlight on this record,” Sanders tells Bass Player. “But it isn’t me.”

Following their appearance at Black Sabbath’s 2025 farewell celebration, the band decided to take a chance.

“We’d just played the Back to the Beginning show and I thought, ‘What’s the worst that can happen if we ask Geezer to guest on our album? He could say no?’

“We knew he was aware of us because he’d mentioned Mastodon in his autobiography as a band he enjoyed listening to. That blew our minds.”

Rather than asking for anything specific, the band sent Butler a handful of songs.

“We wanted him to hear where the record was going and see if anything inspired him, and he sent back this incredible bass solo that became the introduction to a song called The Vanishing. It’s a very Sabbath-inspired track. It’s definitely the bass highlight of the album. And I’m completely happy saying that.

“Everything went through management. We’ve never actually met face to face. At the Sabbath show at Villa Park, it was a madhouse in the Sabbath area, so the idea of trying to go back there just didn’t feel right.

“We’re hoping to finally meet when we’re touring the States later this year because he’ll be near one of our days off. If we can actually sit down together, that’ll complete the whole circle.”

Ask Sanders where any aspiring rock bass player should begin and his answer comes without hesitation.

“Black Sabbath. Everything we do traces back to those four guys. They created the genre that we call home.

“I tell my son the same thing. He’s started playing bass, so I said, ‘Just learn any Sabbath songs.’ They’re challenging enough to train your ears, and your fingers.”

For all the anticipation surrounding the new album, not to mention the accolades Mastodon have already accumulated – including a 2018 Grammy Award for Best Metal Performance – Sanders remains sceptical about buying into the mythology of rock stardom.

“You work incredibly hard to make records and tour the world, so when somebody genuinely connects with what you’ve created, that’s validating. So it’s okay to give yourself a little pat on the back occasionally, but it’s dangerous to start believing your own hype.

“When Mastodon started back in 2000, none of us sat around waiting for somebody to discover us. We got in a van and made things happen ourselves. That mentality has never changed.”

Black Sabbath had their fair share of on-stage antics, internal turmoil, and adventures – and misadventures – throughout their decades-long lifespan. For Geezer Butler, one story that stands out in particular involves his old P-Bass, an angry customs officer, and a hammer.

“[This is] the second P-Bass [a 1968 Precision] that I ever had, and this one did the Paranoid album and the Master of Reality album – so Paranoid, War Pigs, Iron Man, Sweet Leaf, second Sabbath album, the third Sabbath album…” Butler tells Nate Mendel on an episode of Fender’s Lowdown on the Low End.

However, its original ’68 neck had to be replaced because of a particularly gnarly incident.

“This got wrecked,” Butler explains. “We were in Canada, and one of the customs guys in Canada decided he hated Black Sabbath, [and] smashed the neck with a hammer.”

Once Butler got to the venue and opened the case, he was met with a couple of unwanted surprises…

“There [were] hammer marks all the way down the neck, so obviously it was unplayable,” he adds. “It was a Sunday afternoon, so the promoter knew a guy that owned a guitar shop. The only bass he had was one of the plexiglass ones. So I got lumbered with that.”

Butler’s beat-up bass neck was quickly replaced with a ’70s neck – and the Sabbath bassist could continue using his workhorse, albeit with a modified neck. And while he used a plethora of different basses throughout his career – including Lakland basses, a Rickenbacker 4001, and custom Martin Birch and JayDee ones – the no-frills ’68 P-bass would forever define his tone.

In a 2024 interview with Bass Player, Butler revealed how he achieved his sought-after tone and why he struggled to find a producer who understood his vision.

When The Sweet were forced to part with their singer in rather chaotic circumstances, a heavy metal legend offered up his services to a band in disarray.

Andy Scott is the last man standing from the group’s 1970s heyday, which yielded timeless glam hits The Ballroom Blitz and Fox on the Run. In a new interview with Guitar World, he details how Brian Connolly’s time in the band, marred by drinking problems, came to a head during a bizarre shotgun incident.

Yet, before Connolly was shown the exit, the band was offered an escape route.

“We played some shows in America with Rainbow, and at one point, Ronnie James Dio came into the dressing room,” Scott recalls. “He said, ‘You can see what’s going on here. Brian isn’t going to last the distance. If you need some help with the vocals, I’m your man.’”

As it transpired, Dio was also looking for a change of pace. He was disenchanted with life alongside Blackmore – a man who, a former bandmate once said, “chewed up and spat out musicians.”

“He called me later and said, ‘I don’t like what’s going on with Ritchie Blackmore, and I’m looking for an escape,’” Scott goes on. “Brian was gone at that point, so I talked to the guys. Steve [Priest, bass] was so against it. He said, ‘We’ve been singing our own songs without Brian. Why would we need someone else?’”

Upon Connolly’s dismissal, the band had plowed on, with Priest handling the bulk of vocal duties rather than replacing him outright. Priest was steadfast in his thinking, and Dio was equally as determined to get his way.

“I told Ronnie how Steve felt, and he said, ‘You could always leave and join me,’” Scott reveals. “I thought, ‘Well, that’s an interesting idea,’ but I couldn’t do it. I knew that if I left The Sweet, that would be the end. The other guys weren’t band-leader types.”

Dio would get his escape, though, as he was soon selected as the man to replace Ozzy Osbourne in Black Sabbath, with Ozzy going on to make history with Randy Rhoads.

For The Sweet, their aptly-titled third album, Identity Crisis, was poorly promoted, and they’d go on to take a three-year hiatus between 1982 and 1985, before continuing as spinoff groups.

Little did they know, but the snubbing of Dio set both parties on very different paths and trajectories. Oh, what could have been...

Scott’s full interview is available in the new issue of Guitar World, which features Rush on the cover. Copies can be ordered from Magazines Direct.

Does the choice of gear alone determine a player’s tone? Tony Iommi gives his two cents on the highly debated topic, and, well, according to the Black Sabbath legend, it all – or largely – comes down to the player.

His proof of concept? Brian May, who once wrote and performed a solo on the 1989 Sabbath track, When Death Calls.

“I remember years ago when Brian May jumped with us a long, long time ago, and he plugged into a… I think we might have been in the studio, and he got the same sound,” he says in conversation with long-time friend and collaborator, Laney Amplification founder Lyndon Laney, who recently passed away.

“It’s way he played, and it wasn't his gear. It wasn't his guitar. He used a Gibson. I had a white standard Gibson that he played, and it sounded very similar.”

Lyndon goes on to comment, “It's not just the amplifier – it's everything. It's the lead, the guitar, the amplifier, the speaker, the position, yeah, the sweet spot you've got. And most of all, it's the technique and talent.”

Many guitarists have weighed in on the debate over the years. Nuno Bettencourt previously recalled the time he used Eddie Van Halen’s rig, only to realize that, “It’s all about your fingers,” while John Petrucci had the same epiphany when he tried Joe Satriani’s rig.

Steve Lukather once simply summed it up as, “There’s no magic guitar, no magic amp, there’s just magic people.”

In more recent news, Iommi revealed why he shunned the heavy metal tag during the band's early days.

Regardless of the disputes that took place throughout the decades, the fact remains that Bob Daisley played bass and was a solid contributor to Ozzy Osbourne's first two post-Sabbath albums.

Indeed, 1980’s The Blizzard of Ozz, and 1981’s Diary of a Madman would be the records that would define the rest of Ozzy's solo career.

However, to this day, Daisley says he feels cheated out of the credits and royalties he truly deserves for his contributions, even though he continued to return to the Osbourne camp throughout the ’80s and up until 1991’s No More Tears.

In 2016, the long-standing history of legal battles culminated in a lawsuit against Osbourne and Blizzard Music Limited, alleging that they withheld over $2 million in unpaid royalties from the song Crazy Train alone – a claim that Osbourne and his team refuted. Daisley's case was later dismissed.

“Just ask me what I thought of Rudy Sarzo being credited on Diary of a Madman!” Daisley asserts in a new interview with Bass Player.

“That was a travesty, a true crime against [drummer] Lee Kerslake and me. I’d worked hard on that album – as I do with every album that I’ve been involved with – both with the playing/writing aspects and the production.

“And then, to see all my hard work get credited to someone who’d had nothing to do with any of it was heartbreaking, and the same goes for Lee [who, like Daisley, was also fired before the second album was released].

“I remember the day that Lee and I saw that album and those erroneous credits for the first time; it was like a punch in the solar plexus,” he remembers vividly.

Daisley’s final wish? “I would love to see proper accreditation on that album before I take the long dirt nap,” he concludes.

Bass Player’s career retrospective with Bob Daisley will be published in the coming weeks. Meanwhile, another Ozzy collaborator, Jake E. Lee, recently looked back on his battle to make The Prince of Darkness’ The Ultimate Sin.

Tony Iommi and Ozzy Osbourne invented heavy metal together. Iommi gave it its inaugural riff. Ozzy gave metal a voice. And they might have had their moments over the years, with Ozzy’s fractious departure from Black Sabbath in 1979 a rift that took some healing, the pair have a closeness that few can understand.

Jack Osbourne can. The son of the late Sabbath frontman has seen this up close, and speaking with Billy Corgan for The Magnificent Others podcast, he revealed that a moment on the night before Ozzy and Sabbath’s farewell show, Back to the Beginning, in July 2025, typified the “interesting dynamic” between the two.

Osbourne was feeling some pre-show jitters. Black Sabbath were going out in the only way they knew how, with the biggest heavy metal one-dayer in history.

“He was so nervous about making sure that they were happy and everyone was good, like, he was very nervous,” says Osbourne. “But he was also really happy about it. He was. He felt good.”

A lot of preparation had already been done. There had been some hairy moments, too. Ozzy’s ailing health had threatened the show on a number of occasions. Even close to showtime on 5 July, there was a worry that they might have to cancel it. With that in mind, the final soundcheck carried a certain gravitas. Everyone had an edge to them. Ozzy’s voice wasn’t quite there, and Iommi noticed.

“He was soundchecking, so he wasn’t going to go out there with his A-game on,” recalls Osbourne. “He was just making sure everything worked, and ran through the set. And Tony said, ‘Hey, you’re singing flat.’ And my dad got really pissed off. He was upset.

“And my mom was like, ‘Oh, you know dad.’”

But Jack could see it for what it was. Only someone that close to Ozzy could have said that on this of all nights. As Corgan suggests, Iommi was like a big brother, Ozzy the little brother. That was the dynamic. Osbourne agrees, and furthermore, that moment – as fractious as it was – speaks to the closeness between the two. We would all do well to find a friend as close as Iommi was to Ozzy.

“I was like, ‘No, I think it’s a good thing,’” says Osbourne. “I think it’s a good thing because, out of the 40-whatever-thousand people at that stadium, the only person in that stadium that could ever say to my dad, ‘Hey, do better,’ was Tony. And I think everyone needs someone like that.”

Osbourne says all of the original Black Sabbath members were like brothers. Even drummer Bill Ward, who had sat out Sabbath’s reunion shows over various disputes, was back for this show. It was all water under the bridge.

“Although Tony and my dad’s relationship over the years had its times of being contentious, it was family,” says Osbourne. “They were brothers: Geezer, Bill, like, closest family that anyone could ever ask [for]. They’ve done life together.”

Furthermore, he believes Iommi was right to say what he said. Ozzy, who passed away on 22 July, aged 76, ultimately got the send-off he deserved.

“As I look back on it, I’m like, ‘No, I think that that was OK to say, because they knew it was the last time,” says Osbourne. “And it was like, ‘Hey, get out there, everyone needs to give it.”

Tony Iommi may now be known as the Godfather of Heavy Metal, but he has admitted that he wasn’t keen on Black Sabbath being labeled “heavy metal” – especially in the band's earlier days – as he and the rest of the members weren't interested in being pigeonholed.

“The first album cover was a woman on the front with a black cloak on, and inside the cover was an inverted cross,” he tells Gibson TV, referring to the now-iconic album cover of the band's self-titled debut, featuring a figure – portrayed by model Louisa Livingstone – dressed in a black cloak, standing in front of the Mapledurham Watermill in Oxfordshire, England.

“So that, as you can imagine, opened a complete can of worms in 1969. That was basically a lot of the record company because of the imagery they put out, because nobody really had seen us. And then, of course, they'd see us, and because of what we played, it was scary music to them, which was really what we were trying to create.

“In those days, Geezer [Butler] and myself used to go and watch a lot of horror movies, and we loved them. And I thought it'd be great to have music like this – [to] create the same vibe as a horror film would do – and that was sort of what we did.”

The album's imagery ended up attracting a subset of people Iommi claimed he wasn't expecting to show up to their gigs. “Suddenly we had all these crazy people turning up at shows,” he said in a 2013 MOJO interview. “I think Alex Sanders [occultist and High Priest in the modern Pagan religion of Wicca] turned up at a gig once. It was all quite strange, really.”

But it was only when the band returned from an American run that Iommi first encountered the genre title that would define his musical legacy.

“I got back from America, and I've done an interview at my home with Melody Maker,” he told Gibson TV. “They said, ‘Oh, you know you're playing heavy metal.’ ‘Heavy Metal. What's that?’ ‘That's what you're playing.’ And I went, ‘No, we're heavy rock.’ He went, ‘No, no, you're heavy metal.’

“I said, ‘Well, we call it heavy rock. You call it heavy metal. Call it what you like, but we're heavy rock.’ And I wouldn't accept the heavy metal thing for years.”

The band took issue with being typecast. As Geezer Butler extrapolates in a 2018 BBC interview, “At first, we didn’t like being called heavy metal. But everyone likes to put you into certain pigeonholes, so we sort of got used to it. And then instead of it being derogatory, it became a whole lifestyle.”

Elsewhere in the same Gibson TV interview, the Iommi looked back at the birth of Black Sabbath – and their “horrible” first jam.

Gibson TV has launched a new free-to-air docu-series on the life and legacy of Tony Iommi, the undisputed godfather of heavy metal. Featuring everyone from Slash to Tom Morello and Brian May, the film details the origins of Black Sabbath and the man behind the riffs.

Its narrative, which also includes an extensive interview from the man himself, charts the musical heritage Iommi was born into, how the Shadows became one of his first loves, and why Birmingham, as “the industrial heartbeat of England,” played a vital role in the Black Sabbath’s birth.

Iommi’s famed finger-slicing accident is also covered, as is the influence that Django Reinhardt had in getting him playing again afterwards.

With Black Sabbath, Iommi would go on to change the world with his riffs, but it all started with Ozzy Osbourne’s unassuming advert, which found the aspiring musician scouring the local area for musicians to start a band with.

“We never really associated at school,” Iommi says of Ozzy. “We [Iommi and drummer Bill Ward] went into the music shop in Birmingham, and there was an advert that says, 'Ozzy Zig requires gig.' And I said to Bill, ‘I know an Ozzy, but it can't be him. He can't sing!’

“Sure enough, we went round to his house, and his mum came to the door. [We said] ‘We've come about the advert,’ and she said, ‘John, it's for you.’ I'm seeing him walk up the hall, and I said to Bill, ‘Forget it.’ We talked to him for a bit, and then we left.

“Two days later,” Iommi continues, “Ozzy came round to my house with Geezer [Butler, bass] and said, ‘Do you know any drummers?’ So we decided to get together and give it a go. It was absolutely horrible. Geezer was a guitar player; he'd never played bass before.”

History dictates, of course, that their ill-fated first jam would not be the end of the band, and in 1969, after a last-minute guitar change from Strat to SG, Black Sabbath recorded their seminal debut album. The world would never be the same again.

Despite Black Sabbath ending at Back to the Beginning last summer, Iommi has been keeping himself busy. He’s released a new Laney amp, relaunched his signature pickups, and continues to work on his hotly anticipated solo album, which he promises will be released in 2026.

In related news, he also recently explained why he never became a Les Paul player, despite always wanting one, and mourned the loss of two of his prized early SGs.

Best of 2025: Over the holiday season, GW is shining the spotlight on some of its biggest stories of the year.

Ozzy Osbourne always had a ripping guitarist by his side – Tony Iommi, Randy Rhoads, Brad Gillis, Jake E. Lee and Gus G. among others. But Zakk Wylde, who entered the late Black Sabbath singer’s orbit in 1987, was more than just his guitarist. “It was definitely beyond just us playing in a band together and making music,” he tells Guitar World.

He built his reputation on Ozzy’s 1988 album No Rest for the Wicked, 1991’s No More Tears and 1995’s Ozzmosis. “I was always like, ‘Guys, I worship Sabbath,” he says.“‘Anything I’m gonna write will have Lord Iommi as the base of the soup. It’s in my DNA.”

Wylde grew up in Bayonne, New Jersey, and like most players of his vintage, he was deeply impacted by Ozzy’s work with Rhoads and Lee. He grabbed one of the most coveted gigs in the world after Lee left.

“Oz was just the best,” he says. “I have my father, who was a World War II veteran; and then Ozzy, who was almost like an older brother. There was almost a 20-year age gap between us. With our relationship, there was the fun drinking – but if I ever needed advice, I could talk to him.

“There were issues on how to drink and how not to drink; you know, the important factors in life!”

But when the pair got down to business, the results spoke for themselves. “It felt natural with Oz. Very rarely would things turn into a math equation, where you needed a manual to figure out a part. If that starts it’s probably not going to happen.”

Wylde weaved in and out of Ozzy’s world through the ‘90s and early ‘00s, before returning in 2017 for the No More Tours II tour – Ozzy's final jaunt. He stuck around for the Prince of Darkness’ Rock and Roll Hall of Fame induction in 2024 and was by his side during his final performance on July 5, 2025, in Birmingham, England.

He smiles as he thinks back to those final moments, calling it “business as usual” – although he notes the priority wasn’t playing, but “making sure that Oz was okay.”

“It was definitely pretty amazing. Seeing Oz onstage when Sabbath got done, that’s the last time I saw him.”

Wylde wanted to give Ozzy space backstage on what that hectic day. Like most of us, he knew the 76-year-old was ill, but didn’t expect him to go so soon. He reflects: “I’m blessed and grateful, man. Anything other than that would be selfish.

“And on top of it, to go out with what’s the biggest-grossing charity event of all? That’s unbelievable. He helped a whole lot of people instead of making a profit. My God, what an incredible master. What an incredible life.”

Save for Tony Iommi, your relationship with Ozzy seemed more familial than his other guitarists.

“Yeah, that’s how I’ve always looked at it. Ozzy is the godfather of our oldest son. Whether I was playing with him or not, if Sharon called me and my wife up and said, ‘Guys, can you watch the house while we’re away on a business trip?’ I’d do it. It’s like, ‘If you need me to bring milk and eggs over, I’ll do it.’”

Was your chemistry with Ozzy immediate when you first met?

“It was – with all your friends in your life, lions attract lions, you know? And the hyenas you hang out with, that sorts itself out later! But Ozzy was the easiest-going, warmest guy. He was so easy to get along with.

“You’re always gonna learn along the way. You trust somebody, then you get screwed on a business deal or whatever. And when anything would happen, Oz would be like, ‘Oh, Zakk, I remember with Sabbath, this or that…’ Things about thinking someone was a good guy, and they end up screwing you over.

“All of us live and learn on our own too, but Oz would always be there. He’d poke me in the eye and I’d be like, ‘What was that for?’ He’d say, ‘Life’s tough, that’s why!’ I’d go, ‘Yeah, but I really didn’t need that.’ He’d go, ‘Whatever – go make me a sandwich, and go light on the Coleman’s!’”

Coming in after Randy Rhoads and Jake E. Lee, you had big shoes to fill. Why do you think Ozzy chose you?

“Because I went light on the Coleman’s! Forget the guitar playing; the way I made ham sandwiches was amazing… my ham sandwiches with Coleman’s are on par with Randy and Jake’s greatness on guitar!

“But with anything, if it works, and it’s easy, that’s how it should be with bands. And relationships in general. Your wife, your friends, anyone – if they don’t bring you peace, why are you with these people? Who needs to be sticking their hand in a boiling pot of water?

“And musically, if you’re with the wrong people, you’ll know. I think all the people who are in bands love music; when you’re together, it’s because you’re into the same type of stuff.”

What was it like making your first Ozzy album, No Rest for the Wicked?

“Back then it was a different thing than it is now. Later I’d be like, ‘Oz, I’ll just record a bunch of stuff and you do whatever you like.’ It was like me lining up a bunch of beers and saying, ‘This is a stout, this is a pale ale, this is a cider. Tell me which you like.’ And then we’d all get blasted – Oz would be like, ‘Zakky, I like all of them!’

“But back then it was just us in a room jamming. We’d be blasting it out in a room.”

What was the first song you and Ozzy worked on together?

“It was Miracle Man. Oz said, ‘Where do I come in with the vocal?’ I said, ‘Why don’t we just do this riff, and you come in and sing on that?’ Nine out of 10 times, the first thing that came out of his mouth was it. He’d say, ‘Zakk, keep playing that riff,’ and we ended up doing that thing.”

Was that how it was on a song like No More Tears?

“With No More Tears we ended up doing that call and response thing, like War Pigs. It was the vocal then the guitar. It was the first thing that came out of his mouth. Very rarely would he go, ‘Zakk, I don’t like what I’m singing on that – let me come up with something better.’”

A lot of fans hold the No More Tears album in the same regard as Blizzard of Ozz and Diary of a Madman. How do you view it?

“I appreciate that, brother. All the bands we love made albums that get them to where they are. It’s like a bodybuilder – you can bench 500 pounds, but to get there, you did 250 pounds, 300 pounds, 350 pounds and 400 pounds. Through those lifts and workouts, you got to the 500 club.

“It’s like Led Zeppelin – if they could have made the fourth album right away, they would have! But you need all the other albums to evolve. Blizzard and Diary were done back-to-back, so Randy didn’t have years to come up with more ideas.

“With the evolution of No Rest for the Wicked to No More Tears, people ask, ‘Did you do anything different?’ My love for the Allman Brothers, Albert Lee, and Lynyrd Skynyrd was creeping in more, so I was trying to maybe incorporate that in more.”

What guitar techniques would you call out to that end?

“Country-type flatpicking stuff on I Don’t Want to Change the World, and on the solos and stuff. And on Mama, I’m Coming Home, there’s a little country thing at the beginning with the pedal steel. That was definitely creeping in more on No More Tears. No Rest for the Wicked was just straight-up metal and hard rock.”

Did you feel it was a natural process, or something else?

“When people ask if I was intentionally doing anything different, I’m always like, ‘No. You just keep writing and writing and writing, and you end up there.’ I think that’s what makes it awesome: the evolution of things, how they change, and what led it there from one record to the next.”

You and Ozzy remained close after you parted ways in the ‘90s and the ’00s. What kept things close while you were separated?

“We’d always keep in touch. People were always like, ‘Zakk, why doesn’t Ozzy have you writing on all his stuff?’ It’s because the songs would often already be written, and Oz would say, ‘Zakk, can you just come in and play?’ I’d go, ‘Yeah, whatever you need me to do.’

“I remember Oz saying, ‘Zakk has left the nest. He’s his own guy now.’ He was like, ‘I don’t want to be the lead singer of Black Label Society!’ And I told everybody, ‘I completely get it, man.’

“It’s like when Jake was having success with Badlands on his own, and it sounded like Badlands. But if you put Ozzy on that stuff, now it’s an Ozzy record. Jake can’t help but write like Jake. It’s the same with me or anyone else, like Eddie Van Halen or Dime.

“So I completely understood what Ozzy was saying. If anything it’s a compliment – like, ‘Zakk, it doesn’t sound like it’s my band anymore; it’s like I’m in your band.’”

What are your memories of the final show? It has to be sobering knowing that those versions of Mama, I’m Coming Home and Crazy Train are the final versions with Ozzy.

“Yeah. They’re ingrained in my head. With Mama, I’m Coming Home, when we got the acoustic out, I had to be like, ‘Keep the guitar away from the microphone so I can sing,’ because Oz’s voice was having trouble at certain notes.

“I was like, ‘I need to make sure I’m always there so I can double him.’ I was like three feet away from the microphone when I started playing the song. I was like, ‘I gotta get near the microphone,’ so I had to almost stop playing, lift the guitar up and put it over the mic.

“It was like juggling balls or chainsaws while being on a skateboard! It was actually pretty funny – but it was business as usual. It’s supposed to be the most important show ever, but everything’s on the fly!”

When was the last time you spoke with Ozzy?

“Everybody and their mother were in the backstage dressing room and I just wanted to give him a break. I figured we’d see him later on – the next day or whatever. But no. The last text I got from Oz was saying, ‘Zakky, sorry, it was like a madhouse back there. I didn’t see you.’ He goes, ‘Thanks for everything.’ It was just us talking, saying, ‘I love you, buddy.’ That was it.”

Where would you be if you’d never met or played with Ozzy?

“I always say, to have music be the thing that turns the lights on at the end of the day, instead of some job that you can’t stand, it’s everything. Everything revolves around playing and music.

“If I didn’t have Oz, without a doubt, I’d continue playing… but it’s how Ozzy would say what The Beatles did for him, you know? What he gave me with Sabbath, and then with Randy and Jake, it’s a beacon of light. It gives you purpose. So even if I hadn’t played with him, he gave me purpose to be a musician. And without a doubt, that’ll always be with me.”

• “We had our ups and downs over the years – I hadn’t spoken to Ozzy since 2017. But I always knew if I reached out, he’d be there for me”: Geezer Butler remembers the genius and humor of his friend and Black Sabbath bandmate Ozzy Osbourne
• “I look over at Zakk and he can’t work the fretboard. I’m screaming at him, ‘It’s from liftin’ them weights!’ I didn’t realize he’d taken all the antibiotics in the bottle”: How Ozzy Osbourne and Zakk Wylde became metal’s most beloved partnership

Deep breath, everyone. We made it. 2025 is drawing to a close, and what a wild ride it’s been. It seems like only yesterday we were knee-deep in the annual NAMM gear avalanche, but a lot has happened since then – and it seems high time to sit back and take a look at what made ’25 such a great year for guitar.

Because there’s no doubt about it. 2025 was a great year for the guitar. There were some historic shows, a once-in-a-lifetime reunion, the emergence of generational guitar talents, a complete tonal revolution, some watershed gear drops… we won’t spoil it at all here, but a lot has happened.

In a year that wasn’t without its sad moments – we lost many guitar and music greats in 2025 – we head into 2026 off the back of a genuinely inspiring 12 months, which will live long in the memory.

So pull up a pew, grab a brew, and take a jolly through our guide to the 25 reasons why 2025 was a great year for guitars – as assembled by Team GW. Starting with…

1. Ozzy Osbourne went out in style – and made a music event a global phenomenon

In July, Ozzy Osbourne headlined Back to the Beginning, a generational farewell concert featuring, deep breath, Metallica, Pantera, Halestorm, Slayer, Alice in Chains, Jake E. Lee, Nuno Bettencourt… this could take all day. Barely two and a half weeks later, he was gone.

My GW online colleague, EIC Michael Astley-Brown, noted at the time that although it was Ozzy’s chance to say goodbye, the evening was also a tribute to Tony Iommi’s singular impact on guitar music, and I couldn’t agree more.

I’m hardly a Sabbath fanatic, but when I heard Ozzy confidently declare, one last time, “we are Black Sabbath!” as the leviathan opening chords of War Pigs rang out around him, I was shocked by how emotional I became.

Mentally, I found myself in my best friend’s basement at 12 years old, him playing Paranoid on his Epiphone SG, me doing Ozzy, then him showing the riff to me (“look how easy it is!”) The freaks storming the castle. “Back to the Beginning”, huh? – JM

2. Guitar solos are big business in pop again – just ask Olivia Rodrigo

‘Move over Taylor Swift: Olivia Rodrigo is this generation’s Eddie Van Halen – her Glastonbury performance proved it’.

Of all the headlines I expected to write this year, this was not it. But that proves the sheer guitar magnetism of Rodrigo’s set at one of the world’s biggest music festivals: session vet Arianna Powell shredding a Jackson Soloist at every opportunity, extended riff breakdowns, Rodrigo herself busting out a Mustang and duetting with the Cure’s Robert Smith. This was no polished pop performance: this was a legit rock show.

Oh, and before you @ me without reading the article, lemme break down that headline: EVH inspired people to pick up the guitar in the ’80s. Taylor Swift was hailed by The Internet as doing the same in the 2010s. And I think Rodrigo will do that for 2020s kids. She is promoting visibility of the electric guitar and its musical lineage at the highest level – and I think that’s pretty rad. – MAB

3. Amp modelers continued to level up – and 2025 was a watershed moment

Every year, something raises the bar in the amp modeling market. But 2025 felt different. It felt bigger. Part of that was the arrival of Helix 2 – AKA Helix Stadium – which reinvented one of the world’s premier floorboard modelers from the ground up with new tech. Part of it was also down to the various updates introduced by Fender, Neural DSP, and Kemper to their own hardware, and the huge strides made by more affordable companies.

But, if we’re being honest, the biggest wave in the modeler market was caused by John Mayer, who created a rip tide when he partnered with Neural DSP for a signature plugin. It is a watershed moment for the industry. A tube amp loyalist putting his faith in digital modeling? A true sign of the times. Expect even more people to make the switch now. If it’s good enough for Mayer, it’s good enough for anyone. – MO

4. Geese and Y2K nostalgia are keeping the dream of the guitar band alive

If you frequent music TikTok – specifically, #indierocktok – chances are you've probably come across Geese. The Brooklyn-based indie-rock band reached new heights this year, arguably becoming “America's most thrilling young rock band” (according to GQ at least).

The Y2K and indie sleaze nostalgia are rife with Geese – you'd be forgiven for mistaking them for a band billed alongside The Strokes at a festival in the early to mid-aughts.

But the band, led by frontman Cameron Winter, are dominating the algorithm and introducing indie rock to a whole new generation, while also keeping the dream of the guitar band alive. – JB

5. People still want their guitar heroes to be worthy of the term

If the whole sorry saga of Giacomo Turra has taught us anything, it’s that originality and credibility are still qualities that we want from our guitar heroes.

The sad fact is that not every guitarist we encounter is technically gifted, exuberantly creative, and treats others with kindness and respect. But let’s just agree not to accept one out of three, OK? Especially, if you’re going to take to social media and portray yourself as a pastel-clad international playboy.

Social media is a delivery mechanism and, used well, a levelling force in championing new music and musicians. On the other hand, you could also argue it’s an unpoliced hellhole and an ecosystem that encourages profile over providence – that need for a reality check has never been more apparent to players. – MP

6. Bad guitar tone is a thing of the past

2025 was the year bad tone got good, and we have mk.gee to thank. The trailblazing tonesmith is not only a leading gen Z guitar hero, but he’s also Eric Clapton’s favorite new guitar player – and he recorded all his anthems with a Tascam 424 preamp. You know, like in that Portastudio you used to own/read about in history books.

Cue two big-brand reincarnations of the recently reappraised preamp via JHS Pedals and Benson Amps, plus one philosophical John Mayer demo, and suddenly, the guitar world found itself reevaluating its sense of tone. Or, at least, GW staff did.

As I posited in my own thesis, ‘Does ‘bad’ guitar tone even exist anymore?’, you could argue that it’s too easy to get a pro-level guitar tone with plugins and modelers these days. Adopting a traditionally maligned one might be the quickest way to stand out. And that’s A Cool Thing: every tone is valid! – MAB

7. The blues is in remarkably good shape, and was the musical driver of a box office smash

“Yeah, that was Buddy Guy! He’s, like, the last of the original bluesmen. He’s a legend!”

I’m in a bar with my friends after we’ve just seen Sinners, the (literally) barnstorming Ryan Coogler-directed horror smash set in early ‘30s Mississippi. Though it’s primarily a vampire movie, Sinners is true to its setting with a score heavily inspired by the haunting acoustic blues of that era and region – with a joint cameo from Christone “Kingfish” Ingram and Buddy Guy linking two generations of the genre together.

I can’t fully explain his role without revealing too much of the story, but Buddy Guy isn’t just our last living line to the real origins of the blues – he’s a hell of an actor, too!

The highest-grossing fully original film in the United States since 2010 (!), Sinners brought the blues to new audiences far and wide.

“They had me play a little spot in a movie,” Guy told Guitar World earlier this year in reference to Sinners, “and I still get more calls about the movie than I do my records!” – JM

8. The Oasis reunion no one thought would happen actually happened

If you asked the Gallagher brothers three years ago whether there’d ever be a chance we’d see them on stage together again, they’d have called you a naughty word and laughed you out the room. Well, we got the last laugh, because that’s exactly what happened. 2025 will forever be remembered as the year Oasis got back together.

Did it help put the spotlight on guitar music? The instrument was in rude health well before the Oasis reunion, but Liam’s son sure thought so. Whatever the case, the Oasis reunion was a cultural and musical phenomenon like no other.

It was also a goldmine for guitar fans. Noel started playing solos again. He had a mystery Les Paul built for the shows, and it broke the internet when it was released as a signature model. Gem Archer and Bonehead also got signature guitars. The biggest music event of the year – Back to the Beginning aside – had guitars at its heart. That alone makes it worthy of praise. But for fans like me, who never thought we’d see the day, it was a helluva ride. – MO

9. Guitar brands are leveling up their budget guitar game

Buying a budget guitar hasn't meant settling for subpar specs for a while now. But some of this year's standout releases were, in fact, guitars at the lower range of the price spectrum – and, frankly, we're here for it.

The T-style PRS SE NF 53 was perhaps this year’s most impressive release, blowing away our reviews team, who described it as “a workingman’s tool pure and simple: any guitar player could use one, which might well qualify it as the most essential guitar yet of 2025”.

The Cort G200SE, Spira T-450, Sterling By Music Man's Intro Series Cutlass, and Jet Guitars' JT-350 BKM H and JJ-300 P90 SFG are also among 2025's standouts. – JB

10. The year hardcore went mainstream – and embraced guitar solos

Yeah, I hear you, ‘hardcore has been going mainstream’ for about five years now, but 2025 feels like a new zenith.

At the head of the pack, still, are Turnstile who returned with Never Enough (tied with Broncho’s Natural Pleasure for my personal album of the year). It got laden with more glowing reviews than an Amazon drop-shipper; enjoyed a previously unthinkable profile on late-night TV; received five Grammy nominations; they played in front of enormous crowds worldwide – and were even asked to rep Fender’s new American Professional Classic line.

They also made a video with a vocalist on a jet ski, a drummer in the desert, and Pat McCory ripping a whammy-laden guitar solo in an alpine valley. The hardcore tag is now largely irrelevant: Turnstile are now looking like a solid bet to be one of the biggest rock bands in the world.

And Turnstile might have broken the mould but they’re not alone. Look at Drain’s Cody Chavez bringing the thrash riffs and shred solos to their last album …Is Your Friend. Hardcore is a changed beast that’s for sure. And all this from a scene in which the biggest flex used to be what kind of van you had… – MP

11. One of the best – and biggest – indie-guitar albums in years arrived

moisturizer confirmed that tongue-very-much-in-cheek Brit-rockers Wet Leg are one of rock’s most exciting new talents. Their second record is a masterpiece: it has the catchiest guitar hooks of the year and the sharpest indie-pop songwriting, tapping into the sweet spot between Pavement and PJ Harvey I never knew I needed.

It’s subverting the genre’s norms, too: Rhian Teasdale and Hester Chambers have been repping B.C. Rich and Kramer shred sticks onstage – and yes (trigger warning, Kevin Shields acolytes), one of them is being used for shoegaze whammy dives. Myles Kennedy and Steve Stevens told us this was their most-listened to album this year. It was mine, too. – MAB

12. TikTok – still kicking, and bringing new audiences to guitar innovation of days past and present

As the sun rose on 2025, it seemed like TikTok would be banned from the US app market, but after a round of rope-tugging between outgoing US President Joe Biden and incoming President Donald Trump, the app lived to see another year – and now it’s bigger than ever before.

Last year, it brought the Darkness’s seminal I Believe In A Thing Called Love, 20 years later, back to the top of the US Rock charts, and this year, it brought a three-decade-old slow-burning Radiohead ballad that nearly broke the band up back, improbably, into the Billboard Hot 100.

It also brought my personal favorite guitar riff of the year – the nasty, nylon-string one that drives Hudson Freeman’s If You Know Me – to the attention of John Mayer. Everyone and their brother has a take on whether TikTok is a force for bad or good, but its power to elevate tunes, riffs, and players into – or back into – the limelight, is indisputable. – JM

13. The metal offset campaign reaches its conclusion

“Are we still talking about metal offsets in 2025?” I hear you ask. Well, yes, we are, because although it’s been a topic of conversation the past few years, the campaign to have them back in the mainstream finally came to a head in 2025.

After spending over a year ogling at Misha Mansoor’s Surfcaster, and drooling over Mike Stringer’s Charvel, our thirst for an accessible offset was quenched when Jackson revived the Surfcaster as an ultra-affordable model at NAMM. Lee Malia was then given a signature version. Aristides also unveiled its STX collection, designed with Stringer.

Sure, some brands have been doing this for a while – Balaguer for one – but before 2025 these things were always a rarity, reserved only for high-end or signature models. The democratization of the metal offset came to the forefront this year. Long may it continue. – MO

14. The notion of the guitar hero is far from dead – it's just being redefined

Who says the concept of the “guitar hero” is dead – or a long-forgotten relic of the past? Like any other notion, it has simply transformed and adapted to the 2020s and the digital age.

Yungblud immediately springs to mind: the Ozzy Osbourne protégé and Aerosmith collaborator has proven he's the embodiment of a 21st-century rockstar. His Back to the Beginning performance was perhaps the most defining “passing of the torch” moment – but rest assured, he's not on his own.

Thomas Raggi, Grace Bowers, Diamond Rowe, Yvette Young, Tim Henson, Christone “Kingfish” Ingram, Sophie Lloyd, Yoyoyoshie, Mateus Asato, Geese's Emily Green and Spiro are just a few of the younger generation of guitarists who are challenging the traditional notion of “guitar hero,” and proving to everyone that, while it may look slightly different, rock ’n’ roll is far from dead. – JB

15. Collaboration not confrontation

It would be a brave writer proclaiming that the guitar industry is not somewhat cutthroat in its business dealings, but it does feel that in the face of adversity in the last 12 months, we’ve seen it pull together in a new way.

NAMM have been directly lobbying Washington over the impact of tariffs, pedal builders (who admittedly have a more fraternal approach among those in the boutique clique) have been highlighting their own plight, and firms of all stripes are realizing they’re in it together when it comes to raising awareness of the cost implications of changing import policies.

On a similar-but-different note, guitar-makers seem to be taking a much more pluralistic approach to their signature deals (Cory Wong’s signature Strat and StingRay, for example) – understanding that it’s better to have the right artist’s name on some of their gear, than force them to commit completely and risk it being on nothing.

I don’t think we’re going to see Gibson and Fender falling out of a bar together anytime soon, but the idea that an iconic guitarist might want to acknowledge that they play both a Strat and a Les Paul no longer seems unthinkable in the eyes of the corporate machine. – MP

16. We got a new contender for Mayer-level feel

Put me in a (gentle, please) headlock, and ask me to name the most lyrical guitar players on the planet, and Mayer and Trucks would be the first names out of my mouth. Buck, if you need a third. But Maya Delilah would be next.

The Fender-backed 25-year-old’s first album on storied jazz label Blue Note dropped this year, and highlights her off-the-charts feel – the dynamic control and soul-searching note choices are pure storytelling. No wonder, given how intertwined she finds lyrics and leads. “If I’ve said exactly what I want to say lyrically, I feel like I need to mirror that with feeling when I play the guitar,” she told us.

It’s not all aching neo-soul solos, though: Delilah does a mean line in sleazy Prince funk and skronky fuzz, too. We can’t wait to see where she goes next. – MAB

17. Jake Kiszka and Chris Turpin conjured old-school guitar magic on Mirador’s debut album

Back in May, Greta Van Fleet’s Jake Kiszka and Ida Mae’s Chris Turpin stopped by Guitar World’s NYC headquarters to discuss their influences and how their six-string chemistry developed, and to play through a selection of the heaviest (and sweetest) tunes featured on the self-titled debut album from their new project, Mirador.

With their partnership hardly public knowledge at that point, I didn’t quite know what to expect when I joined my GW colleagues in the studio for the session. Seeing them plug in and rip from a few feet away, though, showed clear as day the unique wavelength these two found together. Listen to the thundering Mirador standout Fortune's Fate – with its whirlwind Kiszka solo – to hear it for yourself. – JM

18. Jacob Collier’s five-string revolution opened up new ways to think about playing

If 2024 was the year Jacob Collier became known for his guitar chops, 2025 was the year he put in a serious case for being a modern-day guitar hero. He might not be shredding at the speed of light, but he’s doing something even more important: he’s encouraging people to approach the guitar in new ways.

He’s doing that through his five-string guitars, and a symmetrical open tuning that makes playing chords hugely accessible. It also opens up whole new paths for exploring the instrument, and is a reminder that, when we think everything there is to discover has been discovered, there’s still room for so much more.

The proof is in the pudding. Collier’s five-string Strandberg was more popular than the six-string. Players are buying into the five-string. We dare say it could soon be a mainstream option. Viva la revolución. – MO

19. Guitarist biopics are all the rage

2025 has been the year of music – and specifically guitarist – biopics.

The Bob Dylan biopic (and a big shout-out to Joan Baez as well), A Complete Unknown, was released in 2024 but continued buzzing all the way through 2025 with eight Oscar nominations – not too shabby!

Bruce Springsteen’s Deliver Me from Nowhere followed, with high hopes to replicate the success of Dylan’s biopic, albeit to mixed reviews.

Hollywood is also betting big on director Sam Mendes’ four (yes, four) Beatles biopics, while finally shining a long-overdue spotlight on Sister Rosetta Tharpe in an upcoming film starring popstar Lizzo. Oh, and did I mention that the first – and only – authorized biopic of B.B. King was just announced? – JB

20. The redemption of Jake E. Lee

Back to the Beginning was an emotional experience for a lot of reasons, but for me, one of the most compelling parts was the long-overdue redemption of Jake E. Lee in the eyes of Ozzy fans and the wider guitar community.

The man’s main sin of the last 40+ years has essentially been the fact that he was not Randy Rhoads, which is an affliction that I think we can all relate to. But the fact is he was there when he was needed, he did fine work in a tough situation with Bark at the Moon and he – quite literally – did not get the credit he was due.

More miraculously, he mostly refused to badmouth the Ozzy camp, chalking a move that would have destroyed lesser players up to ‘business’.

To see him take to the stage, and to his shock, be greeted by a stadium full of Ozzy fans, led by Nuno Bettencourt, all chanting his name was incredibly moving. – MP

21. It’s easier than ever to practice guitar – and it’s never sounded better

Bit of a personal one, this: I became a dad this year and am therefore legally obliged to tell you about it. My new arrival has made me not only value every spare minute I can find to play guitar, but also realize how fortunate we are to have so many handy practice doodads. I have become reliant on headphones and extremely low-volume mini amps whenever my newborn blesses us with 10 minutes of sleep.

There were some big shifts in that arena this year: Positive Grid brought the price of guitar amp headphones way down with the Spark Neo and Core, and Blackstar and IK Multimedia dropped some serious guitar-jack units that offer proper big-rig tones. It’s devices like this that can keep your skills ticking over when you have to fit the guitar around the people that you love. – MAB

22. Legacy bands gave the people what they want

Each of the last five consecutive decades, guitarist extraordinaire Robert Fripp has completely reinvented the sound and onstage repertoire of his band, King Crimson, and he’s never apologized for it.

With that in mind, one might assume that he’d regard the idea of a group devoted to performing the band’s knotty ‘80s material with disdain. Quite to the contrary, he was delighted by the formation of BEAT – a group comprised of two Crimson alums – vocalist/guitarist Adrian Belew and bass maestro Tony Levin – Tool drummer Danny Carey, and none other than Steve Vai. Fripp even offered some tips to Vai as BEAT worked through their first gigs.

Former frontman John Lydon (Johnny Rotten) has been much less enthusiastic about punk legends the Sex Pistols reuniting with Frank Carter in his place, but the band’s shows have proven to be a rousing success.

Age hasn’t dwindled the audiences for these and countless other legacy acts, and as long as they’re there, many of these bands and artists will be happy to give fans new and old what they crave to hear. – JM

23. Gear nostalgia hit new heights

For every action, there is an equal and opposite reaction. That means, for every step taken in the direction of a futuristic digital utopia, there is also a move to embrace the gear and tones that have come before us.

That force was particularly apparent in 2025, especially through the gear drops that took place and the playing habits of guitarists. JHS Pedals released the Tascam-aping 424 Gain Stage. Gibson and Epiphone launched a Back to the Future ES-345. MXR’s MX100 Rockman repurposed cult classic ’80s tones.

And everyone went nuts for it. Reverb’s end of year stats show the MXR topped its new-to-2025 best-selling pedals. The Epiphone did the same for the guitar list. As companies use cutting edge tech to push the boundaries of guitar gear, it seems an appetite for cult kit of yesteryear is gaining traction. – MO

24. Movie and TV soundtracks are prioritizing guitar

Guitarists have long lent their chops to movie soundtracks. Radiohead's Jonny Greenwood has carved out a niche for himself as a composer, scoring the likes of 2021's The Power of the Dog and 2017's Phantom Thread, while Jimmy Page leveraged his session musician days to write, produce and record an array of instruments for the Death Wish II and III soundtracks.

The tradition continues with each generation of guitarists – in 2025, Yvette Young, Tim Henson, and IDLES played key roles in soundtracks for blockbusters Superman and F1, and Darren Aronofsky’s Caught Stealing, respectively – while shows like Cobra Kai continued to recruit top guitar talent to their musical dojo.

As Young herself told Guitar World earlier this year, in an increasingly oversaturated (and expensive) touring environment, “it's really difficult to figure out how to monetize certain things, especially with streaming being so ass at paying.”

Therefore, soundtracks are proving to be one of the remaining solid avenues where guitarists (and musicians at large) can flex their creativity and still get fairly compensated. – JB

25. AI in music gear = good, AI in music-writing = bad

“Create a statement of 150 words on why AI is good and bad for creativity in 2025.” Oh, hello. My apologies, I was talking to someone else…

AI is now, officially, all-up in just about everything. Gear-wise, it’s gone from ‘press release-worthy’ to ‘accepted norm’ in the space of a year. The debate rumbles on, but I think we can broadly define the conclusion of the musician community thus far as ‘AI in gear = useful’ and ‘AI in writing music = bad’.

The fundamental point of the tech, of course, is to offload all of the boring, repetitive, and fiddly stuff that we don’t want to, or cannot deal with, to leave us free to focus on the things we do want to do. I have a hard time accepting AI will replace musicians, because music is the thing we do for fun, whether listening, or consuming it. It’s, quite frankly, the last thing I’d wish to automate, or direct towards all my copyright material.

The point of music, and any culture, is to express emotions and connect people, to create literal and emotional resonance between humans. I think that process is broken by AI writing or song generation.

On the other hand, browsing and creating patches on a modeler? For me, that often gets in the way of playing, so if I can ask AI to knock a patch together as a starting point, then, I for one, welcome our new robot overlords. – MP

Brian May has gifted Tony Iommi a custom-made replica of his iconic Red Special guitar – and it has two unique features.

May famously crafted the electric guitar with his father, and the DIY home build has been his partner in crime throughout his entire career.

Alongside a Vox AC30 and a treble booster – two gear picks inspired by Rory Gallagher – the Red Special was pivotal in creating May's one-of-a-kind guitar tone, and now his fellow-Gibson endorsee and close friend has gotten his own small chapter in the guitar’s history books.

“Huge thanks to my best friend, Brian May, and master builder Andrew Guyton [of Guyton Guitars] for this incredible left-handed Red Special replica,” Iommi writes on Instagram. “Andrew personally delivered it last week – a true gift from Brian, two years in the making. Christmas came early!”

The guitar is built to the exact vintage construction of May’s original, save for the left-handed configuration and one other key tweak – its neck has been shaped to match that of Iommi’s iconic Jaydee Old Boy SG.

The rest, from its built-in treble booster, vintage-style pots, and replica pickups, are just as May would have it. Maybe it’ll feature on Iommi's long-awaited solo album.

May, who has remained loyal to his Red Special over the years, surprised the guitar community when he signed with Gibson last year. And yes, that means that Gibson-made Murphy Lab Red Specials are very much on the cards, but a signature 12-string acoustic has been the only official collaborative launch so far.

May and Iommi share a close friendship, having first met in the early ‘70s. Last year, they sat down to talk riffs and jam Black Sabbath’s Paranoid together – even though May knew it was “sacrilege” to play along.

Meanwhile, Steve Vai enlisted the help of Guyton for a tasteful reimagining of the Red Special, and fans have been going mad for it.

As the CEO of one of the world’s most important guitar brands, Gibson’s Cesar Gueikian has a pretty full plate.

Between developing new models, paying homage to Gibson’s heritage, bringing back long-lost designs, teasing upcoming launches on social media, expanding the company’s physical presence through various Garage stores and more, you’d be forgiven for thinking that Gueikian would struggle to find time to squeeze a new hobby into his hectic schedule.

But that’s not the case. While spinning the many plates that come with the job of Gibson CEO, Gueikian has also committed considerable time to learning the meticulous art of guitar making.

He has, for the past four years, been honing his skills as a luthier, gaining exposure and improving his understanding of each step of the process, from spec sheet to shred ready.

These are no novelty instruments, though. Rather, they are an collection of unique high-end electric guitars borne out of Gueikian’s passion for Gibson guitars and desire to inject them with something different. Something, in his own words, “epic”.

Gueikian charts all of his builds on his Instagram, and they’ve been gaining some traction. Hollywood star Jason Momoa – or, more specifically, Momoa’s son – is the proud owner of CEO-2, a decidedly James Hetfield-esque Explorer.

There’s also the CEO-1 – a Les Paul whose creation was documented via a social media series – and the Victory-styled CEO-3.

The most notable CEO model, though, is the CEO-4 – a Ghost Burst SG that Gueikian built and gave to Kirk Hammett, who played it at Ozzy Osbourne and Black Sabbath’s final show, Back to the Beginning, for Metallica’s cover of Hole in the Sky.

That custom double-cut – which was named by Adam Jones, admired by Tony Iommi, and played by the Metallica great – is one of Gueikian’s most prized creations to date, and recently sold for $76,800 at auction in support of the Gibson Gives foundation.

We caught up with Gueikian before the auction to find out more about his guitar-making journey to date, and how the CEO-4 ended up playing a starring role at one of metal music’s most historic events.

How did the CEO series start for you? What inspired you to get into guitar building?

It started with an interest in building a guitar from beginning to end, and that changed over time. My initial thought was, ‘How interesting would it be to build a guitar from beginning to end, and learn the process of doing that?’

That was the first one. It took me three months, because I was going to the craftories for a few hours every Friday morning. Once I finished it, I realized it wasn't about the guitar. It was about the process of learning and working with our people, getting them to teach me how to do something.

I really enjoyed the whole process of getting to know them better, getting to learn from them, and that's what triggered in my mind, ‘This is something that I want to keep doing.’ Not only that, there's an opportunity here as we can auction them off for our foundation and do something really good for Gibson Gives.

That's been really one of the most enjoyable moments for me in my Gibson career. I get to work, and I get to learn from our people, and that's been amazing for me. It just fulfills me.

I didn't think of it this way. At the beginning, I thought, ‘I want to build a guitar.’ And I realized it was no longer about the guitars, but it was about the moment. It was about being there in the craftories, working, learning from them and what all of that has done for our company, and particularly for my relationship with our people.

Were there any particular learning curves or challenges that perhaps you weren’t expecting when it came to making a guitar?

There are so many very difficult things that happen in all the steps of making a Gibson. The first real challenge for me was learning how to do binding, so that the binding would be perfect and there would be no air pockets.

Neck fitting was really challenging. That's one of the processes where – because the binding can maybe have a couple of defects and they're going to be cosmetic – if that's not done properly, then the guitar won’t be playable. Beyond that, there's so many steps of sanding.

I knew about all these processes and how long they took, because I spent a lot of time in the craftories before. But once I really started making them, then I had a very different level of appreciation of how difficult it is.

With the sanding of the neck, I made mistakes. I went a little too far, and that's not something that can be repaired once you start eating into the wood to a certain degree. And gluing – it sounds simple, but if not done properly you can end up with air pockets in many different places. They're going to render the guitar unusable.

Once I started applying finishes, that took me a long time to get right. I had to do a lot of practice sprays to be able to control my arm in a way that was not overshadowing the guitar. For example, I was doing a perimeter burst, like I did for the one that Kirk Hammett played, and that required a lot of practice to be able to apply it.

We ended up calling [the finish] Ghost Burst. The idea for the name came from Adam Jones. I sent him a picture of it because I thought it was really cool and I knew that he would like it. Then he came back to me and he said, ‘That looks like a Ghost Burst.’

How do you go about spec’ing a CEO guitar?

I wanted to do an SG that had a highly figured maple top, so that the type of finish I had in mind would really pop. I've always really liked the Super 400 inlays that we also use in the Supreme line, but then I also really love the headstock of the Les Paul Custom with the Split Diamond. So that's what I had in my mind when I was thinking about that particular guitar.

Normally, I try to think of things that we're not doing that would be unique. The ideas that I have, I socialize those with the team, and then we develop something that is unique, so that when somebody uses it, or I get to use it, on stage, not only was it built by me, but it's also a unique guitar.

How did the collaboration with Kirk Hammett for Back to the Beginning come about?

I had in my mind that this show was happening, so I knew that if I built an SG as a tribute to Tony Iommi, somebody would probably be interested in using it. It just happened to be that I was talking to Kirk at the time that I was finishing it, and I told him, ‘I have something that I think you're gonna like for the Back to the Beginning show.’

When I finished it, I sent him a picture and said, ‘Here it is. Do you want to use it?’ And he replied in all caps, ‘YES.’ We were talking about other things that we were doing together, and it just occurred to me, ‘Maybe I'll just run it by him first…’

What was his reaction to the guitar? Did he have any comments or feedback?

We sent it to him so that he could put it through his rig for a couple of soundchecks before. He said he really loved it, and it was going to be the perfect guitar for Hole in the Sky [the Black Sabbath cover they played] and also as a way for him to pay tribute to Tony.

What was it like seeing one of your CEO guitars on stage for such a historic concert?

That was the coolest. I mean, that guitar is definitely the one that is the most special in that sense because, first it was Kirk with Metallica who used it, and also at that particular show, paying tribute to Black Sabbath and to Ozzy.

For me, particularly, being so close to Tony [Iommi], personally, and having picked up a guitar because of Black Sabbath and because of Tony, that was super special for me.

Did Tony have anything to say about it?

He loved it. He loved the gesture. He loved the story that I built it. When I say I built it, I say again, with the help of everybody [at the craftories]. He was pretty excited about it.

There have been a few artist connections to the CEO series. Which one does Jason Momoa have?

CEO-2, the White Explorer. It’s an Explorer with the ‘84 wiring diagram, so it's got the toggle switch by the volume knob like James [Hetfield's] original.

I told [Jason Momoa], ‘I'm building this guitar,’ and I left it there. I knew that he would love it because he loves Metallica. He came back to me before Christmas a couple of years ago and asked, ‘Have you finished that guitar? That would be the perfect gift for Wolfie [his son].’

He ended up getting it and contributing a pretty significant amount to our Gibson Gives Foundation, for which we are very grateful. It all worked out really nicely with that one nice.

The CEO8 and CEO4 are being auctioned off for Gibson Gives. What’s the foundation’s mission?

“For Gibson Gives, we have this mission of saving people's lives through music. We can do that through scholarships and funding, we can do it one guitar at a time. That could be guitars that we donate to music schools, or it could be guitars like this that we auction off to fund scholarships and many of the other causes that we fund.

“I get really excited when we get to do things like that. We get to promote healing through music in many different variations. That’s something that's very important to us.”

• Visit Julien's Auctions to learn more about the CEO-4.

Tony Iommi will raffle off one of his Gibson SG guitars to give back to the hospital where he received his cancer treatment.

The Black Sabbath guitarist and forefather of heavy metal was diagnosed with lymphoma at Birmingham’s Heartlands Hospital in 2012. He would go on to battle the disease for four years, entering remission in 2016.

Now, he’s hoping the sale of his personal SG will contribute to the hospital’s £150,000 (approx $195,000) fundraising appeal, which will fund the refurbishment of its cancer treatment center.

Fans will have a one-month window to purchase a raffle ticket for the electric guitar, with Iommi set to announce when the raffle is live via his Instagram.

“It was a terrible shock,” Iommi says, speaking to the BBC of his diagnosis. “It's really hard when you're going through that. You just never think until you're in that situation, and I know how difficult it is, and how they feel. I like to be able to give something back and be involved and help.”

Chief on the refurbishment’s shopping list are special chairs designed for chemotherapy patients.

“The more comfortable you can make the patient, the better,” Iommi reflects, looking back at his own experiences. “I know when I was in, they treated me so well, that everybody was so nice, the nurses were nice, everybody was great. To have the right environment means a hell of a lot.”

Iommi, who re-released his signature pickup set with Gibson over the summer, is back at work on his new solo album following Black Sabbath’s history-making Back to the Beginning bow out. He has admitted he’s in no rush to finish a record that’s set to involve orchestrations and Kemper amp modelling.

He’s also spoken about his long-running love affair with the SG, including why he shunned Les Pauls for them despite craving an LP for years, and the disappearance of two of his special white models.

Meanwhile, another SG – the mystery axe that Kirk Hammett played at Back to the Beginning – is headed to auction.

Ozzy Osbourne and Black Sabbath’s final show, Back to the Beginning, featured some of hard rock and metal’s best-known talents performing their own renditions of both seminal and deep-cut Sabbath and Ozzy tracks.

Halestorm were one of the bands that made up the historic lineup, which also included Mastodon, Anthrax, Tool, Alice In Chains, Guns N' Roses, and Metallica, to name a few. However, as they reveal in a recent interview, the show's set list wasn't cemented until just a few weeks before the event.

"When we got the call, ‘Sharon's asking you to be a part of this,’ we're like, is this real?” Lzzy Hale tells Guitar World's Paul Riario.

“There was this email. It was like, ‘Hey, Sabbath is gonna play one last gig with the original four members, and maybe Metallica might be there. Do you guys wanna be on the show?’” relates lead guitarist Joe Hottinger.

“We're like, ‘Well, yeah, of course.’ And that's all we knew about it. Then they announced it, and we were like, ‘Oh, this is a whole thing.’”

Halestorm ended up putting their own spin on Perry Mason, from Ozzy's 1995 record, Ozzmosis. However, it wasn't their original choice – or what they had prepared for.

“That wasn't what we were going to be playing until about two weeks out. We were going to be playing A National Acrobat off Sabbath Bloody Sabbath,” explains Hale.

“We worked up A National Acrobat, and then Morello was like, ‘Hey, you can't do that. I think Metallica was gonna [do that]...’ ‘All right, fine,’” continues Hottinger.

“He's like, ‘Tony Iommi hasn't made up the set list... It's up in the air with that one,’” adds Hale.

When A National Acrobat was axed, Perry Mason felt like a natural choice, since, as Hottinger relays, “When we came up, listening to rock ’n’ roll in the ’90s, Ozzmosis was out, [and] that song was the one on the radio.”

In more Halestorm news, Hale recently revealed how a “fluke accident” resulted in her band opening for Heaven & Hell during what would be Ronnie James Dio’s last show before he died.

As a low-key player’s player, Jo Burt has provided bass for The Troggs, Freddie Mercury, Brian Setzer and Black Sabbath – but he doesn’t single out his short touring stint with Tony Iommi’s band as a career highlight.

“Playing at Wembley Stadium with my own band, Sector 27, would be one,” he tells Bass Player. “And possibly opening for The Police at Madison Square Garden might be another.” When it comes to recording, he adds, “working with Freddie is a high point.”

He did learn an important lesson from Sabbath, though – the importance of retaining freedom. “I have my own band, which has been up and running for a few years. It’s allowed me to get back to writing, as in the early years with Sector 27.”

He adds: “Being in control has been of huge importance in my life. In the Black Sabbath time I had none. I’m also happy to be free of the industry, which I now realize is and always has been corrupt. No regrets!”

When you played with The Troggs, how did you nail their classic garage rock tone?

“The Troggs were my first pro band. In 1978, when we played New York City, the Ramones and the New York Dolls were in the audience along with Mick Jagger, Bruce Springsteen, Deborah Harry and Andy Warhol. Reg Presley was treated like the godfather of punk, and the band had taken on the mantle.

“I’d recently bought a silver Music Man StingRay bass. It had a great maple neck which felt like a Fender. I was lucky to have an Ampeg SVT supplied by the club, which I set to my usual tone – slight mid-cut with slight bass and treble boost.

“What I hadn’t reckoned on was the EQ on the Music Man bass, which was actually more clanky than I expected. If you listen to The Troggs Live at Max’s, the bass sound is not really my thing – but boy, does it push Ronnie Bond and the band along!

“I didn’t keep the Music Man; I couldn’t get on with all that EQ and choices. I’m back to a fretted Precision as a companion to my lovely ‘battered blonde’ fretless.”

You played bass on Freddie Mercury’s Mr. Bad Guy album. What led to that?

“Sector 27 was being looked after by Elton John’s manager, John Reid, and we did extensive touring as the opening act for Elton. John had also managed Queen, and the contact with Freddie remained.

“I had also worked with Roger Taylor and Rick Parfitt on a single for Jimmy Nail, so I was already in the family of musicians around Freddie. On one of those clubbing nights out that used to happen, Freddie asked me to come to Munich.”

Did you err toward John Deacon’s bass style?

“Freddie told me to be free-thinking and not to worry about trying to be John. My style was similar anyway – ‘less is more’ has always been a mantra. I guess it was old-fashioned in the days when bass guitars were getting attention from manufacturers who were starting to offer fancy, ever more sophisticated basses.”

What were Freddie’s expectations of you as a bassist?

“On so many recording sessions for major artists, those artists are never actually there. If they are, they tend to instruct from the control room via microphone. But Freddie was a remarkable musician and totally on it in the studio.

“In the control room, or even sitting in the recording room with me, he was throwing ideas back and forth, encouraging me to experiment. He was careful to keep me at ease while being this whirlwind of ideas. Like Michael Jackson, he was able to sing the parts he wanted played.

“Freddie liked to work fast. He used to say, ‘If it’s not brilliant by the third take, move on – maybe come back tomorrow.’ On his his vocal takes that rule was never needed. Once he was prepared, his tracks were all first takes.”

You played fretless on Mr. Bad Guy. What led to that?

“Freddie had specifically asked. He really wanted to get away from all things Queen, although he was has happy enough when Brian and Roger dropped by and even made suggestions.

“Aside from some light compression applied from the control desk, it was just me and my lovely battered fretless bass plugged in direct.”

How did you hook up with Jason Bonham in Virginia Wolf?

“I got a call one day from Roger, saying he was producing this great band but they needed beefing up. He had secured Jason to play drums, and wanted me on bass. I did kind of jump at the idea! That afternoon Jason and I were certainly beefing up those tracks at Pete Townshend’s studio.”

Was the chemistry between you and Jason immediate?

“I felt a certain responsibility for this young man bouncing around like a scared bunny, following desperately in his late father’s footsteps. Eventually, being on tour in the US with him was definitely a challenge, but a nice one.

“Jason and I locked in as a rhythm section immediately. He played and sounded like his dad. After listening to Led Zeppelin II over and over at school, I was allowed to use the influence from those tracks. It was probably the first time that I acknowledged John Paul Jones’ influence. Later on, even Robert Plant said I played like him!

“After two years, Virginia Wolf crashed and burned in the flame of inexperience and internal pettiness. It was a shame – Atlantic Records had backed the band a few quid for their attempt at domination in the USA.”

What led to you getting the call for Black Sabbath’s Eternal Idol tour?

“Phil Banfield had been Virginia Wolf’s manager. He managed Ian Gillan and he was part of a bigger set-up which included Jeff Beck and Black Sabbath. When he heard Sabbath needed a last-minute replacement for their European Eternal Idol tour, he called me.”

Was there an audition?

“There was no time for an audition! I just arrived at production rehearsals, with the huge stage, sound system and lights already in place. The sound desk was set up at a distance in the aircraft-style hangar. The only rehearsal I had was a couple of days, listening to a cassette of the show and a copy of the album.”

Were you expected to play a rig and in a style similar to Geezer Butler’s?

“The rig set was three Ampeg SVT amplifiers, each with an 8x12 cabinet. As it happens I had my own SVT set up – my amp of choice – so I was familiar with them, except there were three!

“Even so, the sound wasn’t right, and after a few run-throughs, Tony said the same thing. I’d had the first amp taken away because it was distorting like crazy; the pre-amp valves had been tweaked into overdrive. Then the penny dropped.

“We put that amp back in line and the distorted sound gave my bass loads of sustain, which made Tony smile. It took some getting used to – the bass was like an animal in my hands. It was difficult to stop it resonating. My trouser legs were flapping with the sound pressure from the three big cabs!

“As a 20-something, I was more Led Zep than Sabbath. I knew the more well-known Sabbath songs, but I did struggle with identifying one or two of the titles. I was certainly not able to play like Geezer when he would virtually play a bass solo over the instrumental parts; there just wasn’t the time to learn them accurately.

“I always felt I was playing an approximation when the band launched into some of those riffs in faster time changes.”

Can you pinpoint how your style specifically differed from Geezer’s?

“My style was more melodic. But you have to remember that I followed a long list of bass players, and it was really only the earlier songs that had his style. Bob Daisley played on the Eternal Idol album.

“War Pigs was a classic which I enjoyed playing, although the solo sections were always a challenge. Glory Ride was an easy rocker. I really liked the tracks we played from the Eternal Idol album as well as the classics. It feels like a privilege to have played Iron Man.”

Was it a challenge being on the road with Sabbath during those lean ’80s years?

“Travelling was absolutely fine. Me and drummer Terry Chimes had met when he was with The Clash and I was with Tom Robinson. Tony Martin was also a newbie, so I guess there was some nervous energy on the tour bus.

“Jeff Nicholls was a funny guy and very friendly. After years of playing offstage, he had no ego; he was a very present friend to me while travelling. Tony had that classic Brummie sense of humor, which matched with Jeff, so all in all it was pretty comfortable – with four-star hotels included.

“It only felt lean when tour manager Richard Cole dragged me out of the bus, still in my sleeping bag, and told me, ‘Hurry up! We’re all going home.’”

Did he give an explanation?

“I’m not sure why the tour ended so abruptly. All the gear was impounded by the sound and light company, who hadn’t been paid. I never got a bunch of my gear returned, although I did eventually get my fretless back. People don’t get sacked from Sabbath; they just don’t get spoken to again!”

You’ve also worked with Brian Setzer.

“I knew him through his time in England with the Stray Cats, when we often hung out. I met him again in the Rainbow in LA and his first comment was, ‘My bass player’s got an attitude. Do you want the gig?’

“I had a Precision-style Peavey bass stored at a friend’s house. I hadn’t played it very much, but it meant I was able to get straight to rehearsal the next day. Even that bass felt a little over-spec for the hillbilly rock ’n’ roll we playing. I felt I should have had a semi, like an old Epiphone Rivoli bass.

“Brian was a great guy and a truly talented guitar player. He also introduced me to the best Mexican restaurant in Hollywood, which I still visit when I can!”

What are you up to now?

“The Jo Burt Experience have released four albums – the most recent one is Anglicana. We’ve done four tours of British Columbia and Calgary. France and Belgium have also been happy hunting grounds. It’s all done as a cottage industry.

“Most recently, I released a superb live album entitled Jo Burt The Live Experience in limited-edition vinyl. It’s due to be cut at Abbey Road in for a spring 2026 release.”

• Anglicana is out now.

Without a single doubt, the most familiar character in heavy metal, the late Ozzy Osbourne, was presented to the public as a madman, a maniac and a court jester whose life was a constant ricochet from one chaotic episode to another.

There was a degree of truth to this exaggerated persona – in his younger years, Ozzy was definitely prone to extreme actions when under the influence of alcohol or drugs – but he also earned our sympathy for his flaws, our admiration for his music and our respect for his talent for recognizing guitar genius.

Born John Michael Osbourne in the war-damaged suburb of Aston in Birmingham, England, on December 3, 1948, Ozzy (as we’ll call him from now on) was one of six children to Jack and Lillian Osbourne, a toolmaker and factory worker. At school he enjoyed acting in drama productions and, quitting education at age 15, became a singer in various short-lived Aston bands.

He was also a part-time criminal, if an ineffective one; he was jailed twice, once for stealing clothes and again for punching a police officer in the face.

The Army wouldn’t take him (“They told me to fuck off,” he later admitted) and he was obliged to take on a sequence of terrible jobs, including one in an abbattoir and another in the truly hellish environment of a car-horn factory.

Ozzy first sang alongside guitarist Tony Iommi, bassist Terence “Geezer” Butler and drummer Bill Ward in the Polka Tulk Blues Band, renamed Polka Tulk and then Earth before borrowing their permanent name from the 1963 horror film Black Sabbath.

Iommi was briefly recruited by the folk-rock act Jethro Tull, leaving Sabbath for two weeks and appearing on screen in The Rolling Stones Rock and Roll Circus film alongside John Lennon, the Who and other stars of 1968.

Returning to Sabbath after a falling-out with Tull’s Ian Anderson, Iommi instated a strict rehearsal schedule for Osbourne, Butler and Ward, elevating the nascent heavy metal band’s professionalism and signing with a manager, Jim Simpson. A deal with Vertigo followed.

According to rock ’n’ roll lore, Black Sabbath recorded their first, Rodger Bain-produced album for a miserly £600 (of Simpson’s money) on a four-track machine. An aspiring engineer on the LP, laid down in London’s Tottenham Court Road, was Tom Allom, later to find fame as a platinum-status producer for Judas Priest.

Black Sabbath went on to define a whole new genre of music, with thick, industrial riffing and intimidating devices such as the flattened fifth, or tritone, that made the title track both memorable and spooky.

Ozzy’s role in all this was to deliver Butler’s creepy lyrics in an untrained monotone and to stalk the stage while exhorting Sabbath’s steadily growing crowds to “go fuckin’ mental,” a catchphrase he would reuse for the next 50 years.

In 1970 Sabbath released their second album, Paranoid, with the title track becoming their biggest chart single to date. Was it a ripoff of Led Zeppelin’s Communication Breakdown? You decide.

Meanwhile, Hand of Doom, Fairies Wear Boots and the almighty Iron Man gained them a new coterie of fans, especially after the band completed their first U.S. tour in the autumn, supporting Canned Heat, the Faces, Love and the James Gang.

On a later American run in 1971, Sabbath took Yes and, perhaps oddly, Fleetwood Mac out as opening acts.

This was Sabbath’s golden period, with 1971’s Master of Reality, ’72’s Vol. 4 and the utterly sumptuous Sabbath Bloody Sabbath (1973) elevating them to the upper echelons of metal, although fans and critics referred to classic songs such as Sweet Leaf, Children of the Grave, Into the Void, Supernaut, Snowblind and Spiral Architect as “acid rock” and other groovy terms at the time.

The downsides (cocaine binges, writer’s block, exhaustion, the beginnings of addiction) were obvious by the time Sabotage – high points of which included Hole in the Sky and Symptom of the Universe – rolled around in 1975.

Still, career high points were many; Sabbath’s show-stealing appearance at the California Jam festival the previous year, alongside Emerson, Lake & Palmer and Deep Purple, had been witnessed by more than 250,000 people.

No band could maintain this level of momentum, especially as Sabbath were being ripped off on all sides by management and their record label, and the quality slipped with 1976’s experimental Technical Ecstasy. Ozzy actually quit in September 1977 and attempted to put together a solo band while Sabbath recruited the little-known Dave Walker as his replacement.

Persuaded to return for 1978’s sub-par Never Say Die!, its title indicative of the group’s depressed state, Ozzy did his level best despite his fondness for booze and substances. His efforts were in vain; the album failed to impress fans, who now had an energetic new form of music to listen to – punk rock.

More or less impossible to work with by this point, Ozzy was fired in 1979 and promptly sank into a bottle, only rescued by Sharon Levy, daughter of the terrifying manager Don Arden, who took over his affairs and encouraged him back on his feet.

Success as a solo career seemed unlikely for Ozzy, especially as Sabbath were taking a leap forward with their new singer Ronnie James Dio.

Still, Sharon – now his girlfriend, and later his wife – helped Ozzy to assemble a new band, the Blizzard of Ozz, featuring bassist and lyric-writer Bob Daisley, drummer Lee Kerslake and the ace in the pack, former Quiet Riot guitarist Randy Rhoads.

It cannot be overstated how improbable it was that their 1980 self-titled debut album went on to become a milestone release, eventually earning five platinum certifications in the U.S.

Some of its success was down to the excellent single Crazy Train, a showcase for Rhoads’ rhythm and lead playing; its tendency toward radio-friendly hard rock, a much more digestible recipe than the sluggish riffing of Sabbath, also paid off handsomely.

The group, now simply named after Ozzy – to Daisley’s permanent annoyance, as his subsequent interviews reveal – quickly recorded Diary of a Madman, essentially a companion piece to Blizzard of Ozz that placed Rhoads even more prominently in the spotlight.

Released in 1981, the LP was followed by a 14-month tour of North America, with Rudy Sarzo (also ex-Quiet Riot) and Tommy Aldridge (ex-Black Oak Arkansas) replacing Daisley and Kerslake. Attention to Ozzy was now growing, thanks to incidents such as a May ’81 meeting at CBS Records in which the singer bit the head off a dove, for reasons best known to himself.

The Diary of a Madman tour was a turning point for Ozzy for two reasons. In January 1982, at a concert in Des Moines, Iowa, he picked up what he assumed was a rubber bat from the stage and gave it the full dove treatment, chewing its head off. This proved to be a poor choice as he was obliged to endure a series of agonizing rabies shots afterwards.

While the incident was macabre but amusing, genuine tragedy struck when Rhoads died in a plane crash in Leesburg, Florida, on March 19. Ozzy’s tourbus driver, Andrew Aycock, took Rhoads for a spin in a light aircraft before losing control, reportedly (but not provably so) under the influence of cocaine.

It’s highly arguable that Ozzy never recovered from this loss, as the extended tribute to Rhoads that we witnessed at the Back to the Beginning show this past July revealed.

His music certainly changed after 1982, for better or worse, depending on your point of view, and indeed, a useful way to view his 13-album solo catalog is to divide it into eras by guitarist – the Rhoads era, the Jake E. Lee era, the Zakk Wylde and Gus G eras, and so on.

With that understood, there were certain axemen who couldn’t cut it for whatever reason – the pressure of following Rhoads and the stress of working alongside the traumatized Ozzy, for example – such as Bernie Tormé and Brad Gillis, who each held down a brief position in the band, and even George Lynch, who was a potential candidate before Jake E. Lee stepped up in late ’82.

Lee’s first vinyl outing with Ozzy was 1983’s Max Norman-produced Bark at the Moon, which emerged with an elaborate sleeve shot of the singer in full werewolf costume. Lee was joined by Aldridge, keyboardist Don Airey and a returning Daisley, the latter contributing heavily on the lyrical front.

Tragedy came later in ’84 with the death of a 19-year-old fan, John D. McCollum, who committed suicide with a handgun after spending a day listening to Ozzy’s music.

A year later, McCollum’s parents filed suit against Ozzy and CBS, alleging that the song Suicide Solution from Blizzard of Ozz had directly contributed to their son’s death. As the song had been penned by Daisley about Ozzy’s alcohol problems, the case was thrown out of court, but not before generating reams of negative press.

In July 1985, the world’s largest rock event, Live Aid, was the catalyst for an original but brief Black Sabbath reunion.

Although it was a one-off event, the original quartet took to the stage for a brief, three-song set – Children of the Grave, Iron Man and Paranoid – in Philadelphia before Ozzy returned to the studio in 1986 to create the Ron Nevison-produced The Ultimate Sin.

This LP’s polished sound and songwriting tied in neatly with the then-current hair-metal trend, gaining him his highest chart placing yet in North America and the U.K. A new bassist, Phil Soussan, co-wrote the single Shot in the Dark, Ozzy’s biggest-selling solo single to date.

1986 also included a U.S. tour with Metallica in support; the young stars-in-waiting, then hot as a pistol with their third album, Master of Puppets, correctly credited that tour in later years as the one that broke them into metal’s major league.

As 1987 drew to a close, Jake E. Lee was fired – later turning up in the commendable Badlands – and the process of locating an able replacement was begun. Auditions whittled down hundreds of hopefuls to a list including Vinnie Moore, Chris Impellitteri, Mitch Perry, Nick Nolan, Joe Holmes and Steve Fister of Lita Ford’s band.

One of the very last guitarists to attend, recommended by the rock photographer Mark Weiss, was the 21-year-old Jeffrey “Zakk Wylde” Wielandt. Ozzy’s gift for choosing exceptional guitarists hadn’t waned, and Wylde got the gig.

1990’s No More Tears was Ozzy’s high point, alongside the Rhoads albums, as a solo artist. It featured songwriting by Lemmy Kilmister of Motörhead on four songs, one of which, Mama, I’m Coming Home, became a major hit.

Ozzy announced that his next tour would be his last, not for the first time, causing fans to speculate about a Sabbath reunion; however, neither reunion nor retirement took place despite a heavily-publicized “final” show in Costa Mesa, California, in November 1992.

In 1995, Ozzy returned with the Ozzmosis album, which neatly bridged his “old” and “new” iterations, segueing into the pre-millennial, post-grunge moment by which point a new generation of classic rock fans were ready to pay homage.

What really sealed the deal, commercially speaking, was his wife Sharon’s Ozzfest project, an annual touring metal festival that soon completely outperformed existing entities such as Lollapalooza, and which ran in some form or other until 2018.

By now Ozzy’s band featured Joe Holmes on guitar, as Zakk Wylde had temporarily fallen from favor, plus the future Metallica bassist Robert Trujillo and Faith No More drummer Mike Bordin. A short reunion of Black Sabbath in late 1997 gave a boost to Ozzy’s career resurgence, as did that band’s appearances on subsequent Ozzfests.

From this point on, churlish as it might seem to compress a quarter-century of music into a few short lines, Ozzy’s trajectory was simpler – musically speaking, at least. Zakk Wylde returned for 2001’s Down to Earth and Black Rain in 2007, with an adequate covers album called, well, Under Cover, keeping fans on board between those releases.

Ozzy’s TV career was more prominent than his musical endeavors at this point, if we’re honest, as the huge success of the MTV production The Osbournes made him, Sharon and their kids household names.

A huge audience of viewers, many of whom had never heard of Black Sabbath or Randy Rhoads, climbed willingly aboard the now much-less-crazy train. Ozzy’s later albums, Scream (2010, featuring Firewind guitarist Gus G), the all-star Ordinary Man (2020) and his final studio outing, Patient Number 9 (2022) were perfectly decent, if unremarkable, works.

By the mid-2000s, Ozzy’s health had become an issue. While The Osbournes sometimes portrayed him as a buffoon with a noticeable tremor, and a fall in 2001 had left him with a broken leg, the truth is that he was in relatively good shape before 2004, when a quad-bike accident at his English home caused serious damage to his spine.

He recovered most of his strength, however, and was able to score a chart hit with a cover of Sabbath’s 1972 song Changes, sung as a duet with his daughter Kelly, as well as appearing at Queen Elizabeth II’s Golden Jubilee and other high-profile events.

Tours and festival dates took Ozzy as far as the pandemic, which essentially ended his live career. He also was battling Parkin syndrome, an affliction similar to Parkinson’s disease, by that stage.

This brings us to Back to the Beginning, Ozzy’s literal last act, and therefore that of Black Sabbath. This star-studded, Live Aid-style event was announced in early 2025 and scheduled for July 5 at Villa Park in Aston, symbolizing a full career circle.

Scepticism was high among fans who had been disappointed by the repeated tour cancelations Ozzy had been forced to issue in recent years, but to everyone’s surprise, the live-streamed event – featuring two supergroups, plus a raft of bands including Metallica, Slayer, Guns N’ Roses, Pantera and Tool, supporting Ozzy’s solo and Sabbath sets – went off without a hitch.

It raised millions for local charities and was a bona fide triumph, made poignant when Ozzy died, suddenly and unexpectedly, 17 days later. He was 76 years old and departed surrounded by his family.

We remember Ozzy Osbourne as perhaps the last real star of the original heavy metal movement, his bandmates in Black Sabbath aside. We also remember him as a human being – with all the flaws and frailties that you’d expect, plus a few more that you wouldn’t. Raise your glass to him.

• This article first appeared in Guitar World. Subscribe and save.

[Update 10.08 – An earlier version of this story stated these amps were played by Geezer Butler at Back to the Beginning, Black Sabbath's final show. Butler has since posted on social media to say these amps were used in rehearsals and not during the show. Butler also says he is not involved in the sale of the amps.]

Ashdown and Reverb are teaming up to sell a collection of amps that Black Sabbath's Geezer Butler played during rehearsals for the band's epic finale, Back to the Beginning.

15 Head of Doom amps are available – which will be sold exclusively on Reverb – and each were hand-signed by Butler himself during those rehearsals. They also come with a certificate of authenticity from Ashdown’s Managing Director, Dan Gooday.

As of yesterday, fans can sign up to be notified as soon as the amps are available on Ashdown's Reverb Shop. The sale is set to go live on October 14 at 10:00 a.m. US Central Time.

“The end of an era. The sound of a legend,” says Reverb. “This is your chance to own the sound that defined heavy metal. Don’t wait, once they’re gone, they’re gone.”

Ashdown will also be rolling out made-to-order speaker cabinets that help channel the iconic bassist's sound.

The 2x15” and 2x12” cabinets, dubbed the COD-212-8 and COD-215-8, will be handcrafted in the UK to the same specs as those at the final show. Rated at 300 watts RMS at 8 Ohms, the custom cabs will also feature a custom medal grill screen-printed with Geezer's artwork.

Butler's Head of Doom is also available online as a made-to-order option – with a £1,499 ($2,009) price tag. Specs-wise, it features a 9-band EQ, Sub-Harmonic generator, and a “Doom” control – alongside dual inputs for passive/active basses, footswitchable EQ settings, and DI, FX loop, line in/out, and dual Speakon outputs.

For more information, head to Reverb.

Back in July and following Ozzy's death, the Black Sabbath bassist shared his fondest memories of the Prince of Darkness in an exclusive interview with Guitar World – from their unlikely first encounter to Back to the Beginning.

Metallica, Guns N' Roses, Slayer, Tool, Pantera, Alice In Chains and Gojira were among the acts who took part in Black Sabbath’s final ever show in the band’s hometown of Birmingham, UK. Aptly dubbed Back To The Beginning, Sabbath's last rodeo marked the final chapter in an epic 57-year run by the unequivocal godfathers of heavy metal.

The cornerstone of this success, as well as Sabbath's undeniable influence, stems from its sophomore effort, Paranoid, released by Vertigo in September 1970. The songs from Paranoid became not only a blueprint for Sabbath's subsequent recordings, but also the template for legions of metal bands that followed in their wake.

“Geezer Butler was basically playing lead bass on that album,” Machine Head’s Adam Duce told Bass Player back in 2011. “His playing was almost like singing and it was as integral to the songs as the vocals. His bass had a voice of its own.”

“I’ve always written my own bass parts in Sabbath, but when I first switched to bass from guitar, I was terrible,” said Butler in the October 2021 issue of Bass Player. “I'd never even thought about bass.

“I couldn't afford a real bass guitar, so I just tuned the strings down on a Telecaster and they were flapping all over the place. I was looking over at Tony lommi and playing the root note of whatever chord he was playing at the time!”

Paranoid was recorded at Regent Sound Studios in London with Rodger Bain producing and Tom Allom engineering. In the documentary Classic Albums: Black Sabbath – Paranoid, Allom says they recorded Paranoid in just two days – from 10 AM to 10 PM each day for basic tracks, with another two days at Island Studios (also in London) for overdubs and mixing.

In the film, Butler says the album was basically recorded live. “There weren't any trendy effects back then. It's like listening to a live band.”

The material had already been developed on the road and honed at Rockfield Studios in South Wales under the tutelage of Bain, so the urgency of the band's performances is part of the album's appeal.

While most songs from Paranoid had been staples of Sabbath shows for years (War Pigs, Iron Man, Fairies Wear Boots, and the title track), one song that also made it into the set for the Back To The Beginning show was Hand of Doom, with Tool performing their own take on the Sabbath classic.

Along with the intro to N,I.B., Hand of Doom opens with one of Geezer Butler's most iconic bass riffs, but before discussing the bassline, it's important to note that Butler was also Sabbath's main lyricist. He often tackled controversial subject matter relating to war, politics, the occult, etc. In the Classic Albums documentary, he explains that his inspiration for Hand of Doom was drug abuse.

“We played two American army bases – one in Germany and one in England. It's where the guys went after doing a tour of Vietnam. Instead of going straight back to America, they had to stay at these halfway houses.

They were in a terrible state – doing heroin. There was nothing about it on the news. It stuck in my head. That's what I wrote about.”

Musically, Hand of Doom, like many songs on Paranoid, doesn't follow a traditional songwriting format of verse/bridge/chorus. Sabbath liked to piece together seemingly unrelated parts, creating radical changes in direction of energy, time and feel. Within any given tune there can be time changes, sometimes there are key changes, and sometimes there are both.

The track begins with the eight-bar bass intro riff, which Butler maintains through the verses and choruses of the song's first section, adding some fills in the choruses. This section has two main tonalities: the six-note D blues scale (D-F-G-Ab-A-C-D) and the five-note D minor pentatonic scale (D-F-G-A-D). This can be determined in part by the way Ozzy Osbourne bends the F’s in the vocal melody toward F# as well as the bluesy styles of Butler and guitarist Tony Iommi.

For the song's second section, at 02:05, the tempo and feel changes to a shuffle, while the key leans toward C minor, thanks to the presence of Ab's in the guitar part. Still, Osbourne is singing C blues-based melodies, and lommi supplements his power chords with a bluesy Eb/Bb – Bb7 turnaround. Meanwhile, Butler adds interesting phrase ending fills.

Following a slight uptick in tempo, lommi's guitar solo begins at 04:24, for which he switches to a C Dorian tonality, evident in his use of A's instead of Ab's.

Here, a hallmark of Butler's playing on Paranoid emerges: rather than plodding along on a fixed pattern or motif, he improvises in the second half of each measure, underscoring Iommi's solo with a pseudo-solo of his own. It gives these moments a heavy Cream-on-steroids kind of vibe.

Following a transition at 04:51, the first section returns via a fade-in. Two verses and choruses ensue before Butler ends the song the way he started it: alone.

Last weekend, Nuno Bettencourt lined up alongside Yungblud, Steven Tyler and Joe Perry to pay tribute to Ozzy Osbourne at the MTV VMAs with a medley of Prince of Darkness classics.

On the night, the Extreme electric guitar virtuoso also took the opportunity to reflect on his longstanding relationship with the late Black Sabbath singer, who once offered an up-and-coming Bettencourt his dream job – which Nuno amazingly turned down.

Speaking to Page Six at the VMAs, Bettencourt looked back on some of his earliest memories of Ozzy, including the time he felt destined to replace Randy Rhoads as his guitarist after the Quiet Riot virtuoso died in a tragic plane accident in the early 1980s.

Only 15 years old at the time, Bettencourt didn’t get a call back after submitting an audition tape, but after he spent years cutting his teeth and became one of rock’s most sought-after players, his dream gig presented itself to him. But the tables had turned.

“When I was 15 and his guitar player passed in a bad plane accident, I believed... that I was gonna replace him,” Bettencourt says. “And there was an ad to send a cassette in.

“So I did. I put a cassette together at 15, sent it in, [I thought], ‘This is my gig. I’m going to get it.’ Of course, I didn’t. Nobody ever called.

“Cut to 12 years later, I’m opening for Aerosmith with Extreme in London and my booker comes in and says, ‘Sharon just called. Ozzy wants you and wants you to be in the band.’ This is like 1995, ’96. I said no.”

Bettencourt was making a name for himself with Extreme, who were already achieving considerable success. Switching to Ozzy’s band at that time in his career didn’t feel like the right move to make.

Ozzy didn’t forget, though, and when the pair met for the Back to the Beginning farewell show group photo – which took place just weeks before Osbourne’s passing – the Prince of Darkness couldn’t help but remind Bettencourt of the time he told him ‘no’.

“The last words we said to each other when we took the big group photo, I grabbed his hand, saying, ‘Thank you for everything, and thank you, Ozzy, for what you mean to me,’” Bettencourt reveals. “And he pulls me in by the hand. He goes, ‘You were the only guitar player who said no to me.’”

Bettencourt is just one big-name player to have been closely linked to the role of Ozzy’s guitar player, which became one of the most coveted and celebrated spots in all of rock and metal.

Though the likes of Zakk Wylde, Brad Gillis, Randy Rhoads and Jake E. Lee all held down the spot at some point in time, names such as Buckethead, Chris Impellitteri, Vito Bratta, Richie Ranno, Marty Friedman and Jennifer Batten were also linked to the gig over the years.

In related news, The Darkness guitarist Dan Hawkins recently voiced his distaste for Bettencourt and co’s VMAs Ozzy tribute, labeling it “cynical and nauseating”.

When Jerry Cantrell looks back on Black Sabbath icon Ozzy Osbourne’s final stand on stage, he’s all smiles. “It was nuts,” he tells Guitar World. “We paid tribute – we did our little part to honor the man and the band. I’m grateful to have been invited, but most importantly, to share in it and see it happen.”

Fans gathered in Birmingham on July 5 with the expectation of seeing Ozzy for the final time. His death 17 days later made it a certainty. And while Cantrell didn’t get to check in with the Prince of Darkness – who helped launch Alice in Chains by taking them on tour in the ’90s – the guitarist has no regrets.

“I was on the side of the stage, surrounded by all my friends who’d just played,” he says. “We watched the man and the band do their thing in their element one final time. It was fucking epic. That’s a fine final goodbye right there for me!”

Now Ozzy is gone, has Back to the Beginning taken on a greater meaning for you?

“It sure has. It’s important to keep in the moment in life, and that’s not always easy. Just to be around that energy of that show, the anticipation, and be like, ‘Fuck, this is really gonna happen,’ it was nuts.

“Standing on the side of the stage, we were all fans, and in the prime spot. It was like the biggest rock and roll high school reunion that never happened before; it’ll never happen again.”

It must have been a trip to watch Nuno Bettencourt, Jake E. Lee, Vernon Reid, Tom Morello and others share the stage.

“I had the same conversation with all those guys you’ve mentioned! We all talked to each other before we went on – Kirk [Hammett], Zakk [Wylde] and Slash.

“When Kirk rolled in he was like, ‘I’m fucking nervous, man!’ I was like, ‘I know, dude. I am, too. It’s not our shit I’m nervous about, it’s the fucking Sabbath song we’ve gotta play. I don’t wanna fuck it up!’

“There’s a certain element of rock ‘n’ roll being a young thing, you know? It helps keep you young; you have to keep yourself rooted there to have a proper, irreverent kind of magical mindset to make good rock ‘n’ roll.

“It takes you right back to being a kid in a garage with your buddies, taking a beer from your dad’s stash, maybe smoking a shitty dirt-weed joint, and trying to learn a Sabbath song. We all talked about that – it was just fucking cool.”

Did you get to spend any time with Ozzy?

“I could have if I’d stayed after the show, because he stayed and hung out with everybody. But I was at the tail end of six weeks of touring; I just wanted to go to bed and get on the plane. So I thought I’d already had the best experience.”

Alice in Chains took part in Ozzy’s No More Tours run in the ’90s, so you’ve got a long history. How will you remember him?

“I don’t think it can be overstated how intertwined he and Black Sabbath are with all of rock ’n’ roll. If there are dominant genes for heavy rock and metal, it’s fucking Sabbath. They’re on the Mount Rushmore – that’s fucking big.

“Of course, I was very sad when Ozzy died. But upon further reflection, if you think about it, for him to rally and work his ass off for a couple of years to to do that thing, it’s perfect.

“For Morello and Sharon Osbourne to organize all that, and to pull it off let alone have it be as cool as it was… not many artists get that sort of exit. Maybe it’s not perfect, but it’s pretty fucking close. If you wanna talk about a walk-off home run, that’s what it was.”

When Gus G joined Ozzy’s band after Zakk Wylde left in 2009, at 29 years of age, he had been around the block a few times with his band Firewind, but admits that he was a “starving musician.”

“I'm from Greece, and that's not a country that's known for its metal scene or impact,” Gus tells Guitarist. Ozzy's music was like a gateway for me to escape from the small country I come from and allowed me to dream big.”

Gus was drafted into Ozzy’s ranks with the understanding that he’d tour the world and make an album, which ended up being 2010’s Scream. With that, he admits to having “doubts” about his performance and fearing the “hate” he might receive from the fans.

“I'm sure he knew it must've been nerve-racking for a kid like me to all of a sudden be filling in these big shoes of these legendary players,” Gus says of Ozzy’s view on his induction into his band.

Gus’s concern was ultimately for naught, as he stuck with Ozzy until old pal Zakk Wylde returned in 2017 for Ozzy’s No More Tours II, which was to be his final jaunt. Gus admits this was a blow, and save for an occasional email with Ozzy’s wife and manager, Sharon Osbourne, he lost contact with Ozzy thereafter.

However, he’s gained perspective since. “I look at my time with him as someone who helped fill a gap for a couple of years while Ozzy and Zakk needed some time off from each other,” he says. “I'm a fan just like everyone else.”

Like the rest of us, Gus was watching when Ozzy performed his final gig solo and with Black Sabbath in Birmingham, on July 5, 2025. “Ozzy was very strong,” he says of the performance. “I'm sure he gave everything he had and lived for the final gig in Birmingham.”

As for how he looks back on his time in Ozzy’s latter-day band, Gus shrugs, saying, “My deal was for one album and one tour, and they kept calling me to tour for a few more years. So, I must've done something right.”

“But most importantly,” he adds. “I had a lot of fan support throughout the years, and they're the final judge, as you know. So, if the majority of fans were pleased and enjoyed the shows, then we did a good job.”

What are your memories of first meeting Ozzy? Is it true that he invited you to audition for his band via email?

“Yes, that's right. In the summer of 2009, I got an email from management asking me if I'd be interested in auditioning for Ozzy's band. Of course, I was starstruck when I first met him. I couldn't believe I was in the same room as him.

“But he was very cool and broke the ice right away. When I landed in LA and checked in at my hotel, he called me and told me not to worry about it and that he had ‘a good feeling’ about me. He just encouraged me to play with my heart and not worry about mistakes.”

How important was Ozzy’s music to you growing up?

“I grew up listening to Black Sabbath's Ozzy-era records. Sabbath drew me to the heavy metal culture instantly and inspired me to want to start my own band. I remember daydreaming as a teenager and wandering the streets of my hometown [Thessaloniki, Greece], listening to Master of Reality on cassette.”

Coming in after heavy-hitting players like Randy Rhoads, Jake E. Lee, and Zakk Wylde, why do you think Ozzy chose you, a relative unknown, at the time?

“I have no clue, and I’ll never find out, I guess. I was told that someone showed him a video of me on YouTube, and he went, ‘That's the guy.’ He had a great musical ear, and he knew what he liked and what he didn't like. I guess that he heard my sound and felt it would fit right in. I can’t think of anything else.”

Generally, what did Ozzy expect from his guitar players? And underlying, what did you sense that he needed?

“He never came in with any demands. He was always polite and encouraging. So, he always told me to be myself and play with my heart. Nothing else was discussed, really. I tried to do the best job that I could do. I practiced a lot, showed up on time, and played like there was no tomorrow.”

After joining Ozzy’s band, what are your memories of the early rehearsals?

“We did long rehearsals for a month in LA. At some point, we rehearsed most of Sabbath’s catalogue from the ’70s. The band spent a lot of time rehearsing and getting tight together as a unit. I think it showed on the world tour that followed.”

What did you bring to Ozzy’s sound that was different than past players? Did you take influence from them?

“I want to think that I brought a new energy and my own vibe, which is more European, I guess? [Laughs] It’s hard to analyze it myself. And, of course, I'm a huge fan of Randy, Jake, and Zakk, and I've been heavily influenced by all three of them. They were my school of guitar playing; I grew up on them.”

What was it like learning Tony Iommi, Randy, Jake, and Zakk’s parts? And which of those players did you find to be the trickiest to emulate?

“I've been asked this a lot in the past years. It was very exciting to dig deep into each player's style and re-learn it, so to speak. I tried to keep close to the original recordings, but of course, with my own tone and sound. I think the hardest one to emulate must have been Tony Iommi.”

Is that because of the hyper-idiosyncratic nature of his playing and the disability associated with his fingers?

“Yes. His playing is so unconventional. Maybe cause he's missing the tips of two of his fingers. But he slightly bends strings, even when he plays riffs. Also, his sense of timing is unique. I could never sound like Tony Iommi; nobody can. But I loved playing the Sabbath stuff every night.”

Did you use similar gear or your own rig on tour and in the studio?

“I used my own gear completely. Around that time, I started using Blackstar amps, and the Series One 200 amp is the one you hear on the Scream album, but also on the world tour. Of course, I already had my own signature guitars back then with ESP, so I used those.”

How did you approach the making of Scream, and what was it like writing with Ozzy?

“It was a wonderful experience, and we recorded it at Ozzy's home studio. So, every morning, [producer] Kevin Churko would pick me up from the hotel, and we'd drive to Ozzy's house. We'd have coffee and breakfast and then head downstairs and start working on the songs.

“We took our time and made sure everything sounded right. Also, working with Kevin was a big experience for me. He's an excellent songwriter, besides being a producer and engineer. My approach was just to try to add guitars.

“It was an already recorded album, so I tried to give it that Ozzy stamp and vibe. And have a few bits here and there that were reminiscent of his classic players. But of course, I brought my own game when it came down to the solos.”

How do you feel Scream’s legacy has evolved with time, compared to other records with Randy, Jake, and Zakk?

“It’s hard for me to say. I still think Scream is a strong album overall and has some fantastic moments. It's more up to the fans to decide, but I do get a lot of comments still from the young generation of that time, who discovered Ozzy from the Scream album.

“They tell me how much it means to them. I guess it's partly a generational thing. On the other hand, the classics are the classics. His early albums are the staples of his career and of the heavy metal genre in general.”

You left Ozzy’s band after he reunited with Zakk Wylde in 2017. What was that like, and was it difficult news to take at the time?

“Of course, I was bummed ‘cause I knew I'd probably never see him or play with him again. On the other hand, it totally made sense. Ozzy and Zakk have so much history together; those guys had to get back at some point. It was inevitable.”

How did your relationship with Ozzy evolve after you left? Did you stay in touch? And did you get to talk with Zakk at all thereafter?

“I last saw Ozzy at Graspop Festival in Belgium in 2016; that was the last time. He was there with Sabbath, and Firewind was playing that day as well. Honestly, we didn't stay in touch after I left. There was an occasional email to Sharon just to see how Ozzy's doing after his [quadbike] accident [which damaged his neck].

“But nothing besides that. He was always in my thoughts, and I hoped he'd get through this. As for Zakk, I bumped into him at a festival in France a couple of years ago and we spoke a bit. He's always been very nice to me.”

There’s no denying that Ozzy was special. He is beloved worldwide. But for you, someone who played with him, how will you remember the man and the musician?

“Ozzy was everything you imagined him to be. Proper rock royalty, very caring for those around him, big-hearted, generous, and super-funny. He was the funniest guy I've ever met. His aura was so strong that when he walked into a room, everyone stopped immediately and looked at him.”

Where do you think your career might have gone if you’d never met or played with Ozzy?

“I owe so much to Ozzy and Sharon for giving me that opportunity. It changed my life forever. Sure, I had my band before I met the Osbournes and made records, but I was a starving musician. Everything changed after I worked with him. So many opportunities and doors opened for me, and of course, playing with Ozzy has been such a huge part of my music career.”

How do you look back on your place within the canon of Ozzy’s players?

“I remember at some point, while recording Scream, I was having doubts about myself and my abilities, and I said to Kevin Churko, Ozzy's producer, ‘I'll probably get a lot of hate when the new album comes out, and people will think I'm the worst guitarist he's ever had.’

“And Kevin said to me, ‘I don't think so. But even if that happens, at least you were one of them, and how many people can say that?’ But all things considered, I think I did well during a transitional phase for Ozzy.”

As the godfather of heavy metal, Tony Iommi has become one of the most iconic Gibson SG players of all time. However, the Black Sabbath riff lord recently admitted that, at one point, it was another Gibson guitar that he wanted to play.

“I always wanted a Les Paul,” he confessed at a Q&A event at the Gibson Garage, London, during which his signature Gibson humbuckers were relaunched. “But I couldn't play the Les Paul because of my accident.”

A teenage Iommi fell foul of sheet metal factory machinery, with the famous accident costing him the tips of the middle and ring fingers on his fretting hand. Inspired by Django Reinhardt, he'd add thimbles to the affected fingers, which in turn helped forge the sound of his iconic guitar tone in the process.

“I couldn't get up to the top frets, but the SG suited me perfectly,” he explains. “The SG for me was comfortable. I liked the shape, the weight, and, eventually, a ton of people started using it. Everybody wanted a Les Paul in the early days; that was always the best.

“As I said, I couldn't have a Les Paul. I didn't feel comfortable, [it was] too heavy, and I couldn't get to the top frets. So the SG has been perfect for me, and that's why I always stuck with it.”

Iommi had started his Black Sabbath career with a Fender Stratocaster. However, the guitar broke down during the recording of Sabbath’s change-making self-titled LP, and one “dodgy” car park guitar swap later, he became the owner of his first Gibson SG, which has defined his career since.

Owing to his association with the SG, Gibson has bestowed the guitarist with some special models over the years. Incredibly, one of his most prized early SGs was stolen from a hotel while Sabbath were on tour, and its replacement suffered a similar fate.

Tragically, he managed to track one of the guitars down, but never got it back.

Iommi's latest guitar project with Gibson prior to the relaunch of his flagship humbucker came in 2021, with the release of a signature SG Special based on the rifflord's iconic Vintage Cherry original. He also launched a new signature Laney amp earlier this year.

After bowing out with Black Sabbath at Back to the Beginning, Iommi is expected to finally finish his next solo album, which he says will feature orchestral arrangements and some Kemper modeling.

After Jake E. Lee split from Ozzy Osbourne’s band in 1987, Jimi Bell was one of the many guitarists who auditioned for the gig. But while he respected Lee and Randy Rhoads, they weren’t his primary influences.

“Both were absolute monsters on the guitar, no question,” he says. “But I go a bit further back to guys like Johnny Winter, Ritchie Blackmore and Al Di Meola. And of course, Eddie Van Halen changed the game for me.”

Eventually, Ozzy and Sharon Osbourne narrowed their choice down to Bell or Zakk Wylde. And although Bell got on well with Sharon, the facts that Wylde was a Rhoads disciple and was already working with Ozzy sealed the deal.

But Sharon introduced Bell to Geezer Butler, leading to a spell beside the Black Sabbath bass player. He co-wrote Master of Insanity with Butler, which appeared on 1991 Sabbath album Dehumanizer. But he wasn’t paid or credited for it. “I wish some things had turned out differently, but I don’t carry bitterness,” he says. “I’m proud of what I did – even if the paperwork didn’t always reflect it.”

He went on to record with House of Lords and joined Autograph after Steve Lynch quit. “Sharon definitely vibed with me,” he says of his Ozzy audition. “But he made the final call. Zakk was the right fit for where Ozzy was going.”

What inspired you to pick up the guitar?

“I was a drummer first, from age 10 to 13. I used to jam with friends, and one day the guitarist left his guitar against his amp. I couldn’t resist. Even though it was right-handed and I’m a lefty, I plugged it in, hit the Big Muff fuzz box – and I was hooked instantly.

“I became obsessed with guitar, so I progressed quickly. By 15 I was already playing in public. At 16, I started gigging in clubs, and I had to get my parents to sign permission slips to get in the venues. The first time I played for a real crowd, I knew I’d found my path.”

How did you hook up with Joan Jett?

“Around 1984 I was in a band called Joined Forces, playing all original music. Someone from Joan’s label, Blackheart Records, saw us live and offered us a management deal. Next thing we knew, we were out on tour with Joan. We had a full tour bus, became close with her band and crew, and Joan herself was incredibly kind and down-to-earth.

“Joan was always particularly kind and friendly towards me. That led to us landing the role as The Hunzz in the Joan Jett/Michael J. Fox film Light of Day. The release party at the Hard Rock Café in New York could have been a chapter in a book all by itself!”

How did you get the call to audition for Ozzy?

“I was endorsed by Kramer Guitars and Dennis Berardi, the president, had kind of taken me under his wing. One morning he called to say Jake E. Lee was out and he’d sent a video of me to Sharon. Suddenly I had an audition – but the catch was I had to fly out that same day.

“I already knew four or five Ozzy songs, so when I got to the hotel I focused on brushing up on them: I Don’t Know, Crazy Train, Flying High Again and Suicide Solution.”

What gear did you use for your Ozzy audition?

“The backline was all set. I just had to bring myself and my Boss 7-band EQ to push the amp a bit harder. I’m pretty sure it was a Marshall JCM800. The energy in the room was intense but inspiring.”

What was the actual audition like?

“Part one was with Randy Castillo and Phil Soussan. Most of the players went through that first round. Sharon actually sat in on mine – probably to see if she’d wasted plane tickets! She liked what she saw, and I was told I did great. The next day, part two was at a different location, onstage with Ozzy. Surreal doesn’t even begin to cover it.

“It went exceptionally well – I was locked in with the band and stayed true to the song and the solo, but I added a little flair unique to me. Ozzy literally leaned down in front of my amp while I was playing.

“Then I played a solo on my own, and the vibe was strong. Ozzy and Sharon told me it was down to me and Zakk. I went to dinner with them at a fancy restaurant, where Ozzy ate off my salad plate with his fingers!

“Then I went back to their house and hung out for a while, and I even met Ozzy’s oldest daughter, Aimee. At that point Zakk had already started working with them, and I think his similarities to Randy played a big part in the final decision.”

Ozzy has said Zakk’s tape was the only one he really listened to. What do you think of that?

“I don’t know if he ever saw my tape; but I know Sharon did, and that’s what got me in the room. More importantly, Ozzy saw me live, just inches from my amp. I think that moment said more than any demo ever could.”

How did your connection with Geezer Butler come about?

“Even after the Ozzy gig didn’t happen, Sharon still believed in me. That belief led directly to Geezer and what became a whole new chapter in my career. Geezer wanted to explore a more melodic sound than Sabbath, but still heavy. We had an amazing lineup: Carl Sentance on vocals, now in Nazareth; Jezz Woodruff from Robert Plant’s band on keys; and Gary Ferguson on drums – his resume is unreal.”

What was your rig like with Geezer?

“We rehearsed in a killer studio in London, and I used Marshall 800 heads – they were essential to match Geezer’s massive low-end tone. Watching him play up close was wild. His thunderous attack on the bass is next level.”

You co-wrote Master of Insanity, which ended up on Sabbath’s Dehumanizer. But there were issues with credit and payment. What happened?

“In ’91 I got a call from Geezer’s wife, Gloria. She told me Sabbath was reuniting with Ronnie James Dio and wanted to use Master of Insanity on the new album. I was thrilled – until I found out I wouldn’t get songwriting credit. Tony Iommi apparently didn’t want a song by another guitarist on a Sabbath record.

“Geezer did thank me in the liner notes, and he promised me payment after the tour. I never saw the money. But hearing Dio perform a song I wrote was unforgettable. Ronnie even mentioned our collaboration in his book, and Geezer wrote about it in his autobiography, so I’ve made peace with it.”

There’s been talk that Computer God, also from Dehumanizer, came from your era with Geezer.

“We did have a song called Computer God, but it was totally different – more of a melodic hard rock track. There’s a rehearsal video of it on YouTube. Only the title made it to the Sabbath version; musically they’re worlds apart.”

You’ve had major runs with House of Lords and Autograph. What were those experiences like?

“House of Lords has been a huge part of my career. We’ve made 13 albums with Frontiers Srl, and I’ve written over 100 songs with the band. James Christian still sings like a beast. We’re heading to Europe for a tour in late 2025.

“As for Autograph, I joined after Steve Lynch left to form 222. Randy Rand brought me in and told me to make the guitar my own, which I did. We had a great three-year run before Randy passed. I’ll always treasure that time. – he was more than a bandmate; he was a close friend.”

Steve Lynch wasn’t thrilled about your version of Autograph. Was that uncomfortable?

“The situation was tough, especially after Randy passed. But I’ve moved on. I prefer to focus on the good times we had and all the friendships I made. We were very close on and off stage. Randy will always hold a special place in my heart.”

What’s next for you?

“I’ve got a bunch of things going on. I get called to lay down solos for other artists, which I love. I’ve also done music for WWE wrestler entrance themes and ESPN; projects like that are always exciting.

“One of my main focuses is my tribute band Beyond Purple. We honor the Deep Purple family tree – songs by Rainbow, Dio, Whitesnake and all three DP vocalists. We’ve started writing original music, and we’ve already got more than a full album's worth ready to go.”

• Beyond Purple tour the US throughout 2025.

Tony Iommi and the Gibson SG go hand in hand – and with the recent relaunch of Gibson's first-ever signature pickup, Iommi couldn't help but reminisce about not one, but two white SGs that got stolen from him.

“That was a really old one,” Iommi recalled at the official launch event, referring to the Gibson Custom Shop Les Paul SG with three humbucker pickups and a Maestro Vibrola that he brandished on Top of the Pops [a long-running British record chart television program] in 1970.

“Somebody stole it from the hotel. And then Gibson made another white one, and somebody stole that as well! I couldn't believe it,” he quipped.

“I've got another white one now. I actually did find a guitar memorabilia collector who found out who had gotten the guitar. It turns out it was some producer who owned it, and he was trying to sell it. He contacted this memorabilia guy who I know, and he got in touch with me, [and] said, ‘We know where your guitar is.’ But I never ever got it back.”

Elsewhere in the interview, Iommi talked about his coincidental start with Gibson and the heavily modified Strat that was once his main guitar, which he ditched for an SG due to a technical issue.

“I always, always played that [referring to the Strat],” he related. “I worked on it myself and got it so it felt right for me. And I happened to come across a right-handed Gibson, and I thought I should have another guitar just as a spare.

“And I met this guy – I don't even know how I met him – he was right-handed, and he had a left-handed guitar. So we met in a car park, and basically we swapped guitars.

“When we were doing the first album, I was using the Strat, and I did Wicked World with the Strat, and then the pickup went. We only got a day to record the album, the first album, so I had to use the Gibson.

“And from that day to this, I always used a Gibson-style guitar,” he concludes.

Iommi’s relationship with Gibson continues to be fruitful after all these years, as, aside from the relaunch of the signature pickup, he also released a signature SG Special a few years back in collaboration with the legacy brand.

Read the tributes to Ozzy Osbourne since his death in July at the age of 76, and you’ll hear salutes to every side of his considerable skill set. The flesh-creeping feline yowl. The underrated ear for a melody. The knack for turning a macabre lyric. The madhouse stage presence.

But whatever else he was in life – heavy-metal icon, reality TV pioneer, berserker, survivor – Osbourne was no guitarist. As the Black Sabbath and solo star readily admitted, to cast him as a ‘musician’ in the traditional sense – or as an ‘instrumentalist’ in any sense – was off the mark.

“I don’t play an instrument, I don’t understand music, I can’t even play chords on a guitar,” Osbourne insisted in one video interview with his son, Jack. During a separate 2017 encounter with Rolling Stone, a rueful note crept into the frontman’s voice. “That’s one of my biggest regrets. I can play a little bit of harmonica, and that’s about it. It’s been interesting, because I can’t communicate on a musical level with other musicians.”

Unlike other figures we have bade farewell to in 2025 – among them Mick Ralphs, Brian James and Joe Louis Walker – Osbourne never put fingers to fretboard to play a single classic riff, much less an essential solo or trailblazing technique. And yet, his impact and influence on the guitar scene over the past half-century is deep, profound and undeniable.

Remove the singer from the narrative and some of the rock era’s greatest six-string moments would either never have existed or else gone down in a drabber, much-diluted fashion. Lift him from the timeline – were such a thing even possible – and a fistful of hungry young rough diamonds might never have caught their break or blossomed into all-time greats.

It feels a little glib to cast him as ‘the heavy-metal John Mayall’, but perhaps there’s something in the comparison. Like the Brit-blues godfather – or, indeed, that other supreme talent-spotter, David Bowie – Osbourne had an eye for untapped genius and the ability to ignite it.

Time and again, he drew hard-rock and metal’s most promising gunslingers to him like an industrial magnet, then lit the fuse that turned base metal into gold.

“It’s like shopping for a new suit,” Osbourne told Guitar World’s Brad Tolinski of his recruitment policy. “There may be a whole rack of blue suits, but only one will grab you. There’s no ritual, there’s no formula. I’ve just been lucky that everybody’s liked my taste in guitar players.”

Osbourne’s first guitar foil, of course, does not belong in this category. Even in his early 20s, Tony Iommi was no ingénue in need of a guiding hand.

Rightly recognised as the chief architect of Sabbath’s thunderous, industrial shudder, his steely de facto leadership meant the Birmingham band would likely have gained a level of notice with or without Ozzy onboard.

Yet the best rock ’n’ roll has counterpoint, and it is hopefully not sacrilege to argue that Iommi’s pulverising SG grooves – especially after he began drop-tuning for songs like Children Of The Grave – might have been too torpid, too sludgy, too heavy without Osbourne’s insistent, agonised upper-register vocal as a catalyst.

From Paranoid to Iron Man, the riffs landed so hard precisely because of that tension between razor’s edge and blunt instrumentation.

His firing from Sabbath in ’79 should have been the end of Ozzy. But while future wife Sharon Arden must take credit for pulling the drug-wrecked singer out of the dirt, his nascent solo career only flew thanks to him identifying the neo-classical wizard Randy Rhoads as a breath of fresh air among the Iommi clones lining the corridor to audition.

“I was all over the fucking place,” Osbourne told this writer in 2011. “But fucking hell, when I first heard Randy play, it was poetry in motion. I thought, ‘Wow, I’m onto a good thing here.’ Who knows why we worked so well. Who knows the answer to anything. But sometimes you’ll meet a girlfriend and it’s more than just a night in the sack.”

Osbourne and Rhoads – with vital input from bassist Bob Daisley and drummer Lee Kerslake – were a true creative team, fixing each other’s holes, working nose-to-nose and exploring tone and pitch to ensure both vocals and guitars exploded from the mix on standouts like Crazy Train and Mr Crowley.

“I’d give him a melody, and he’d work a riff around it,” the frontman told journalist Jas Obrecht. “What we both worked out [was], every heavy metal band sticks to one key. So we made a rule that every number we recorded was never played in the same key.”

The magnanimous singer even defied record label bosses to let his then-unknown junior partner perform an unaccompanied classical vignette, Dee, on 1980’s Blizzard Of Ozz.

In hindsight, it was an unprecedented and ballsy move for a make-or-break debut solo album.

“For me,” Osbourne told this writer, “if it’s just fucking headbanging from start to finish, that’s not an album, it’s just a fucking racket. So when Randy says to me, ‘Do you mind if I put this classical instrumental piece on?’, I said, ‘What are you fucking asking me for? It’s your album as well. Just go for it, y’know?’”

Two years later, Rhoads’ death at 25 in a stupid, senseless prank-gone-wrong might have put Osbourne back to square one. Yet the singer somehow managed to replace the irreplaceable, unearthing a volley of stellar players and urging them to contribute.

Some were dazzling-but-transient placeholders, like Brad Gillis or Bernie Tormé. Others, though, stuck around to become part of the mythology. Jake E Lee proved a tough and fiery sideman when he joined for 1983’s Bark At The Moon.

Later that decade, a Viking-haired Rhoads acolyte named Zakk Wylde was pumping gas until divine intervention (or glorious dumb luck, you decide) led Ozzy’s hand to his audition tape.

“You can imagine how many guitarists sent in their résumés – it was fucking mind-boggling,” recalled the frontman in an interview with Joe Bosso.

“So after a while, Sharon started bugging me – ‘When are you gonna listen to these tapes?’ I just didn’t want to deal with it. So one morning I decided, ‘I gotta do this.’ I stuck my hand in a bag and pulled out a tape, and Zakk’s tape was the first and only one I listened to.”

Once again, Osbourne and Wylde’s partnership bore instant fruit (“Back then it was just us in a room jamming,” the guitarist told Andrew Daly. “We’d be blasting it out in a room. The first song we worked on was Miracle Man…”).

And even when Wylde stepped away from the line-up in the post-millennium to tend to Black Label Society, the ripples kept spreading, with one Osbourne Band axeman informing the next.

“I grew up on Ozzy and Sabbath – if you’re into heavy metal, that’s your father,” late-period sideman Gus G told That Metal Interview podcast, adding in a separate interview with Rob Laing that “the first Ozzy album I got on cassette was Diary of a Madman. When I first heard Randy, I thought, ‘Whoa, who is this guy…?’”

No guitarist, then. But Osbourne’s passing marks the exit of both metal’s most captivating frontman and a lightning rod for the genre’s towering players.

Perhaps Wylde spoke most succinctly for the long line of Osbourne alumni – not to mention the wider hard-rock guitar scene – when he laid it on the line in a 2015 interview with Australia’s Heavy magazine.

“Without Ozzy, I wouldn’t be talking here with you right now. The thing is, with Ozzy, he introduces you to the world, and whatever you want to do is up to you…”

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Metallica bassist Robert Trujillo has shared his experience at Ozzy Osbourne's funeral, stating that the service was “very, very beautiful.”

Ozzy Osbourne's private service was held at his family home in Buckinghamshire, England, on July 31 and was attended by a host of collaborators and admirers, including his Black Sabbath bandmates, Zakk Wylde, Rob Zombie, and Slipknot’s Corey Taylor.

“It was a small group of people, but it was very, very beautiful,” Trujillo comments on SiriusXM's Trunk Nation With Eddie Trunk.

“I mean, it was very sad, but at the same time, some of the speeches were, as you could imagine, pretty funny. And there were a lot of tears.

“[The members of] Sabbath kind of ended with their speech, especially with Geezer [Butler]. Geezer broke down into tears. He had a hard time, obviously, speaking, and then he came back up and he delivered an amazing eulogy.”

He continues, “When Kelly [Osbourne] was singing, her lyrics flew – the wind blew her lyrics away. It was almost like Ozzy was having fun with her. And then when Geezer spoke, actually spoke, the sun came out. I'm not kidding. The sun actually came out, and then it was beautiful from that moment on – a very magical moment.”

Trujillo asserts that, while it was sad, there was a sense of camaraderie as people shared their own tales and encounters with Ozzy.

“People [were] sharing stories. And all of a sudden, there was laughter, and ‘I remember this,’ ‘I remember that.’ There were so many stories. So, it felt like there was a closure from this.”

The day before the private funeral, thousands of fans flocked to Prince of Darkness' hometown of Birmingham to bid farewell – with Sharon, as well as their children, Aimée, Kelly, and Jack, joining the mourners to pay tribute.

A week after the heavy metal pioneer was laid to rest, his official cause of death was disclosed via The New York Times. The death certificate states that Ozzy died of “(a) Out of hospital cardiac arrest (b) Acute myocardial infarction (c) Coronary artery disease and Parkinson’s disease with autonomic dysfunction (Joint Causes).”

Ozzy passed away at the age of 76 mere weeks after returning to the stage for his Back to the Beginning farewell show. His death prompted an outpouring of tributes from across the music world.

In exclusive interviews with Guitar World, Jake E. Lee, Geezer Butler, Zakk Wylde, and Rudy Sarzo shared their own memories of Ozzy and reflected on their final moments with the legend.

Alice Cooper is the latest high-profile artist to pay tribute to the late Ozzy Osbourne live on stage, after he – and a special guest – covered a Black Sabbath classic during a recent gig in London, England.

Last Friday (July 25), days after news of Ozzy’s death had been announced, Cooper added Paranoid as a last-minute addition to his setlist, slotting it in after I Love the Dead and right before the curtain closer, School’s Out.

It came after Cooper released an emotional tribute to Ozzy online, after he heard of his friend’s death “just minutes before going on stage in Cardiff, Wales”.

For the cover during the London gig, Cooper was joined by actor/guitarist Johnny Depp, who made a late entry onto the stage and locked in alongside Nita Strauss, Ryan Roxie and Tommy Henriksen to hold down Tony Iommi’s iconic riff.

Depp also had a stab at a solo, noticeably forgoing a guitar pick and instead noodling around the lower register of his Gibson Flying V using a fingerpicking style and some whammy bar action – something he most certainly picked up from his old friend, Jeff Beck.

Writing on social media prior to the Cardiff show, Cooper wrote, “Well, we all know that time is going to take us rockers, but when the giants fall, it’s really hard to accept. Even though everybody saw it coming with Ozzy, it just took our breath away when it happened.

“So Ozzy and family – your records and your music and your legend and all that you brought – the humor to the rock business – will live on forever and we’re gonna miss you man.”

Ozzy Osbourne passed away last week at the age of 76, weeks after his Back to the Beginning farewell show. In the wake of his passing, the guitar world has come out to pay tribute to his life, legacy, music and memory.

Wolfgang Van Halen has also paid tribute to the late Black Sabbath singer on stage, adding Mama, I'm Coming Home to his band's setlist after they heard about Ozzy's death during their soundcheck.

Zakk Wylde, Ozzy's longest-serving guitarist, recently sat down with Guitar World to look back on their final moments together onstage.

When Black Sabbath founder Geezer Butler thinks about his old friend and bandmate, Ozzy Osbourne, he doesn’t mince words: “I’ll remember him as a very dear friend and a true genius.”

Butler and Osbourne first joined forces back in 1968 and were known to be particularly close – perhaps the inevitable result of the tight relationship between the group’s vocalist and chief lyricist.

The Sabbath bassist admits that since the finish of Sabbath’s The End tour in 2017, he and Ozzy hadn’t done a very good job of keeping in touch. But that didn’t sour things, and Butler regrouped with Ozzy, Iommi and Ward to shake the world one last time on July 5, 2025, in Birmingham, for the triumphant Back to the Beginning show.

“We've been through too much together to let things get in the way of our friendship,” Butler says of Ozzy. Instead, he notes his main lament about Sabbath’s final bow is more poignant.

“My only regret is not saying goodbye to his face after the show,” Butler explains. “Because it was absolute chaos backstage, and I obviously didn't think I wouldn't see him again.”

While the writing was surely on the wall, the Prince of Darkness had always been bulletproof. Ozzy had to go sometime, but we all collectively hoped that it wouldn’t be so soon.

Of course, the universe had other plans and Osbourne passed away on July 22 – “with his family surrounded by love” – just weeks after the show.

Butler takes solace in the fact that Ozzy got to do what he loved one last time – and made a difference in the process.

“The courage he had to do that was mind-blowing,” Butler says. “To do that one final time, for the fans and for the charities, when he was so, so ill, was incredible.”

Now, speaking to Guitar World following Osbourne’s death, Butler shares some of his most treasured memories of the Prince of Darkness and the legacy they created together as Black Sabbath.

What are your memories of first meeting Ozzy?

“The very first actual meeting – I'd seen him around Aston occasionally – was when he came around to my house in response to his ‘Ozzy Zig wants a gig’ ad, which he had in the local music store. His house was three or four streets away from mine, and I had earlier gone to his house in response to his ad to see if he would join my band.

“His sister, Jill, answered the door and said he isn’t in, but she would give him my message. Later that evening, there was a knock at the front door, and my brother Jimmy answered it and told me there was ‘something’ asking for me.

“I said, ‘What do you mean by “something”?’ and he said, ‘You'll see.’ Ozzy was standing there with his dad's brown work gown on, a chimney brush over his shoulder, a shoe on a dog leash, bare feet, and a skinhead haircut.

“When I stopped laughing, I told him what kind of music we were doing, and he said, ‘Okay,’ and that was that. So yes, I could definitely see he was special.”

Before Black Sabbath, the band was known as Earth. What were your early rehearsals like?

“As Earth, we did mostly blues songs, Cream, John Mayall, that kind of thing. There were tons of ‘blues’ bands around at the time, so we knew that to get a record deal, we needed to write our own material. We rehearsed at the local community centre in Aston from 9:00am to 12:00pm.

“I had always wanted to call the band Black Sabbath after the Boris Karloff horror film, so when we wrote the first doomy song, I called it Black Sabbath, and the rest of the band thought it a good name to have when we had to change the name from Earth.”

Can you recall the first songs you wrote?

“The very first song we wrote was Wicked World. I think Ozzy wrote those lyrics in response to the turmoil going on around that time, particularly the threat of nuclear war and the Vietnam War.

“Most of the first album [Black Sabbath] was written from jamming, when we had to do seven or eight, 45-minute sets in places like the Star Club in Hamburg, and the Hirschen Club in Zurich.”

Did you have an awareness that at some point that the music you were making would change the world?

“No, we were not aware of the influence and longevity of the music we were making, especially as the music press hated us. It took seven auditions for various record companies to get a recording deal, and then only because one of the bands Vertigo [Records] had signed had suddenly split up. We just thought we'd try to keep going until we had to get ‘proper jobs’.”

You and Ozzy were particularly close. What was it like writing songs with him?

“He would always come up with great vocal lines. He had this incredible talent of being able to immediately come up with the right vocal lines to the riffs. He didn't particularly like writing lyrics, so I had to write them, but he would immediately adapt them to his melodies, with a few adjustments here and there. Genius!”

What do you feel was Ozzy's defining moment as a vocalist from Sabbath’s '70s heyday?

“He had several defining moments as a vocalist. From the doom and venom that he could put into songs like War Pigs and Hand of Doom, to the soaring vocals on Sabbath Bloody Sabbath, and The Writ.

“And then, there’s the heartfelt softness of Changes, he could do it all. I think the way he made the lyrics I wrote for him sound like they came from his soul was absolutely remarkable.”

When you think back to those days, what sticks in your mind?

“The fun we’d have. Ozzy would go to any lengths to make us laugh. We were like hooligans on tour, four working-class blokes from one of the most deprived areas of Birmingham, who were let loose on the world. Unfortunately, the drugs and the business side of things wore us down.

“We weren’t businessmen, never pretended to be, but the constant touring and the realization that we weren’t seeing much of the money made us feel like puppets dangled by a greedy management. It particularly hit Ozzy hard, and the booze and drugs and betrayal almost defeated him.”

You and Ozzy stayed close and kept working together even after he left Sabbath. How did your relationship evolve?

“With Ozzy, as with Tony and Bill, you could go two or three years without speaking or seeing each other, but when you did, it was as if it was just yesterday. We definitely had our ups and downs over the years, especially these last five or six years, when I hadn’t heard from or spoken to Ozzy since [2017's] The End tour. But I always knew if I reached out, he’d be there for me.”

How important was reuniting with Ozzy in the ’90s to you and the legacy of the band?

“To me, Black Sabbath was always the four original blokes from Aston, who defied the odds and saw it all through to the end. So, there could only be one lineup to finish the whole thing off, and luckily, we did it. Reuniting in the ’90s paved the way for that: after the many changing faces of Sabbath and Ozzy's solo success, when we came together in the ’90s, we knew there could only ever be one true Sabbath.”

What will you remember about Sabbath’s final gig on July 5, in Birmingham?

“It was incredibly strange to have Ozzy sitting in a chair, albeit a ‘throne’. I honestly didn't know what to do when we finished our set, because usually we would all hug and take a bow. So, I just went over to him and then presented him with a cake – I’m not even sure why. But seeing him literally giving his all for the fans was absolutely amazing.”

Ozzy Osbourne and Black Sabbath's final concert, Back to the Beginning, was a pure rock and metal extravaganza, with a lineup that included some of the genres' finest – Metallica, Guns N' Roses, Slayer, Tool, and Pantera, just to name a few.

However, one noticeable omission was Megadeth, who, it turns out, weren’t invited. According to a yet-unpublished interview with Megadeth bassist James LoMenzo for Japan’s Burrn! magazine, the band wasn't even approached to participate in any capacity.

“Hi brother, I sure missed seeing you here in Birmingham this week. It was noticeable that the Big Four was short one,” journalist Charrie Foglio tells LoMenzo, noting that the remaining Big Four of thrash metal – Metallica, Slayer, and Anthrax – were all present.

To which LoMenzo replies, “Charrie, I’m going to let the cat out of the bag. The truth of the matter is, I don’t believe that anybody asked us, which was fine.”

“Not everybody gets invited to every party,” he adds. “But at the same time, when we were in Europe last week, David [Mustaine] said that he was reaching out to everybody and telling them that we were in the neighborhood and that we were close enough to come.

"And if they wanted us to, we could stay over for a few days and work it out… If they wanted us to. I don’t know what our manager had accomplished with that, but it didn’t get accomplished, so we just came home.”

He continues, “Even before all of this started, everyone was saying, ‘Well, what about Megadeth?’ It was really funny to read because there was no invite and there was no talking to people, there was actually nothing to do with any of it.

“It was this exciting situation where we’re celebrating Ozzy in his retirement… Is that the right word? Retirement? Isn’t that hard to believe? Anyway, the show was amazing! I would have loved to have been there.”

Elsewhere in the interview, LoMenzo admits that he “knew about the show months and months ago” because he was recording with Sabbath drummer Bill Ward. Furthermore, the bassist also shares that Ward was “intimidated about the show. I would ask him if he had spoken to any of the guys in Black Sabbath, and he said that he spoke to Ozzy every day because Ozzy wasn’t feeling very well at that time, so I was curious.”

“He said, ‘By the way, it looks we may do this final show.’ So he knew about it, obviously, before they announced it. So I was excited when it came to fruition because I knew that it meant a lot to all the guys in Black Sabbath to have Bill up there.”

As for Megadeth's general thoughts about the omission, LoMenzo says, “I don’t see it as controversy or anything. I do know that conspicuously we were missing, but nobody was invited.”

Weeks after the Back to the Beginning show, Ozzy Osbourne passed away at the age of 76. In the wake of the news, the music world came out in full force to pay tribute to the life and legacy of the Prince of Darkness.

Tony Iommi has spoken publicly for the first time since Ozzy Osbourne’s passing and has reflected on Back to the Beginning farewell show, which took place weeks before his bandmate passed away.

As the news of the Prince of Darkness’ death broke on Tuesday (July 22), Iommi had said, “There won’t ever be another like him” during a short but touching social post. Now, speaking to UK broadcaster ITV, the guitarist whose hands helped forge heavy metal has further opened up.

“It was a shock for us,” he confesses, with Ozzy's passing coming just over two weeks after his blockbuster bow out. “When I heard yesterday, it couldn’t sink in. I thought, ‘It can’t be.’ I only had a text from him the day before.

“It just seemed unreal, surreal,” he continues. “In the night, I started thinking about it: ‘God, am I dreaming all this?’ But he’s not looked well through the rehearsals.

“I think he really just held out to do that show. And just after that, he’s done it and said goodbye to the fans. And that was the end of it, really.

“I think he must have had something in his head that said, ‘Well, this is gonna be it, the last thing I’m ever gonna do.’ Whether he thought he was gonna die or what, I don’t know. But he really wanted to do it; he was determined to do it. And fair dues, he’d done it.”

Iommi had previously said that he wasn’t sure about Ozzy doing a double shift on the day, considering his condition. But he understood the singer was dedicated to closing the curtain on a six-decade career. Ozzy did it his way.

“He came around before he was leaving in a wheelchair to say goodbye and have a little chat. He seemed alright, he enjoyed it,” Iommi says of Ozzy’s reaction to the show. “He said, ‘Oh, it went all right, didn’t it?’ I said, ‘Yeah, it did.’”

The text he received from Ozzy several days ago said that he was tired and low on energy. His last dance had taken its toll on him.

“We could see it in rehearsal,” Iommi adds. “We didn’t want him there every day at rehearsal, because it’s too much. So they’d bring him in and he’d sit down and sing a few songs, and then we’d talk about some rubbish old times or whatever, have a laugh, and then he’d go.

“But the gig was for him, really; for us, to say goodbye and to have Bill drum with us as well after 20 years.

“I think he was frustrated as well, ’cause he wanted to stand up,” Iommi concludes. “You could see he was trying to get up.

“But it meant everything to him. This is what we built up for, for that big ending where he could see all the people and close it in that way.

“We didn’t expect him to go that quickly, really. We didn’t expect him to go. So it’s been a shock.”

After news of Ozzy's death broke, the music world came out in full force to pay tribute to the life and legacy of the legendary singer.

Black Sabbath’s co-founding members have reacted to the news of Ozzy Osbourne’s passing, with Tony Iommi echoing the thoughts of the wider metal community by reflecting, “There won’t ever be another like him.”

The singer died aged 76 on July 22, just weeks after his blockbuster blowout at Back to the Beginning, and the men he shared the stage with on that unforgettable night have paid tribute to the Prince of Darkness, and the legacy he’s left behind.

“I just can’t believe it! My dear, dear friend Ozzy has passed away only weeks after our show at Villa Park,” writes Iommi.

"It’s just such heartbreaking news that I can’t really find the words. There won’t ever be another like him. Geezer, Bill and myself have lost our brother. My thoughts go out to Sharon and all the Osbourne family. Rest in peace. Oz.”

The guitarist had previously expressed his thoughts about Ozzy pulling a double shift at Back to the Beginning but the show, which smashed records with its charity fundraising efforts, epitomized Ozzy’s hardened dedication to music. Even if that meant performing on a bat-encrusted throne. It’s a sense of spirit that bass player Geezer Butler was keen to highlight with his post.

“Goodbye, dear friend,” he says. “Thanks for all those years. We had some great fun. Four kids from Aston. Who’d have thought, eh? So glad we got to do it one last time, back in Aston. Love you.”

It may have been Ozzy’s name that made the news headlines following their spectacular final show earlier this month, but it also provided a pertinent farewell for drummer Bill Ward, too, who missed out on 2017’s The End tour amid health issues. Now, he’s left to mourn the loss of his friend, the voice of heavy metal.

“Where will I find you now?” he asks. “In the memories, our unspoken embraces, our missed phone calls, no, you’re forever in my heart. Deepest condolences to Sharon and all family members. RIP.

“Sincere regrets to all the fans,” he adds. “Never goodbye. Thank you, forever.”

Ozzy leaves behind a superlative legacy with Black Sabbath and as a solo artist, which helped immortalize the likes of Randy Rhoads and Zakk Wylde along the way.

But above all, he was a working-class hero who redefined heavy music forever, and he had one hell of a taste for guitar players. He was a singer most metalheads could see themselves reflected in, and he won't be forgotten.

Following the news that Ozzy Osbourne has passed away at the age of 76, the music world has come out in full force to pay tribute to the life and legacy of the legendary heavy metal singer.

Yesterday (July 22), Ozzy's family confirmed in a statement that he had passed away “with his family surrounded by love”. The Prince of Darkness’ death comes mere weeks after he reunited with his Black Sabbath bandmates for their Back to the Beginning farewell show.

In the wake of the announcement, some of Osbourne’s closest friends and collaborators – as well as those who have been moved by his presence over the decades – have taken to social media to honor the music and memory of the Godfather of Heavy Metal.

Osbourne’s Black Sabbath bandmates Tony Iommi, Geezer Butler and Bill Ward – along with the likes of Dave Mustaine, Brian May, Slash, Metallica, Ronnie Wood, Pantera, Steve Vai and more – have all offered emotional tributes.

Tom Morello, who MD’d Osbourne’s Back to the Beginning farewell show, posted a picture of the pair with the caption, “God bless you Ozzy.” Yungblud, who was included on the bill and shared a heartwarming exchange with Ozzy on the night, wrote an especially powerful tribute, reflecting, “I will never forget you - you will be in every single note I sing and with me every single time I walk on stage.”

“It’s impossible to put into words what Ozzy Osbourne has meant to Metallica,” James Hetfield and co wrote on X. “Hero, icon, pioneer, inspiration, mentor, and, most of all, friend are a few that come to mind.”

Ozzy’s longest-serving guitarist, Zakk Wylde, shared a clip of the two on stage at Back to the Beginning, and wrote, “Thank you for blessing the world [with] your kindness and greatness Oz. You brought light into so many lives and made the world a better place.”

“Ozzy changed the world and for millions of people all over the world, it’s nearly impossible to imagine where we might be if he hadn’t,” Lamb of God wrote. “So even as we mourn his passing, we celebrate his life.”

More tributes for Ozzy Osbourne can be found below.

Following the announcement that Ozzy Osbourne has died at the age of 76, we're revisiting the Guitar World archives to look back on the life and legacy of the legendary Black Sabbath singer.

The following interview is taken from Guitar World's June 1990 issue. The original headline was "The Good, The Bad & The Ozzy: Or How to Become a Heavy Metal Guitar Hero in One E-Z Lesson."

If only half the rumors about him are true, Ozzy Osbourne should be dead. Yet, after 21 years of twisted public behavior, the man who brought you songs like Paranoid, Bark at the Moon and Children of the Grave looks incredibly healthy and ready to take on the world.

Ozzy recently celebrated more than 20 years in the business by polishing off a live greatest hits EP, Just Say Ozzy, and is currently at work on his next studio metal masterpiece.

In the conversation that follows, Ozzy thoughtfully recalls what made each of his great guitarists special, and elaborates his criteria for choosing a guitarist, his audition process, and his theory on why it's good to be bad.

Let’s start by looking at your past guitarists. How did you find Randy Rhoads?

"Thinking back, it was quite extraordinary. I had been in Black Sabbath since high school, and suddenly Tony Iommi fired me from the band. It was a shock because Sabbath had always been there. I was out of my brain on drugs and alcohol and I was stuck in the position of getting a band together. I had never auditioned anyone before and I was petrified.

"The auditioning process was so embarrassing. How do you tell someone that they’re not what you’re looking for? Back then, everyone was trying to clone Jimi Hendrix. I heard nothing but Purple Haze and Foxy Lady riffs. One guy even hooked up several tape recorders and echo units so he could play both the lead and rhythms to Hendrix tunes simultaneously. It was a nightmare!

"I had almost given up when somebody told Sharon [Osbourne, Ozzy’s wife and personal manager] about this great guitar player in town named Randy Rhoads. Shortly afterward, Randy came over to my Los Angeles apartment. He was so frail, tiny and effeminate that I thought, 'Oh no, oh hell.' But out of politeness, I invited him to play the next day.

"Unfortunately, when he turned up, I was stoned out of my mind. I mean, I was on another planet. Some guy woke me up and said, 'He’s here!' I looked up and Randy started playing from this tiny amp. Even in my semiconsciousness he blew my mind. I told him to come by the next day and that he had the gig.

"The next day I told someone I dreamed that I hired a guitar player. They told me I didn’t dream it and that he was coming that day. I thought, 'Oh god, what have I done? I hope he can play!'"

How do you know when a guitarist is right or wrong?

"It’s like shopping for a new suit: there may be a whole rack of blue suits, but only one will grab you. There’s no ritual, there’s no formula. I’ve just been lucky that everybody’s liked my taste in guitar players."

What were Randy’s weaknesses as a player? Was there any aspect you had to help him with?

"He didn’t really have any weaknesses. I was the one that needed work. I had just come from Sabbath and Tony Iommi was a bit of a tyrant. His attitude was that I was the singer, I was allocated a space, and if I couldn’t come up with anything then I was screwed.

"Whereas Randy would work with me. Randy had patience because he was a guitar teacher. It was potentially a very frustrating situation for him because I couldn’t play a musical instrument. But he was always supportive and would say things like, 'Try bending a note here,' or 'Try this key.'

"It was a bit like going to music school. Randy was very instrumental in bringing me out of me. The first two Ozzy albums are by far the greatest things I’ve ever done. He was too good to last."

You and Randy had chemistry.

"Yeah, and now I think it’s gone, but you never know. I was never sure whether my work with Sabbath was any good. I used to think it was all too ordinary, but it seems to have stood the test of time. You never know what you got till it’s gone."

You must have had more confidence when you found Jake E. Lee.

"Not really. I knew a guitarist had to look good and have a good attitude, but other than that… Randy was the exception. He was from somewhere else.

"Randy came to me one day and said, 'I’ve had enough of this rock and roll stuff, I want to get a degree in music from UCLA.' I said to him, 'Why don’t you wait a few years and get some money and success behind you. You can always get a degree when you’re 90, if you want.' But he wanted to study right then and there.

"He started spending hours practicing and writing out his own formulas – diads or niads or whatever you call them. Day in and day out, whatever spare time he had was spent plucking on his flamenco guitar. He was a musician in the true sense. The instrument was an extension of his personality.

"When we were recording Diary of a Madman he would disappear into the studio for days. I’d ask him what he was doing and he would say, 'I’m working on this solo and I still can’t get it.' Finally, it would come to him and he would call me and say, 'Listen to this.' It would always tear my head off.

"That’s the difference between guitar players: there are guys who’ll go wingly-wangly up and down the fretboard, and some have emotions and others don’t. Randy and Eddie Van Halen were at the winning post, and everyone else is a close second.

"I mean, this Yngwie Malmsteen guy must have the capability to do some amazing things, but it’s too cold; it’s too much for the mind to take in. And watching Steve Vai is like watching a good mechanic strip down an engine in three seconds and rebuild it. He makes things run perfectly, but there’s no nice little errors that make things sound human."

Okay, but what about Jake?

"Well, Jake was fine for the first three days; then he wanted to take over. Randy wasn’t like that; he was one of the cool guys. I wouldn’t say Jake and I got along, but I wouldn’t say we didn’t get along. But in the last few years he became very reserved and it was hard to communicate with him.

"We lived together in a house in Beverly Hills and we never spoke! It wasn’t because we didn’t like each other. We just didn’t have anything to say.

"It was similar to the relationship I had with Tony Iommi. We’d get together to rehearse, write a mediocre song and then go our own way. It’s not the relationship I wanted with Jake, but a festering cancer set in. I wouldn’t have it. If I ask, 'What do you think of that?' I want a reaction. If it’s negative we’ll try something else, that’s not a problem. But Jake would shrug his shoulders, raise an eyebrow and walk away.

"The word 'band' means a band of men – an army, a platoon, a unit. A chain is only as strong as its weakest link. If there is a communication breakdown – hey, that’s a great name for a song – you’ve got no unit.

"To be fair, Jake did have a fantastic presence and he was a great guitar player."

What made Zakk stand out?

"This is a bizarre story, but it’s the God’s honest truth. It was a bad period for me because I was sick of auditioning people – drummers, bass players, keyboard players, you name it. Now it was time to audition yet another guitar player. The spark had gone out of it, probably due to my various battles with drugs and alcohol. I had a lot of personal hang-ups about a lot of things, plus I was tired.

"I asked the guys who were in the band at the time to put out the word that I needed somebody and to have people send me résumés. I auditioned about 50 guys. Some of them were hilarious. I asked one guy to play something in a specific key. He said, 'I think it would be better in another key.' I said, 'No it wouldn’t. Just play it in the key it was written in.' He protested again and I just thought, What the hell am I doing here? I’m jet-lagged to the max, arguing with some idiot guitar player.

"Then there were all these Eddie Van Halen clones on steroids. They played like Van Halen while standing on their heads and hopping on one leg. One guy even played like Eddie while eating a fucking sword!

"One morning I was confronted with a mound of tapes and I remember picking one up out of thousands and saying, 'Look here, a Randy Rhoads clone.' It was a picture of some guy with long blonde hair playing a Les Paul Custom. I couldn’t even bring myself to listen to his tape. I tossed it back in the pile and forgot about it.

"Then about six months later, my drummer, Randy Castillo, walks in and says, 'I found this great guitarist from New Jersey, and his name is Zakk.' I walked into the audition and I knew I had seen him before, but I couldn’t remember where. He plugs in and plays my whole catalog, note for note.

"I then asked him to play something of his own and he played some acoustic stuff and some classical stuff. He had a bounce and a spark about him. Then I realized where I saw Zakk before: he was the Randy Rhoads clone in the photo, the one tape I had picked out of thousands. Only it turned out that he wasn’t a Randy clone at all. Randy would’ve looked like an ant next to Zakk.

"There were lots of benefits to choosing Zakk. He had followed my career and he knew my songs better than I knew them myself. We knew it wouldn’t be hard to break him in."

Now that you’ve worked with Zakk for a while, what do you think his strengths are?

"That’s a difficult question. He’s still very young and still very impressionable. I think he’s still finding his own feet."

What are the drawbacks to working with young players?

"I keep thinking I would love to work on a project with musicians my own age. I guess I’d better do it quick because with each passing year the number of people my age gets smaller. I’m starting to feel like a daddy or something. I don’t want to be the wild man of rock and roll for too much longer."

You could go the David Coverdale route and hire established guitarists, yet you seem to prefer to discover new talent.

"I want someone that’s hungry. I want someone who wants to go out and kick Eddie Van Halen’s ass. I look for that hunger, that ability to succeed."

What was your most bizarre auditioning experience?

"There’s been thousands of them. One guy did a break dance and spun around on his back on the floor while playing wild guitar licks. There were lots of guys who were great but horrible to look at. I mean, there’s always cosmetic surgery, I suppose. Besides being a great guitarist you’ve got to look the part; you’ve got to be able to attract people. Some of the people I’ve auditioned looked like they should’ve been in a sideshow at the circus.

"I’m never worried about finding players, though. If Zakk walked through the door and said, 'I’m leaving,' I’d say, 'God bless you, goodbye.' There’s an abundance of guitar players jamming in their rooms who are brilliant. In fact, I often wonder why they aren’t out doing something.

You’ve got to have an interesting frontman.

"Yeah, you’re right. There is a lack of good frontmen. Axl Rose is the best I’ve seen in many years. I appeared in a movie called The Decline and Fall of Western Civilization, Part II: The Heavy Metal Years, along with a number of bands. I couldn’t believe the horseshit in that film. It seemed that all anyone talked about was partying and getting laid. What about being in a band and playing music?

"Guns N’ Roses is a great name for a band and they seem committed. I’m not trying to be trendy, but that’s what I think. I think they’ve got a great image, as well. Everybody likes the bad guys.

"Take that band Stryper – that’s the highest form of hypocrisy. They wear the same clothes as me, but they carry crucifixes and Bibles. The difference is, nobody likes to hear a good person. I discovered that many years ago."

What’s your assessment of Tony Iommi? He’s left-handed, his fingers are chopped off, he had to detune his guitar three steps, yet he ended up defining a genre.

"In the beginning he was brilliant – he was the master of heavy metal riffs. He was very clever. But I never really knew Tony; we rarely spoke. He was the god-almighty figure in the band and verged on being a bully. I must have learned something from him, though, because when I left I did pretty well on my own. I still keep in touch with the rest of the band, but I don’t speak with Tony because we never talked when I was in the band.

"He’s very intimidating. To be honest, toward the end his playing bored me, because everyone else was progressing and he wasn’t. That’s probably not fair, given his problems with his fingers. I should be grateful for Black Sabbath. But Tony needs to stop writing about devils and bullshit – it’s already been done.

"Ultimately, I think it was good that I moved on when I did. It was starting to get frustrating, because Tony would get a good headbanger going, then he’d start doing all this weird stuff. It started getting too complicated."

Except for Shot in the Dark, your live versions of songs stay pretty close to the originals.

"I’ve seen bands who’ve played endings that are longer than the actual song. I always think, Jeez, c’mon! End it already! I’m old-fashioned in the sense that I like the song to sound like the song. I don’t even like live records; I haven’t really acknowledged the release of Just Say Ozzy. Those songs have already been done. Why do them again?"

Aren’t you ever tempted to rework songs to keep them from getting boring?

"No. If I don’t get off on something, I just drop the song from the set. I’ve got enough tunes in the pipeline."

Millions of bands have tried to cop your formula, yet you endure. What is it about your songs that make them stand the test of time?

"God only knows. I was touring with Metallica a couple of years ago and I went backstage to talk with them. They were hanging out, and all of them were staring at me in a very strange manner. Then a couple weeks later I wandered backstage and they were playing Sabbath tunes.

"I asked ’em if they were trying to give me a hard time. And they said 'No, we’re mad for Sabbath.' They were big fans. I thought, What, Sabbath-mad? It’s incredible to me that people still like the music.

"Sabbath was a band that used to pull into an arena, play and never see a fan on the street. We came, we saw, we conquered and went home. I’d see an occasional acid freak wandering around San Francisco like a zombie mumbling 'Black Sabbath.' But we had no real contact with the fans, and we had no idea of the extent of our impact.

Of your albums, which are your favorites?

"Black Sabbath, Paranoid, Sabbath Bloody Sabbath, Blizzard of Ozz and Diary of a Madman. I relate more to the period of time than to the actual album. If I was having fun, then it was a good album. If I wasn’t, then the album was crap. We had a blast making Blizzard and Diary – screwed-up and always laughing.

"Those first two albums were my revenge because I was fired from Sabbath. I thought, Man, I’ll show them what it’s about! I always come out with my best when my back’s against the wall. It’s always when the luxury and financial rewards come piling in that I begin to lose it."

What would make you hungry again?

"I am, in a way. This is the first record I’ve ever done sober. I’m five months sober, and it’s very difficult. I don’t know whether it’s good or not. I’m writing mellower songs. Not to say the album will be mellow. Zakk will make sure it’s not. He’s crazy. In fact, he reminds me of me.

"During rehearsal, I’ll sit down with the road crew and have a can of Coke. Geezer [Butler] will walk in and quietly join us, then Randy [Castillo, drums]. But Zakk, you hear him from a mile away, screaming or whatever. He’s like a circus coming to town. Geezer cowers when he hears Zakk coming. There are so many cool-guy guitar players with their sunglasses and all that, but Zakk is one of the boys.

"He’s a real shitkicker. He always says hi to people and takes the time to talk to the fans – he’s always on. One of the key things about him is that he’s always got some time for the people. That’s a big asset. When people find success, they tend to get big heads and 18 bodyguards. They forget that without the fans they wouldn’t have a flash limousine and the money to pay for the bodyguards.

"You shouldn’t make yourself over-available, but you shouldn’t make yourself invisible either. I have to be careful because, in a lot of areas, not only are there a lot of people who like me but also a lot of people who hate me. I don’t want to be the next John Lennon.

"Trying to clean my act up was a major step in my life. I’m suddenly stone-cold sober in this zoo and the lions are trying to pick the lock. I was stoned for 21 years. Most rockers get stoned to break down the inhibitions, paranoia and shyness that stem from personal hang-ups we’ve carried around since we were kids. We all want to communicate with our fellow man, but we’re too frightened to try.

"Getting drunk allowed me to relax. But after a period of years, that stopped working for me. So I had a real dilemma. I was getting high and it was killing me. Yet, I was afraid of being sober. Things began going drastically wrong for me in my personal life. I had hit the bottom, and all that was left was death or insanity. Now with the grace of God, I’ve kept my sobriety, but I still take it one day at a time.

"On the next studio record I’ve decided to take a whack at writing a love song and things I actually feel. I may also write a song called, 'Son of a Bitch, Everything’s Real.' [laughs]

Someone once described you as a “nuclear bluesman.” The analogy fits – you often write simple, guitar-oriented songs about the woes of the modern man.

"Just the other day I was watching an old video of me singing Paranoid. I listened to the lyrics and thought, Hell, where were we when we wrote that? It was really strange because I had this smile on my face while I was singing this heavy, heavy song.

"I mean, Sabbath grew up in Birmingham, England, which was in an industrialized pit. That was a billion light years from San Francisco’s hippified flower power, where you’d hear some guy singing about wearing flowers in your hair. Meanwhile, my life was shit. I was frightened by fear. Fear has been my closest friend throughout my life. That’s why we drank. That’s why we’re all fucked up.

"But I have no real regrets, except that I wasn't up to keeping Randy Rhoads from getting on that plane. I'm no superman, no person from another planet – I'm just a lucky guy."

Ozzy Osbourne, the singer and rock icon who fronted Black Sabbath and led a hugely successful solo career, has died aged 76, just weeks after his farewell show.

John Michael ‘Ozzy’ Osbourne left school at 15 and worked a series of laboring and construction jobs – including, famously, a stint as an abattoir worker.

The Beatles’ 1963 hit She Loves You initiated his love of music, which was formalized when he joined Geezer Butler’s band Rare Breed in 1967 as vocalist. The pair followed it up with Pola Tulk Blues, recruiting Tony Iommi and Bill Ward. The group changed their name to Earth, until they settled on Black Sabbath in 1969.

Although other bands came close, Black Sabbath are widely credited with the invention of heavy metal, their doom-laden brand of heavy blues giving birth to a whole new genre and its myriad offshoots.

It was during this period that Ozzy humorously gave himself the nickname the Prince of Darkness, leaning into Sabbath’s occult image.

“When I started entertaining, shall we say, up until that point I was an ordinary guy,” Osbourne told Classic Rock. “Music gave me everything.”

Black Sabbath would release six more albums fronted by Ozzy before they parted ways in 1978. His debut solo record, Blizzard of Ozz, launched his solo career – masterminded by later wife Sharon Arden, who he met during Sabbath’s formative years – and would be followed by 12 more albums over nearly five decades.

During his career, Osbourne introduced the world to a cavalcade of guitar talent. His debut album took heavy metal in a thrilling new direction, led by Randy Rhoads – the most exciting guitarist since Eddie Van Halen, epitomized by the album’s high-octane lead single, Crazy Train.

During the tour for followup album Diary of a Madman, Ozzy became as well-known for his on and offstage antics as his music. During a gig in Des Moines, Iowa, a fan threw what Ozzy thought was a toy bat onstage. When he bit its head off, he realized it was real. He was rushed to hospital for rabies shots.

He was later arrested in San Antonio, Texas, for urinating against a wall at The Alamo, a sacred American monument. His drinking and wildman antics all served to cement him in the public consciousness.

But tragedy struck on March 19, 1982, when a spontaneous joyride in a light aircraft went horrifically wrong, and Randy Rhoads was killed.

“Randy was an awesome musician,” Ozzy told Classic Rock. “And he was the sweetest, funniest guy. We loved each other. The day he died was the greatest tragedy of my life.”

Osbourne would be surrounded by great guitarists for the rest of his career, and made some players household names.

Bernie Tormé and Brad Gillis had the impossible task of following Rhoads on subsequent tours, but Jake E. Lee became Osbourne’s next breakout guitar star, performing on Bark at the Moon (1983) and The Ultimate Sin (1986).

Upon Lee’s departure, Ozzy found his longest-serving guitarist, who went on to become family: Zakk Wylde. For players of a certain generation, Wylde is the definitive Ozzy guitarist, appearing on smash albums No Rest for the Wicked and No More Tears.

“Ozzy is the godfather of my oldest son,” Wylde told Guitar World this year. “My wife Barbara and I – our relationship with Ozzy and Sharon [Osbourne] is more of a family thing. I’m truly blessed to have him in my life.”

“It’s like shopping for a new suit,” Ozzy said of his talent for choosing the right guitarists for the job. “There may be a whole rack of blue suits, but only one will grab you. There’s no ritual, there’s no formula. I’ve just been lucky that everybody’s liked my taste in guitar players.”

Osbourne was famous for more than just his music, of course, and remained relevant into the 1990s and 2000s. Reality show The Osbournes made him a celebrity outside of the rock and metal world, while Ozzfest introduced him to a new generation of metal fans.

“Sharon tried to get me on Lollapalooza, and they told her they didn’t think I was relevant any more, that I was a dinosaur,” he told Classic Rock. “So she said fuck them, we’ll do our own thing. Ozzfest gave new bands a stage. There’s no platform now for new bands to play.”

In the 2010s, Ozzy won plaudits from MTV, a Lifetime Achievement Award from the Ivor Novellos, as well as a Classic Rock Living Legend award and a Metal Hammer Golden God award.

Black Sabbath would reunite in 2011 and released their final studio album, 13, in 2013. Their final tour, appropriately titled The End, ran between 2016 and 2017.

In 2019, Osbourne was diagnosed with Parkinson’s, and a subsequent fall caused spinal damage. By early 2025, he had lost the ability to walk.

Despite his physical challenges, Osbourne and Iommi reunited to play the closing ceremony of the Birmingham 2022 Commonwealth Games.

Ozzy’s final gig took place just 17 days before his death. Held on July 5 in Black Sabbath’s hometown of Aston, Birmingham, Back to the Beginning was billed as the “greatest heavy metal show ever” as rock and metal’s biggest names convened to honor the Prince of Darkness and raise money for Birmingham-based charities.

The show ended with a solo set from Ozzy, flanked by Wylde, and one last performance from the original Black Sabbath lineup. It was an emotional and fitting farewell for a music icon and true working class hero.

“I mean, Sabbath grew up in Birmingham, England, which was in an industrialized pit. That was a billion light years from San Francisco’s hippified flower power, where you’d hear some guy singing about wearing flowers in your hair,” Ozzy told Guitar World in 1990.

“Meanwhile, my life was shit. I was frightened by fear. Fear has been my closest friend throughout my life. That’s why we drank. That’s why we’re all fucked up.

"But I have no real regrets, except that I wasn't up to keeping Randy Rhoads from getting on that plane. I'm no superman, no person from another planet – I'm just a lucky guy."

Ozzy passed away on the morning of July 22 “with his family surrounded by love” according to a statement from the Osbourne family.

Black Sabbath’s blockbuster curtain closer, Back to the Beginning, saw the heavy metal pioneers sign off across an exhaustive, riff-filled 10-hour party. Each band covered a cut from Sabbath's or frontman Ozzy Osbourne’s solo catalogs. Sabbath delivered a four-song set. They had, however, rehearsed more.

Reflecting on a night that is estimated to have raised millions for charity, guitarist Tony Iommi told SiriusXM's Trunk Nation with Eddie Trunk: “I'm really a bit of a perfectionist, but they can only do what they can do, and you can't expect anything else.” [via Blabbermouth]

Drummer Bill Ward missed out on Sabbath’s last farewell due to health issues. This time out, Ozzy had to perform seated. Four songs was their lot, but that didn’t stop them defrosting some other classics.

“We're in our seventies and late seventies, so you can only do so much,” he confesses. “To expect perfection from everybody is just impossible at the moment.

“But they did what they could do, and everybody was fine about it. I think the audience would know that and accepted that. They weren't expecting us to go on and be absolutely brilliant players. We played as we played and as we are now.”

The fact that the Prince of Darkness was pulling a double shift, bowing out as a solo artist with a five-song set before going straight into Sabbath’s sign off, sparked further concern for Iommi.

“We worked out what songs we were gonna play, and it was really a case of how long Ozzy could do it, because we didn't know,” he says. “With him doing his own set – which I didn't think he should do – I didn't want him to get burnt out by the time he'd come with us.”

Their final quartet of songs comprised War Pigs, Iron Man, N.I.B., and Paranoid, but “six or seven” songs were rehearsed. Ultimately, Black Sabbath and Fairies Wear Boots – the latter covered by Alice In Chains on the night – were dropped.

“It was a little difficult for Bill 'cause he hadn't played them for so long,” Iommi expands sympathetically. “Geezer and I, of course, played them on the last tour. And, of course, Bill hasn't toured, don't forget, for a long time.

“We hadn't played with Bill live for 20 years, so it was hairy wondering what's gonna happen, because Bill, when he plays, he plays different things every time. So you just have to be on your toes. But it went well.”

Much of the media coverage around the show has focussed on Ozzy’s retirement but Iommi has a solo album on the way, and he’s far from finished. Writing in the wake of the historic event, Guitar World editor-in-chief Michael Astley-Brown called it “a tribute to Tony Iommi’s singular impact on guitar music.”

Sabbath weren’t the only ones facing health issues and uncertainty in the run up to the gig, Jake E. Lee was forced to revert to plan B after he accepted he wasn’t fit to play his biggest hit, Bark to the Moon.

That was ultimately handled by a supergroup including Vernon Reid, Nuno Bettencourt – who debuted a stunning mystery guitar for the performance – and Ghost mastermind Papa V Perpetua, as part of Tom Morello's ‘Metal Yardbirds.’

Jake E. Lee was in a unique position when he joined Ozzy Osbourne’s band in 1983. He wasn’t just filling Randy Rhoads’ shoes; he also was covering some of Tony Iommi’s most iconic riffs and solos.

“It just sounds evil,” Lee says of Iommi’s playing. “He bends so [that] it’s not quite in pitch. It just made it sound so much better. There are things like that that I found challenging. Where did he come up with all those riffs? It’s not human. It’s unfathomable how he just kept coming up with riffs!”

At the time of this conversation, conducted several months before July 5’s Back to the Beginning extravaganza, Lee has been recovering from a shooting that took place near his Las Vegas home last October.

His left arm was injured in the incident – but he also suffers from arthritis in his right hand, leaving him with little cartilage. It goes without saying he needed time to get up to speed. But none of that matters to him as much as simply bearing witness.

“It’s a thrill to be a part of it,” he says. “And even more so for me to watch it. I hope Ozzy can get through it. I haven’t spoken with him or seen him in decades.

“I really don’t know what condition he’s in, but he deserves a final farewell performance. No matter how he is, or how well his singing is, he deserves to have that final farewell. I’m happy to be a part of it.”

What led to your involvement with Back to the Beginning?

“Tom Morello called me. He said, ‘There’s going to be a thing, an original Sabbath performance and Ozzy Osbourne’s final performance. I can’t see this going on without Jake E. Lee in there somewhere.’ I said, ‘Yeah, I’d love to do it.’”

Do you remember the first time you heard Black Sabbath’s music?

“I was 13 and had just gotten into the whole rock ’n’ roll thing. I’d grown up playing classical piano and was a bit of a snob. [Laughs] I thought rock ’n’ roll was stupid! Then I heard Jimi Hendrix’s Purple Haze and said, ‘This changes everything!’ It opened a whole new world, and there was a new band called Black Sabbath.”

How did their music affect you?

“I said, ‘Wow! Cool, man.’ I love horror films, and that [debut album] opening track [Black Sabbath] was like listening to a horror movie. I don’t know if I’d say I was scared – but it overwhelmed me. I’d never heard anything like it. I don’t want to say [it was] evil… but that menacing sound, I just loved it right away. Black Sabbath was one of my three favorite bands as a teenager, along with Led Zeppelin and Grand Funk Railroad.”

Can you measure the impact of Tony Iommi on you as a young guitarist?

“It was huge. I saved up my money to where I could finally buy an [Gibson] SG, and that was because of him. I wanted to sound like him. I thought he had the greatest tone. Tone-wise, to this day, Tony Iommi is my greatest inspiration. Every time I’m trying to set my stuff up to get the sound right, I play War Pigs. If I can sound anything close to what he sounded like on that, I’m going with it.”

When you joined Ozzy’s band, you were in a unique position, following Randy Rhoads while also playing on a tour featuring many of Tony’s riffs and solos.

“I joined in the middle of the Speak of the Devil tour. Half of the set was Black Sabbath, and half was the stuff with Randy, so I just tried to get as close as I could.

“With the Sabbath stuff, I will say I tried to modernize it or put a little bit more of me into it. It was classic rock that you could kind of fuck with because everybody knows the originals, so I played around a little bit more when we did the Sabbath stuff. With Randy’s, I tried to keep it pretty close because that was fairly recent.”

Was Ozzy as wild as he was made out to be back then?

“One of my favorite Ozzy stories was from that tour. We were doing War Pigs, and it’s the first verse, and Ozzy looks at me and mouths, ‘What are the words?’ I knew the words, but he stumped me. I wasn’t expecting that. I didn’t want to say the wrong words, so I just said, ‘I don’t know…’ So he started singing ‘Old MacDonald Had a Farm.’ [Laughs]”

How did that work out?

“It worked perfectly! [Laughs] It was genius. It was like, ‘Old MacDonald haaaad a faaarm, he had some pigs with an oink oink here, and an oink oink therrrrrre.’ I remember it clearly, and it just worked so great. It was onstage, and I remembering looking at the punters in the front row, and they were just like, ‘What the fuck is going on?’ [Laughs]”

Whose style was more difficult to duplicate – Tony’s or Randy’s?

“To be honest, probably Tony’s. It’s not difficult; nothing he plays is really that different except for those trills. I don’t know how he plays those trills so fast – but there’s a nuance.

“A lot of times, when he bends a note, especially the lower notes, he doesn’t go all the way to pitch-perfect. He makes it a little bit flat, which makes it sound more menacing and kind of evil. That’s part of the genius of his playing.”

Is there anything specific you’d like to play on July 5?

“I know people are expecting Bark at the Moon, but I don’t know. Right now, with my wrist, the arthritis and everything, that would be very challenging. I have a couple of months to get up to it, so I’ll practice it just in case that’s the one. But that’s going to be pretty challenging for me physically.

“I’m shooting for The Ultimate Sin. It’s heavy, and I like the solo in it.” [Editor’s note: Lee would end up tackling this song along with Shot in the Dark, while Nuno Bettencourt and Vernon Reid ultimately took on Bark at the Moon.]

What does this final send-off mean to you?

“It’s thrilling. Like I said, Sabbath was one of my three favorite bands. It was just chemistry between the players that you can’t plan on or make happen. If any one of those guys aren’t in Sabbath, it’s just not as good.

“Dio did a good job, but it just wasn’t Sabbath to me. And Bill Ward just had that swing that made them sound so different from every other band that was trying to play metal.”

• This article first appeared in Guitar World. Subscribe and save.

When Back to the Beginning was first announced, not only was it promised to be “the greatest day in the history of heavy metal”, it also vowed to bring together a mind-bending array of special guest guitar heroes for a range of Sabbath-honoring and supergroup sets.

And arguably the most anticipated supergroup of the evening was the ‘metal Yardbirds’ – a reunion of sorts between three electric guitar greats, all of whom grew up in similar musical circles when they were younger, and whose team-up had been teased by Sharon Osbourne back in February.

That hotly anticipated group comprised Tom Morello, Billy Corgan and Adam Jones, who came together for a Rage Against the Machine/Smashing Pumpkins/Tool super-band that performed two tracks on the night.

Morello, Corgan, and Jones – who shared near-identical early experiences growing up in similar music circles, before branching out into their own styles – were flanked at Back to the Beginning by Judas Priest royalty K.K. Downing, and former Ozzy and Dio bassist Rudy Sarzo, for a rampant Breaking The Law, before a Sabbath nod via Snowblind, from 1972’s Vol. 4.

The songs played host to plenty of whammy and wah pedal action, with the Flying V-wielding Downing, and Les Paul wielders Morello and Jones, delivering a bevy of high-octane guitar solos, each one oozing in a classic rock ’n’ roll spirit.

Elsewhere, Corgan was exclusively assigned to vocal duty for the two songs, meaning the wait to hear the six-string triumvirate of Morello, Jones and Corgan regrettably goes on.

Speaking of his connection to Morello and Jones – and the concept of the 'metal Yardbirds' – earlier this year, Corgan had said, “Somebody will get mad at me, but it's the closest thing to Beck, Clapton and Page kind of growing up in the same hood. We have had our influence in what followed.

“If they want to get mad at me, they can, but that's not an insane theory. I find it really fascinating, because what was it in the water that we were all drinking?”

Intriguingly, Jones says Tool originally turned down the chance to get involved with Back to the Beginning, with curator Tom Morello eager to involve his former schoolmate.

Elsewhere, there were some other noteworthy spots. Steven Tyler, who continues to recover from vocal issues that forced Aerosmith's retirement last year, made a triumphant return to the stage and joined Ronnie Wood, Tom Morello, Nuno Bettencourt and Andrew Watt group for three tracks.

Taking to Instagram to reflect on just shy of 10 hours of riffs and tributes, Billy Corgan had some heartfelt reflections.

“Music is the soundtrack to our lives, but yesterday, in my estimation, was something truly special,” he wrote. “As a three-dimensional soundtrack was being crafted in real time. All to celebrate this coming home for the band once known as Earth.

“Every great journey has trials and tribulations, tragedies and surprises. Therein lies the magic, therein lie the tears. I both whooped yesterday in sheer exultation to be in the right spot at the right moment, and I wept silently as my heroes fell on their wizardly, mythic sword to bid us farewell.”

Black Sabbath, in any of their incarnations across their 57-year career to date, are a force of nature. Inventing heavy metal and doom metal at a stroke, thrilling the wise with their epic fantasy lyrics and scaring the weak-witted with their satanic flirtations, Sabbath have somehow survived it all.

They’ve been through lows and highs – in commercial and narcotic senses – and have navigated periods of total unfashionability as well as others of godlike regard.

The original – and best – Sabbath lineup of John “Ozzy” Osbourne (vocals), Tony Iommi (guitar), Terence “Geezer” Butler (bass) and Bill Ward (drums) just completed the apex of their existence: Back to the Beginning at Villa Park in Birmingham. How big is this show? The support acts include Metallica, Guns N’ Roses and Tool, arena-sized acts who haven’t felt the need to support another band in decades.

How did they get to this exalted point? Well, since you asked…

It’s a bit weird, but not unreasonable, to conclude that the four musicians, all born in Aston, Birmingham, in 1948 or ’49, should never have become superstars. That kind of thing just didn’t happen in Aston, especially in the aftermath of World War II, when young men were expected to spend 45 years working in a factory before dying in their sixties.

Ozzy’s first job was as a tool-maker’s apprentice, where he cut the end of his thumb off on the very first day. Having had the missing chunk sewed back on, he moved through a succession of more or less desperate jobs, including killing livestock in an abattoir.

The tedium was briefly interrupted in 1966 by a stint in prison for breaking and entering – he was an incompetent burglar at best, once wearing fingerless gloves while attempting to steal goods from a clothing store – and another stretch after he punched a police officer in the face.

Music was his only solace, as it was for Iommi, Butler and Ward – three boys with fewer antisocial tendencies than Ozzy, but with just as poor a career outlook. Ward had started learning to play the drums as a pre-teen; Butler was playing rhythm guitar; and Iommi was pouring his efforts into mastering a cheap Watkins Rapier 22.

The future guitar hero came very close to having no musical career of any kind. When his band secured dates in Europe in 1965, Iommi was ready to quit his job as a machine-press operator, but on his last day at the factory his hand became trapped inside the machine – and the ends of his two middle right-hand fingers were severed. Doctors stopped the bleeding and managed to re-implant Iommi’s fingernails, but the damage was serious.

As he told me, “To this day it hasn’t really healed; there’s only a couple of layers of skin over the ends of the bone, and if I bend those fingers, they still hurt. I’ve looked into every conceivable way of getting them repaired surgically. They want to pull the skin forward from the rest of the finger to make a bigger covering at the fingertip, but I really don’t want to do that.”

One of the obvious problems posed to Iommi by the injury to his right hand was how to hold guitar strings down with two fingertips missing. Fortunately for the future of heavy metal, he was inspired by gypsy jazz guitarist Django Reinhardt, who had evolved a way of fretting notes without using the third and fourth fingers of his left hand, which had been damaged in a fire.

Noting this, Iommi hit on the strategy of attaching home-made plastic clips to his injured fingertips to reduce the pain of holding down the strings.

As time passed, Iommi improved this further by switching to light-gauge strings and tuning down, thus reducing the string tension and making it easier to fret the notes. The consequence of this was that the riffs he played were what we would now call “heavier,” although in 1965 this was pretty meaningless.

In 1966, drummer Bill Ward formed a band called the Rest and soon asked Iommi – now playing his guitar with dexterity again – to come onboard. Ozzy, too, had decided in the absence of other options to become a singer and placed an ad on a musicians’ noticeboard.

It read “Ozzy Zig requires gig. Owns own PA” and was read with interest by Butler, who was playing in a band called Rare Breed; he contacted Ozzy and recruited him into the group.

The Rest soon split up, and Rare Breed changed their name to Mythology, although a drug bust in 1968 caused them to call it a day. Iommi and Ward knew Butler, who had by now switched to bass, and invited him to form a band with them. The latter recommended Ozzy as a singer, and by the summer of ’68 the quartet of Osbourne, Iommi, Butler and Ward had solidified.

Renaming themselves Earth, the band adopted an overdriven, blues-indebted sound, and a manager – Jim Simpson – started to handle their affairs, although in December 1968 there was a hitch when Iommi quit to join Jethro Tull, then – as now – a successful folk-rock band.

He didn’t stay long, fortunately; although he did stick around just long enough to perform with Tull in The Rolling Stones Rock and Roll Circus, in December.

Returning to Earth – literally – Iommi warned his bandmates that a new level of discipline would be required if they were to succeed. A new band name was borrowed from the 1963 horror movie Black Sabbath, and an independent producer, Tony Hall, gave the group £500 to record a debut album…

Black Sabbath – Black Sabbath

• Label: Warner
• U.S. release: June 1, 1970
• Producer: Rodger Bain
• Personnel: Ozzy Osbourne (vocals, blues harp), Tony Iommi (guitar), Geezer Butler (bass), Bill Ward (drums)

This album’s first song is the unholy trinity of metal – Black Sabbath on Black Sabbath by Black Sabbath. It’s based on a tritone, the infamous flattened fifth or diabolus in musica, and Ozzy’s wail of “What is this that stands before me?” is spine-chilling to this day.

Other high points on this primitive but enormously influential album include Behind the Wall of Sleep, an expert exercise in allowing a riff to breathe. There’s tangible subtlety in the songwriting, with the riffage replaced at times by a warm, pastoral range of tones, and as the drums fade out, a slick bass solo from Butler stretches out for 40 seconds, aided by a Tycho Brahe wah pedal.

The songs, the artwork, the image, Ozzy’s sinister, untrained monotone, Iommi’s monolithic riffs… all combined to create the impression of a musical phenomenon far greater than the four scruffy musicians who inhabited it. This was the emerging sound of heavy metal, and the public lapped it up, sending it to Number 23 in the U.S.

Jim Simpson began shopping the album to record companies, looking for a deal, although most of them were unimpressed. Eventually his efforts paid off and a deal was struck with Vertigo in the U.K. and Warner Brothers in North America. Suddenly Black Sabbath were a hot property, commercially speaking, even if the musicians themselves remained flat broke.

Paranoid

• Label: Warner
• U.S. release: January 7, 1971
• Producer: Rodger Bain
• Personnel: Ozzy Osbourne (vocals), Tony Iommi (guitar, flute), Geezer Butler (bass), Bill Ward (drums)

Paranoid, which appeared a mere eight months after its predecessor, is one of the most influential metal albums of all time. Its dark, lustrous appeal helped to make it Sabbath’s first Number 1, while the Paranoid single was an international hit. These were remarkable achievements for a band who had been practically unknown a year before.

The album’s high points are many, including War Pigs, where Sabbath take a stance against the warmongering regimes of the day, widely presumed to include the U.S. administration responsible for the final stages of the Vietnam War. Lyrically, the song doesn’t win any prizes – famously, lyricist Butler rhymes “Generals gathered in their masses” with “Just like witches at black masses” – but that’s an integral part of its charm.

Planet Caravan is a surprise; a gorgeous ballad laden with echoing textures, it demonstrated that a mellower side lay within the Sabbath songwriting team. That said, Iron Man – with its carved-in-stone riff and almost comedically threatening intro, featuring Ozzy’s electronically treated wail of “I am Iron Man!” – made it clear that this band didn’t want to be friends with you. They wanted to terrify you.

Master of Reality

• Label: Warner
• U.S. release: August 6, 1971
• Producer: Rodger Bain
• Personnel: Ozzy Osbourne (vocals), Tony Iommi (guitar, keyboards, flute), Geezer Butler (bass), Bill Ward (drums, percussion)

Master of Reality, recorded from February to April 1971, is a milestone by any standards.

Butler explained in an interview with the author: “With Master of Reality, we wanted to change the music a bit because we didn’t want to keep playing the same stuff all the time. We all bought different instruments, Tony started playing piano, we wanted to expand our musical horizons a bit. We took our time because we could afford to.”

Master begins with an ode to marijuana, Sweet Leaf, introduced by the sound of Iommi taking a hit from a joint and coughing, with the sound taped, looped and panned slowly across the speakers.

Elsewhere, the guitarist’s mellower side was on full display; see Orchid, an instrumental lasting just a minute and a half and effectively an acoustic guitar symphony. However, the immense Lord of This World and Into the Void are based on all-time classic riffs: success hadn’t taken away any of Iommi’s desire to make heavy music, evidently.

With the three-album run of Black Sabbath, Paranoid and Master of Reality, Sabbath had distinguished themselves beyond all reasonable expectations. Could they keep the momentum rolling?

Vol. 4

• Label: Warner
• U.S. release: September 30, 1972
• Producer: Black Sabbath, Patrick Meehan
• Personnel: Ozzy Osbourne (vocals), Tony Iommi (guitar, piano, Mellotron), Geezer Butler (bass, Mellotron), Bill Ward (drums, percussion)

Vol. 4 IS a great album, if a slightly unusual one. Changes is nothing less than a piano-and-strings ballad, Supernaut is an uptempo rock anthem based on a harmony riff and huge cymbals from Ward, and Snowblind is an anthem to cocaine (“Feeling happy in my pain/Icicles within my brain” intones Ozzy.)

Laguna Sunrise is another sweet instrumental and works perfectly in context, showcasing once more Tony Iommi’s many-sided writing talents, but it’s an example of how Vol. 4 could – and did – leave a few Black Sabbath followers more than a little confused.

On the other hand, the musicianship (by all four members of the band) was superior to anything they’d done before, and the band had also successfully expanded their lyrical approach.

The album went gold in the U.S. within eight weeks of its release, where a celebrated tour followed. In fact, this was the beginning of the era of Black Sabbath’s heaviest period of rock ’n’ roll indulgence; the message on the album’s sleeve of “We wish to thank the great COKE-Cola company of Los Angeles” made it clear where the band were headed. Indeed, Iommi recalled in his 2011 autobiography, Iron Man, that Sabbath ordered cocaine to be delivered to the recording studio, hidden inside speaker boxes.

Sabbath Bloody Sabbath

• Label: Warner
• U.S. release: November 1973
• Producer: Black Sabbath
• Personnel: Ozzy Osbourne (vocals, keyboards, tambourine), Tony Iommi (guitar, piano, keyboard, harpsichord, flute, bagpipes), Geezer Butler (bass, keyboards, Mellotron), Bill Ward (drums, bongos, timpani), Rick Wakeman (piano, Minimoog)

“I’d reached a point where I was addicted to narcotics,” said Bill Ward mournfully when I asked him what he recalled of the recording of Sabbath Bloody Sabbath. Geezer Butler saw it differently, telling me, “It was a great atmosphere – good times, great coke! Just like a new birth for me,” which reveals, if nothing else, that perspective is everything.

The pace certainly wasn’t letting up. In early ’73, Sabbath put in yet another row of international dates, this time in New Zealand, with Fairport Convention in tow. Curiously, the second support was local heroes Split Enz, who made a huge impact in the ’80s and ’90s when the core duo of Neil and Tim Finn made their names as Crowded House.

This didn’t exactly leave much gas in the creative tank when it came to writing new material. After time wasted in a Bel Air (Los Angeles) house – rented for songwriting purposes – had led to zero results due to writer’s block and exhaustion on Iommi’s part, Sabbath switched locations to Clearwell Castle, an ancient country manor in Gloucestershire, southern England.

Apparently inspired by their surroundings, where tales of hauntings were rife, the band came up with a set of songs that were their most compositionally ambitious yet.

Sabbath Bloody Sabbath’s standout tracks include the now-classic title cut, kicking off with one of Iommi’s best, and best-known riffs, and Sabbra Cadabra, a chunk of melodic rock ’n’ roll. The most impressive cut, technically speaking, is Spiral Architect, a grandiose ending to the album that features a lustrous string accompaniment and triple-tracked vocals. Believe it or not, Iommi also contributes bagpipes.

Very much back in business, the Black Sabbath gang hit the road in support of Sabbath Bloody Sabbath, performing through Europe before a U.S. tour in February.

A Long Island, New York, show saw them perform over Bedlam, a band in which the supremely talented drummer named Cozy Powell played, before what was undoubtedly the most ambitious live gig of their career to date, the California Jam on April 6, 1974, at Ontario Motor Speedway in Ontario, California, about an hour’s drive east of L.A.

And yes, Ozzy was up all night beforehand doing coke; we know because he told us.

Sabotage

• Label: Warner
• U.S. release: July 28, 1975
• Producer: Black Sabbath, Mike Butcher
• Personnel: Ozzy Osbourne (vocals), Tony Iommi (guitar, piano, keyboards, harp), Geezer Butler (bass), Bill Ward (drums, percussion, piano)

Sabbath's next album, Sabotage, was recorded in early 1975 at Morgan Studios in London and was the first LP to be produced by Iommi, although the overall credit went to Sabbath with Mike Butcher.

The high point of Sabotage is the majestic Symptom of the Universe, six-and-a-half minutes of riffs and solos, with multiple key and tempo changes underpinning Ozzy’s bat-like vocals. At 04:30, the track resolves into a piano and acoustic section, and in doing so becomes possibly the first progressive metal song.

The vocals were a problem, said Butler: “We always try to get Ozzy to sing Symptom of the Universe, but he never will. He says that he can’t reach the notes… It’s a psychological thing, I think. He won’t do it.”

The road was calling again, and Sabbath finished 1975 with another European and American tour. Business might have been good, but for some reason or other – drugs? Pressure? The rise of punk rock? – Sabbath were not to record a truly excellent album for some years.

Fortunately, a compilation, We Sold our Souls for Rock ’n’ Roll, was released in late 1975 and went some way toward reminding the kids what a tremendous early catalog Sabbath had.

Technical Ecstasy

• Label: Warner
• U.S. release: October 22, 1976
• Producer: Black Sabbath
• Personnel: Ozzy Osbourne (vocals, blues harp), Tony Iommi (guitar), Geezer Butler (bass), Bill Ward (drums, vocals), Gerald Woodroffe (keyboards)

Recorded and mixed at Criteria Studios in Miami and mastered in California, this album is almost devoid of classic riffage, focusing on light, radio-friendly rock.

Although it reached Number 13 in the U.K., it remained on the charts there for only six weeks before dropping off entirely – a far cry from the 42 and 27 weeks achieved by Black Sabbath and Paranoid, respectively.

Tour dates were as relentless as ever, though; for six months straight, starting in October 1976, Black Sabbath hit the road on a huge American tour. In March ’77, they played the U.K. and Europe, this time with fellow rockers AC/DC.

A backstage incident between Geezer Butler and AC/DC’s Malcolm Young has gone down in the annals of rock; the former is reported to have drawn a switchblade comb from his pocket, causing Young to misconstrue it as a flick-knife.

These were the least of Sabbath’s problems in late 1977. Ozzy’s father, Jack, was seriously ill with cancer, and as the end approached, the singer decided to quit the band. Iommi immediately recruited Dave Walker from Savoy Brown, although Walker and Ozzy could not have been more different in looks or singing style.

The prospect of an Ozzy-less Black Sabbath seemed not to deter the new lineup, who – along with session keyboard player Don Airey – rehearsed new material for the next album.

The Walker-fronted band even appeared on a BBC TV show, Look Hear, performing a new song, Junior’s Eyes. The program was broadcast on January 6, 1978, three weeks before Ozzy asked if he could rejoin. Shortly afterwards, he was reinstated.

Never Say Die!

• Label: Warner
• U.S. release: September 29, 1978
• Producer: Black Sabbath
• Personnel: Ozzy Osbourne (vocals), Tony Iommi (guitar), Geezer Butler (bass), Bill Ward (drums, vocals), Don Airey (keyboards), Jon Elstar (blues harp)

The problem now was that Black Sabbath had lost ground in the face of a tedious last album – so their next album, Never Say Die!, recorded in early 1978 at Sound Interchange Studios in Toronto, needed to be significantly better than 1976’s Technical Ecstasy.

It wasn’t. As it turned out, Never Say Die! was basically the last gasp of a band that had run out of enthusiasm, and Sabbath’s choice of Van Halen as the support act for the subsequent tour didn’t help, either. The youngsters from Pasadena were probably the hottest rock band on the planet in 1979, whereas Sabbath seemed old and tired in comparison.

As the writer Sylvie Simmons, who witnessed Van Halen’s rise, recalled: “Van Halen were almost like a one-off blip. They came out of Pasadena with this thrust of power that absolutely knocked you sideways. It was absolutely fantastic; they were this completely don’t-give-a-fuck band. They toured with Sabbath on that last tour – and blew them out of the water.”

A new album was planned, of course, but Ozzy’s heart wasn’t in it. Songwriting sessions, once again in Bel Air, failed to produce anything of note – and on April 27, 1979, Bill Ward was delegated to tell Ozzy that he was being fired.

Heaven and Hell

• Label: Warner
• U.S. release: April 18, 1980
• Producer: Martin Birch
• Personnel: Ronnie James Dio (vocals, blues harp), Tony Iommi (guitar), Geezer Butler (bass), Bill Ward (drums, percussion), Geoff Nicholls (keyboards)

Sabbath’s new singer was Ronnie James Dio, a warbler of unearthly vocal prowess who had hit the big time with Rainbow, the band formed by Deep Purple’s Ritchie Blackmore.

Dio’s arrival was beset by a certain amount of chaos; Geezer Butler quit Sabbath temporarily after Ozzy’s departure, apparently feeling unsure if anyone could fill their long-time singer’s boots.

Recording sessions for the new lineup’s debut album, Heaven and Hell, began at Criteria Studios in Miami in September 1979, without Butler, who was still on a temporary break from Sabbath.

An acquaintance of Iommi’s, Geoff Nicholls, who played in a band called Quartz, stepped in on bass, switching to the position of touring keyboard player when Butler returned a few days later.

Martin Birch, who had engineered several early Fleetwood Mac and Faces albums as well as producing five Deep Purple albums, was brought in to produce Heaven and Hell. He gave the album a slick, precise feel that was a huge step up from previous Sabbath releases, not least in its radio-friendly arrangements.

The obvious example of this new, taut sound was Neon Knights, the highly catchy opener, and Children of the Sea, which begins with an ocean of acoustic guitars. The song Heaven and Hell is riffier in nature, recalling the glory days of Iron Man, and so is Die Young with its complex midsection.

Heaven and Hell was the perfect antidote to the humdrum albums recorded in the last years of Ozzy’s tenure, but Bill Ward, whose parents had both died in recent months, was finding life in Sabbath tough to endure. In urgent need of rehab, he left Sabbath on August 21, replaced by ex-Axis drummer Vinny Appice.

Mob Rules

• Label: Warner
• U.S. release date: November 4, 1981
• Producer: Martin Birch
• Personnel: Ronnie James Dio (vocals), Tony Iommi (guitar), Geezer Butler (bass), Bill Ward (drums, percussion), Geoff Nicholls (keyboards)

In 1981, Sabbath scheduled the recording of a second LP with Ronnie James Dio, this time featuring Appice on drums. Mob Rules was scheduled for release in the autumn, after another huge tour in the summer.

Its title track was solid, featuring on the soundtrack for the cult Canadian film Heavy Metal, but the rest of the album didn’t quite match up to Heaven and Hell, unfortunately for Sabbath, who now faced the dread specter of their former singer outstripping them. Ozzy had recruited a firebrand guitarist in Randy Rhoads and was about to embark on a phenomenally successful solo career.

In fact, the Sabs were about to find themselves on the outside of modern heavy metal: in the early ’80s, American thrash metal was only a couple of years away from the dominance it achieved later in the decade, spearheaded by Metallica and Slayer and a host of lesser bands such as Exciter, who supported Sabbath in Canada that year.

Sabbath’s gradual descent from the top of the heavy metal pile began here, especially when Dio and Appice quit after the release of a live LP, Live Evil.

Born Again

• Label: Warner
• U.S. release: September 9, 1983
• Producer: Black Sabbath, Robin Black
• Personnel: Ian Gillan (vocals), Tony Iommi (guitar, flute), Geezer Butler (bass), Bill Ward (drums, percussion), Geoff Nicholls (keyboards)

A night at the pub in 1983 led to a remarkable new lineup. Deep Purple singer and then-solo artist Ian Gillan became temporary frontman, perhaps improbably; although Purple and Sabbath had co-existed in a state of more or less mutual respect for a decade or more, the image of the two groups was dissimilar, to say the least.

Gillan joined the band in a state of serious intoxication, he later revealed, having forgotten to inform his manager that he was joining what was jocularly referred to as “Purple Sabbath” until the morning after the fateful night.

Before rehearsals could begin, a drummer was needed, so a call was placed to Bill Ward, who was on his way toward sobriety by the end of ’82, but he fell off the wagon when the album was finished and was unable to play the subsequent tour.

The ensuing dates became infamous, thanks to the extravagant stage set – a replica of the Stonehenge columns in Wiltshire, England – and also This Is Spinal Tap, which lampooned it mercilessly the following year. The columns were 15 meters in height rather than the intended 15 feet and barely fit into the venues on the tour, if at all.

Ward took off after only a year or so back in the band, and to make things worse, Butler also quit, leaving Iommi as the last man standing.

Seventh Star

• Label: Warner
• U.S. release: January 28, 1986
• Producer: Jeff Glixman
• Personnel: Glenn Hughes (vocals), Tony Iommi (guitar), Dave Spitz (bass), Eric Singer (drums), Geoff Nicholls (keyboards)

This sorry state of affairs was overshadowed, at least temporarily, by the Live Aid concert on July 13, 1985, when the original foursome of Ozzy, Iommi, Butler and Ward made an appearance at JFK Stadium in Philadelphia.

Take a look at the performance on YouTube; you’ll witness Black Sabbath kicking off their three-song, 15-minute set with a version of Children of the Grave. Note the spandex, the mirrored shades and lack of chemistry between the musicians. Everything points to a fairly uninspired collaboration. Iron Man and Paranoid were delivered with conviction, although any possibility of a full reunion was soon quashed.

Back to work for Iommi, then, whose concept for a solo album – which he wanted to call Seventh Star – had extended as far as bass and drum tracks. He required a singer and called Glenn Hughes, the singer/bassist whose unearthly vocals had graced albums by Trapeze, Deep Purple and a host of other heavy-rock projects since the late ’60s.

Once on board, Hughes recorded his vocals at Cherokee Studios in Hollywood in July and August. Lyrics came from keyboardist Geoff Nicholls, producer Jeff Glixman and Hughes. Iommi added a bassist, Dave Spitz – nicknamed “The Beast” for his Wookiee-like hair – and the new lineup was ready to tour.

A single, Stranger to Love, proved there was still life in the new band, albeit of a painfully weak AOR nature. However, Hughes was ousted after a few dates, unable to sing properly after being punched by one of Sabbath’s road crew in an argument. Once more, Sabbath were singerless.

The Eternal Idol

• Label: Warner
• U.S. release: December 8, 1987
• Producer: Jeff Glixman, Vic Coppersmith-Heaven, Chris Tsangarides
• Personnel: Tony Martin (vocals), Tony Iommi (guitar), Bob Daisley, Dave Spitz (bass), Eric Singer (drums), Geoff Nicholls (keyboards, bass)

Black Sabbath singer number nine in seven years was Ray Gillen, a 25-year-old New Jersey resident who had sung with the Brooklyn-born former Rainbow drummer Bobby Rondinelli. Gillen – not to be confused with Ian Gillan – arrived before Glenn Hughes’ departure and played a series of shows.

The crowd seemed to accept the new recruit, and both Iommi and management breathed a collective sigh of relief… just before the entire band quit.

Once again left only with his long-term musical partner Geoff Nicholls, Iommi recruited a whole new lineup to complete the next album. His new singer was the golden-larynxed Tony Martin, while Bev Bevan played drums and Bob Daisley signed up to play bass.

The Eternal Idol was released November 28, 1987 (U.K.), and had some high-quality songs, including Nightmare, with its Tubular Bells-style keyboard intro, the instrumental Scarlet Pimpernel and the title track.

The subsequent European tour featured bassist Jo Burt, who had worked with Freddie Mercury, and Terry Chimes of the Clash came aboard as drummer, making this incarnation of Sabbath one of the strangest to date.

Headless Cross

• Label: I.R.S.
• U.S. release: April 17, 1989
• Producer: Tony Iommi, Cozy Powell
• Personnel: Tony Martin (vocals), Tony Iommi (guitar), Laurence Cottle (bass), Cozy Powell (drums), Geoff Nicholls (keyboards)

1987 was Black Sabbath’s worst year yet, despite Iommi’s attempts to keep the band credible. The band ended their deal with the Vertigo label, signing with IRS Records, the American company founded by Police and Sting manager Miles Copeland.

Yet another Sabbath lineup, featuring the two Tonys, Blue Murder drummer Cozy Powell and a session bassist, Laurence Cottle, gathered in August 1988 to rehearse for a new album, Headless Cross.

As Ozzy had recruited Geezer Butler to play on his No Rest for the Wicked tour in 1989, Iommi asked the session bassist Neil Murray to accompany him on tour that summer. Things were looking up a little; Headless Cross contained some moderately entertaining tunes, notably When Death Calls, with its Wagnerian conclusion, and went some way toward alleviating the damage done by the feebly performing Eternal Idol.

Fans of Iommi’s sheet-metal playing also appreciated the master’s melodic touch on Devil & Daughter, while the slick AOR sheen of Kill in the Spirit World was redeemed a little by the finger-twisting riff at the song’s core. Still, what a dismal period this was for the remnants of this once-great band.

Tyr

• Label: I.R.S.
• U.S. release: August 20, 1990
• Producer: Tony Iommi, Cozy Powell
• Personnel: Tony Martin (vocals), Tony Iommi (guitar), Neil Murray (bass), Cozy Powell (drums), Geoff Nicholls (keyboards)

Grunge and alternative rock were about to make life very hard for Black Sabbath as they entered the ’90s. It was a strange time for heavy metal in general, because the new, more serious dynamic emerging from Seattle made the old guard look, well, a touch silly. We were all a bit embarrassed – admit it...

That said, Sabbath managed to pull themselves out of the creative doldrums of the period to an extent, with Tony Martin’s expert vocals generally regarded by fans as a decent vehicle for Iommi’s songs. The next album, Tyr, released in the summer of 1990, enthralled more than a few fans with The Sabbath Stones, a near-seven-minute dinosaur of a track.

The Tyr tour was a success, with British and European dates lasting until November. Highlights included guest appearances at shows by Ian Gillan and Brian May, not to mention Geezer Butler, whose presence fuelled rumors that a classic lineup reunion might be on the cards — not the first, or last, time that such an idea had been suggested.

Dehumanizer

• Label: Reprise
• U.S. release: June 10, 1992
• Producer: Reinhold Mack
• Personnel: Ronnie James Dio (vocals), Tony Iommi (guitar), Geezer Butler (bass), Vinny Appice (drums, percussion), Geoff Nicholls (keyboards)

Reunion fever was definitely in the air in January 1991, when Ronnie James Dio replaced Tony Martin and Vinny Appice took over from Cozy Powell, who had sustained an injury while horse riding.

When a new album, Dehumanizer, was released in the summer of 1992, the song TV Crimes was a high point, with the technical riffing shared by Butler and Iommi a reminder of their advanced musicianship.

A tour rolled through South America in the month before the album release, gained momentum as Dehumanizer took off and passed through the U.S. before arriving at Ozzy’s supposed “retirement” show in Costa Mesa, California.

The idea had been that Dio, Iommi, Butler and Ward would support him before he closed the show, but Dio was not keen on the idea.

The show was a landmark nonetheless, with Ozzy joining his old band for four songs, and behind the scenes, real plans for a full-scale Osbourne, Iommi, Butler and Ward reunion were being hatched.

As the last of these told me, “After the Costa Mesa show, we had our mind on this for at least nine months… We had conversations with [Ozzy] by phone, and our managers were in touch. Dates had already been scheduled before Ozzy decided not to carry on with the project.”

Ozzy did indeed pass on the idea, and his retirement turned out to be brief. For their part, Ronnie James Dio and Vinny Appice departed to re-form the band Dio, so Iommi called Tony Martin and asked if he would be interested in taking back his place in the band. The singer agreed, and the drummer Bobby Rondinelli signed up too, although some tough times lay ahead.

Cross Purposes

• Label: Warner
• U.S. release: January 31, 1994
• Producer: Leif Mases, Black Sabbath
• Personnel: Tony Martin (vocals), Tony Iommi (guitar), Geezer Butler (bass), Bobby Rondinelli (drums), Geoff Nicholls (keyboards)

New songs were ready by summer 1993, and Cross Purposes was released in early ’94, just as Korn debuted with their self-titled album. There were still plenty of decent musical ideas coming from Sabbath, and Cross Purposes was respectable.

Virtual Death was a throwback to the style of their glory days, while Immaculate Deception featured an unusual but weighty guitar riff. The next step was a tour, and although the album performed only mildly well, ticket sales were strong; support came from Motörhead and Morbid Angel. Sabbath were starting to do well, which made it all the more strange when Butler and Ward quit again.

Ward still couldn’t face the band without Ozzy, and Butler wanted to start his own group with a sound that would fit better with modern metal. Neil Murray and Cozy Powell came back to the fold, but Sabbath fans began to wonder if the ’90s would only be about reunions and breakups.

Forbidden

• Label: Warner U.S.
• Release: June 5, 1995
• Producer: Ernie Cunnigan
• Personnel: Tony Martin (vocals), Tony Iommi (guitar), Neil Murray (bass), Cozy Powell (drums), Geoff Nicholls (keyboards)

All of Sabbath’s uncertainty about their role in modern music came to the fore on Forbidden. The band and management asked Ernie Cunnigan – a member of rapper Ice-T’s metal side-project, Body Count – to produce.

Body Count had a serious profile, thanks to the controversy over Cop Killer, and the group maintained a dangerous air that Sabbath presumably wanted for themselves. Still, the ruse smacked of desperation. That said, Forbidden wasn’t bad.

Illusion of Power, had its moments, including a guest rant from Ice-T. But that was it for Sabbath, studio albums-wise, for the next 18 years. The classic lineup reunited from 1997 to ’99 and again from 2004 to ’06 to play Ozzfest and tour the world, with a live album, Reunion, keeping the coffers full, and Sabbath were inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in ’06.

From 2007 to 2010, Iommi and Butler reunited with Dio and Appice to form a new band, Heaven & Hell, a world-class act that toured widely and released an excellent album, The Devil You Know, in 2009. Sadly, the group ended when Dio succumbed to stomach cancer in 2010.

13

• Label: Republic
• U.S. release: June 10, 2013
• Producer: Rick Rubin
• Personnel: Ozzy Osbourne (vocals, blues harp), Tony Iommi (guitar), Geezer Butler (bass), Brad Wilk (drums)

In November 2011, promotional images bearing “11-11-11” appeared on Black Sabbath’s social media pages. Sabbath’s third reunion, fourth if you include Live Aid in 1985, was about to occur – and when it did, it was an occasion to remember. All four original members confirmed that live dates and an album produced by Rick Rubin were on their way.

The delight that many observers felt at Sabbath’s return was diminished when Iommi issued the dismal news in January 2012 that he was suffering from lymphoma, a cancer of the lymphatic system. The following month, Bill Ward compounded the disappointment by announcing that he would not be taking part in the album and tour after all, citing contractual reasons.

Ultimately, 13 was recorded with Rage Against the Machine drummer Brad Wilk; Ozzy’s drummer, Tommy Clufetos, stepped up to play the subsequent tour dates. 13 instantly went to Number 1 in the U.S., largely because it consisted of the most charismatic recordings Sabbath had created in decades.

Highlights included God Is Dead?, End of the Beginning and the convincing Zeitgeist, the best Sabbath ballad in years. Sabbath toured for the rest of 2013, with dates in Australia and New Zealand – their first shows there for 40 years – and then North and South America, before more gigs in Europe.

Black Sabbath have remained busy in the decade-plus since 13, with a final run of dates called The End taking the Clufetos-anchored live band through North America, Europe and Australasia from January 2016 to February 2017. The final shows of The End tour took place at the Genting Arena in Birmingham on February 2 and 4, 2017, leaving most of us unconvinced that they were really calling time on their careers.

Only Iommi – who revealed that his cancer was in remission in the summer of ’16 – kept things vague, hinting that one-off shows and an album weren’t out of the question. Butler said in 2017 that the band had considered recording a blues album, a fascinating possibility, but that the tour “got in the way”.

There was always a slight feeling of unfinished business about Sabbath; Ozzy hinted at some regrets regarding Bill Ward in 2020, saying, “The only thing I do regret is not doing the last farewell show in Birmingham with Bill. I felt really bad about that. It would have been so nice.”

A medley of Iron Man and Paranoid by Ozzy and Iommi at the 2022 Commonwealth Games in Birmingham was more or less the last we’ve seen of them since then.

However, things were moving behind the scenes, and in 2024 Ozzy admitted, “It’s unfinished. If they wanted to do one more gig with Bill, I would jump at the chance,” and in February, news broke of Back to the Beginning. And the rest, as they say, is history…

• This article first appeared in Guitar World. Subscribe and save.

The most anticipated heavy metal event of all time, Back to the Beginning, took place last weekend (July 5), and as expected, the nine-hour affair proved to be the perfect send off for Ozzy Osbourne and Black Sabbath.

To bring the curtain down on Ozzy and Sabbath’s epic live careers, the legendary band were joined by a who’s who of guitar royalty, with the likes of Metallica, Guns N’ Roses, Slayer, Tool, Pantera, Halestorm, Lamb of God all making up the lineup.

Throughout the evening, these guitar heroes and special guests were arranged across a stacked itinerary, with some playing 15 minute sets (Ozzy and Sabbath covers included) and others joining forces for special one-off supergroups.

Billy Corgan’s ‘metal yardbirds’ were arguably the most hyped supergroup of the night, but they were given a run for their money when Steven Tyler made a triumphant return to the stage with a three-song set that also featured Ronnie Wood, Nuno Bettencourt, Tom Morello and Andrew Watt.

Tyler, whose high-profile vocal injury forced Aerosmith to retire from touring last year, showed absolutely zero signs of a musician whose powers were apparently waning, instead putting in a strong case for ‘vocalist of the evening’ as he confidently and robustly belted through The Train Kept A-Rollin’, Aerosmith’s Walk This Way and Led Zeppelin’s Whole Lotta Love.

The supporting cast of guest guitar heroes played their part, too. Wood, fresh from his Glastonbury 2025 appearance alongside Rod Stewart, sauntered through the sleazy, untethered bends and riffs of that first song, before giving up the stage to Nuno, Watt and Morello for the rest of Tyler’s set.

Watt – longtime Ozzy collaborator and super-producer to rock’s elite – donned an SG for the occasion, while Morello and his Arm the Homeless Superstrat helped hold down the classic Aerosmith and Zeppelin riffs.

And then there was Nuno, whose contributions to the evening cannot be overstated. A foundational presence throughout the entirety of Back to the Beginning, Bettencourt was – in the words of Guitar World’s Michael Astley-Brown, who watched the entire show – the MVP of the evening.

His presence for the Tyler cameo was equally influential, padding out riffs when required, supporting in the vocals department, and serving as the six-string supergroup glue that, in large parts, held the evening together.

All this is to say, Tyler looks to be in seriously good form, and though a one-off appearance lasting 15 minutes is a very different to sustaining an entire show, it makes chatter of a potential Aerosmith send-off all the more believable.

Last week, Joe Perry said there had to be “at least another Aerosmith gig”, while bassist Tom Hamilton previously admitted, “I refuse to consider it over,” when asked about a potential return.

With Tyler sounding as good as this (especially on Aerosmith classics) a reunion now looks more likely than ever – and, as the evidence shows, it would sound killer...

“The greatest day in the history of heavy metal, in honor of the band that started it all.” That’s how musical director Tom Morello billed Back to the Beginning, Ozzy Osbourne and Black Sabbath’s final-ever show. And he wasn’t kidding.

Metallica, Guns N' Roses, Slayer, Tool, Pantera, Alice In Chains and Gojira were among the acts taking part at Villa Park in the band’s hometown of Birmingham, UK.

40,000 people were in attendance, but an estimated 5.8 million tuned in via livestream (myself included) – surely making it the biggest celebration of metal music in history.

With (mostly) 15-minute sets and seven-minute turnarounds between acts, it was a breathless affair, despite being nine hours long. And it’s testament to the affection for Ozzy and Sabbath that so many big names showed up to play three songs then take a back seat.

Outside of the big bands, there was a roll call of guitar hero guests taking the lead in a series of supergroups. Jake E. Lee, Ronnie Wood, Nuno Bettencourt, Billy Corgan, Vernon Reid, Andrew Watt and Lzzy Hale all had their moment in the spotlight.

Each band tackled a classic Sabbath or Ozzy track – and you can only imagine the arguments over who played what song. Anthrax won the coin toss with Into the Void – Iommi’s Fifth Symphony – but you have to feel for Pantera and Rival Sons, who somehow both ended up covering the sludgy (and lengthy) Electric Funeral. Must have been some crossed emails.

But whatever this Rolodex of guitar royalty played, there was no mistaking the grins on their faces. This was their chance to play the riffs they grew up learning in their bedrooms in front of a stadium of fans – their opportunity to be Tony Iommi or Randy Rhoads. It was a childhood fantasy come to life.

It was also a daunting proposition. To play some of rock and metal’s most iconic tracks in front of the heroes who wrote them? And a sea of people who knew every riff, every lick, like the back of their hands? No pressure.

Every band on this bill would not sound the way they do today without Sabbath, and they each drew something different out of the originals with their own takes.

Lamb of God’s Children of the Grave was a pummeling chug fest updated for the late-Noughties metal revival. Never Say Die became a hair metal anthem at the hands of Guns N’ Roses, while Hole in the Sky sounded like something Metallica could have sneaked onto the tracklisting forLoad.

Many of the renditions leaned more into the legacy of Sabbath as metal trailblazers – upping the aggression and taming the groove. But Iommi and co were schooled in the blues, so more traditional rock outfits like Rival Sons, Guns N’ Roses (Sabbath Bloody Sabbath) and, especially, Alice in Chains (Fairies Wear Boots) were arguably most successful in their looser, more dynamic covers – and all the heavier for it.

Iommi’s influence on a spider diagram of genres is such that the lineup – while loaded with big names, albeit far from diverse – didn’t have space to tap into all the styles Sabbath spawned. You had your thrash (Slayer, Metallica, Anthrax), hard rock (Halestorm, GNR), groove metal (Pantera, Gojira), but stoner and doom weren’t represented. Some Sleep or Kyuss to break up the mid-scooped assault that dominated much of the daytime sets would have been welcome.

But Sabbath’s psychedelic side was at least represented by Tool, who lent into a bluesy Hand of God, sandwiched between an abbreviated Forty Six & 2 and Ænema. It must have been their shortest set in decades.

It was heart-warming to see Ozzy’s other right-hand axemen represented, too. Morello said he couldn’t imagine this show without Jake E. Lee, who made an emotional return after he was shot multiple times while walking his dog last year.

When you have Nuno Bettencourt bowing down before you, you know you’re in for something special, and Lee’s fluid renditions of The Ultimate Sin (with Lzzy Hale) and Shot in the Dark (with David Draiman) were a reminder that he remains an underrated player in the pantheon of Ozzy six-stringers.

Bettencourt proved, as he so often does, to be the MVP of the show’s supergroup proceedings, tackling Bark at the Moon’s acrobatic leads alongside Vernon Reid; Sweet Leaf with David Draiman; Flying High Again with Sammy Hagar; and Walk This Way/Whole Lotta Love with surprise guest Steven Tyler. Ronnie Wood even sauntered up to play a sleazy The Train Kept A-Rollin’.

Other highlights included a rendition of Judas Priest’s Breaking the Law plus Sabbath’s Snowblind with K.K. Downing and the ‘metal Yardbirds’ Tom Morello, Adam Jones and Billy Corgan (who was sadly sans guitar), plus an onscreen rendition of Mr. Crowley featuring Jack Black along with Revel Ian (son of Scott) and Roman Morello (son of Tom).

There were two moments that gave me chills. The first was when Ozzy rose up out of the floor on a none-more-black throne complete with carving of a bat/demon thing.

His voice was better than anyone could have been expecting on I Don’t Know, and his five-song set rocketed by in a blur of Zakk Wylde squealies. There was a touching tribute to fallen hero Randy Rhoads during the Crazy Train solo, where he appeared onscreen as Wylde blazed through the iconic lead.

The second goosebumps moment was hearing 40,000 people sing along to Iommi’s solo in War Pigs with equal, if not louder fervour, than Ozzy’s “Oh Lord, yeahs!” That, ladies and gentlemen, is when you know you’ve achieved guitar god status. The same can be said for Iron Man’s lumbering riff which, had it been released in a more metal-tolerant era, would have been a stadium chant long before Seven Nation Army.

Bar a brief chord fumble in the outro of War Pigs, Iommi was absolutely unimpeachable. After eight hours of hearing other guitarists take their own shots at his riffs and solos, you realize that – even with a lifetime of study and influence – it is impossible to come close.

There’s a paradoxical relaxedness about Iommi’s style. Combined with Bill Ward’s (this evening, inexplicably topless) drumming, it has a drag and swagger. Maybe it’s the effect of those prosthetic fingertips, but there’s something about the behind-the-beat timing, the calm confidence that makes Iommi’s command of the fretboard so disconcerting.

In N.I.B., he summons lightning strikes of pentatonic flurries and blood-curdling bends: he’s far from the fastest player here today, but easily the most recognizable from tone alone.

One quick blast through Paranoid – never the most representative of Sabbath’s oeuvre, but among the most fun – and it’s over. We’re unlikely to see Ozzy onstage again, but his voice will echo through the ages.

Iommi hasn’t hung up his SGs just yet, though. He’s still on fine form – and there remains the tantalizing prospect of a new solo album (and collaborative record with his old mate Brian May).

But should he decide to call it a day, he can be left in no doubt that he changed the course of music history – and, as Back to the Beginning showed, every band with even the mildest heavy leanings owes him a debt of gratitude.

Ozzy Osbourne and his Black Sabbath bandmates bid farewell last night (July 5) at a star-studded final show in their hometown of Birmingham, UK.

Back to the Beginning was all-day affair that started at 1.30pm and continued for nine hours as rock and metal’s biggest names lined up to pay tribute to the band who gave birth to the genre they hold dear.

Organized by Rage Against the Machine guitarist (and Ozzy super-fan) Tom Morello, the event featured arguably the greatest lineup of rock and metal bands ever assembled on one day.

Metallica, Guns N' Roses, Slayer, Tool, Pantera, Alice In Chains, Gojira, Lamb of God, Halestorm, Anthrax, Rival Sons and Mastodon all performed whistle-stop 15-minute sets, each featuring their own take on an Ozzy or Sabbath classic.

Interspersed with the full band sets were a series of supergroups, which paved the way for a parade of guitar heroes to join the fray.

Extreme’s Nuno Bettencourt had a five-song set of covers, while ex-Ozzy guitarist Jake E Lee made an appearance for covers of The Ultimate Sin and Shot in the Dark.

Sabbath’s fellow Birmingham rockers Judas Priest were honored with a rendition of Breaking the Law featuring Billy Corgan, Tom Morello, K.K. Downing and Adam Jones, while Living Colour’s Vernon Reid hopped onstage for Bark at the Moon with Ghost’s Papa V Perpetua (aka Tobias Forge).

The day’s biggest surprise was the appearance of Aerosmith frontman Steven Tyler accompanied by Ronnie Wood for The Train Kept A-Rollin’, before Ozzy producer Andrew Watt was joined by Morello and Bettencourt as Tyler gamely tore through Walk This Way and Led Zeppelin’s Whole Lotta Love.

The evening was closed, of course, by a five-song set from Ozzy, who performed in a suitably gothic chair, flanked as usual by Zakk Wylde, before Black Sabbath brought the night to a close with four songs of their own.

The full setlist is below.

Black Sabbath: Back To The Beginning setlist

Mastodon

1. Black Tongue
2. Blood and Thunder
3. Supernaut (with Mario Duplantier, Danny Carey and Eloy Casagrande)

Rival Sons

4. Do Your Worst
5. Electric Funeral
6. Secret

Anthrax

7. Indians
8. Into the Void

Halestorm

9. Love Bites (So Do I)
10. Rain Your Blood on Me
11. Perry Mason

Lamb of God

12. Laid to Rest
13. Redneck
14. Children of the Grave

Supergroup A

15. The Ultimate Sin (with Lzzy Hale, Nuno Bettencourt, Jake E Lee, David Ellefson, Mike Bordin and Adam Wakeman)
16. Shot in the Dark (with David Draiman, Jake E Lee, David Ellefson, Mike Bordin and Adam Wakeman)
17. Sweet Leaf (with David Draiman, Nuno Bettencourt, Scott Ian, David Ellefson, Mike Bordin and Adam Wakeman)
18. Believer (with Whitfield Crane, Nuno Bettencourt, Scott Ian, Frank Bello, II [Sleep Token] and Adam Wakeman)
19. Changes (with Yungblud, Nuno Bettencourt, Frank Bello, II and Adam Wakeman)
20. Mr. Crowley (with Jack Black, plus Revel Ian, Roman Morello and other young musicians on screen)

Alice In Chains

21. Man in the Box
22. Would?
23. Fairies Wear Boots

Gojira

24. Stranded
25. Silvera
26. Mea culpa (Ah! Ça ira!) (with Marina Viotti)
27. Under the Sun

Drum Off

28. Symptom Of The Universe (with Chad Smith, Travis Barker and Danny Carey, plus Tom Morello, Nuno Bettencourt and Rudy Sarzo)

Supergroup B

29. Breaking the Law (with Billy Corgan, Tom Morello, K.K. Downing, Adam Jones, Rudy Sarzo and Danny Carey)
30. Snowblind (with Billy Corgan, Tom Morello, K.K. Downing, Adam Jones, Rudy Sarzo and Danny Carey)
31. Flying High Again (with Sammy Hagar, Nuno Bettencourt, Adam Wakeman, Rudy Sarzo, Chad Smith and Vernon Reid)
32. Rock Candy (with Sammy Hagar, Nuno Bettencourt, Adam Wakeman, Rudy Sarzo, Chad Smith and Tom Morello)
33. Bark at the Moon (with Papa V Perpetua, Vernon Reid, Nuno Bettencourt, Adam Wakeman, Rudy Sarzo and Travis Barker)
34. The Train Kept A-Rollin' (with Steven Tyler, Ron Wood, Nuno Bettencourt, Tom Morello, Andrew Watt, Rudy Sarzo and Travis Barker)
35. Walk This Way / Whole Lotta Love (with Steven Tyler, Nuno Bettencourt, Tom Morello, Andrew Watt, Rudy Sarzo and Chad Smith)

Pantera

36. Cowboys From Hell
37. Walk
38. Planet Caravan
39. Electric Funeral

Tool

40. Forty Six & 2
41. Hand of Doom
42. Ænema

Slayer

43. Disciple
44. War Ensemble
45. Wicked World
46. South of Heaven
47. Raining Blood
48. Angel of Death

Guns N' Roses

49. Never Say Die
50. Junior's Eyes
51. Sabbath Bloody Sabbath
52. Welcome to the Jungle
53. Paradise City

Metallica

54. Hole in the Sky
55. Creeping Death
56. For Whom the Bell Tolls
57. Johnny Blade
58. Battery
59. Master of Puppets

Ozzy Osbourne

60. I Don't Know
61. Mr. Crowley
62. Suicide Solution
63. Mama, I'm Coming Home
64. Crazy Train

Black Sabbath

65. War Pigs
66. N.I.B.
67. Iron Man
68. Paranoid

If you caught Black Sabbath’s The End tour, which lasted from 2016 to 2017 and spanned 81 shows over six legs, there’s a good chance you caught Rival Sons opening for them. But even if you didn’t, that tour remains a significant pride point for Rival Sons’ fuzz-laden guitarist, Scott Holiday – and it’s why Rival Sons are a part of Back to the Beginning.

“I got to see a lot,” Holiday says about his time on the road with his heroes. “It’s rare that you get to spend that much time with a band that has been that legendary for that long. It was a heavy feeling to think you could be that deep into your career and be so totally focused on delivering those old songs. It was really inspiring. It was an energy.”

Rival Sons were the openers for Black Sabbath during their final tour. Is that why you got the call for Back to the Beginning?

“We were on tour with Sabbath for 13 months and were actually the only opener for their last official tour. Right after we finished that tour, we presented them with their Grammy Lifetime Achievement [award], where we played some Sabbath songs, spoke in front of everybody and did that whole thing with them, too.

“So we’ve been friends with them, and when they reached out, of course, we were obliged and wanted to be a part of it.”

What did you learn from sharing the stage with Sabbath?

“I watched Tony a lot. We became friends, which was amazing. It was emotional for me. Not in a ‘Pinch me!’ sense, but just realizing how on-point he was and how much he was not phoning in that performance. I felt moved by it, like, ‘Wow… he’s really keyed-in every night. He’s really focused, dedicated and still totally there.’”

Was being on the road with Sabbath as wild as it’s made out to be?

“Everybody looks at these guys, and they have assumptions. I would tell people, ‘You don’t understand who these guys are. These guys are grandfathers. They’re family men. They’ve been wealthy for a long time because of music. These aren’t kids doing devil-worshiping music in their basements.’ [Laughs]

“These were grown men with insanely successful careers who made boatloads of money and became totally adjusted family men. They were warm people. It was a nice, warm atmosphere.”

Can you recall the first time you heard Black Sabbath and how it made you feel?

“I remember hearing those early records by digging through my parents’ records and cassettes. The first Sabbath album I heard was Paranoid, and heavy metal was established. So I wasn’t like, ‘Holy shit, what is this?’ There was already Metallica and heavy music happening that was thrashy, so Sabbath was much more of a rock feel to me as a kid.

“But I distinctly remember putting on [Black Sabbath] at my parents’ house, listening to it in headphones, holding that cover and feeling like, ‘This is spooky. This is frightening.’ What they came up with, the image and the sound, made me feel uneasy.”

You’re a riff writer and fuzz fan. Was Tony Iommi a big influence on you?

“Definitely. Black Sabbath played a role in that. I’d say that Electric Funeral was probably the first riff I learned to play. That was kind of the building blocks. It’s just the simplest, early head-banging, kind of devil-y, amazing and cool energy they created.”

Is there a chance Rival Sons will play Electric Funeral at Back to the Beginning?

“I know what songs we’re gonna play – but I don’t think I’m allowed to say it… but I might dip into my history a little bit. [Laughs] I think we’re just going to do two songs. We’ll do one of ours, and one of [Sabbath’s].”

What does it mean to be a part of their final ever show?

“It’s great! I don’t know how much we’re going to get to see of them playing together. I’m like everybody else, just wondering, ‘How much is Bill going to get up and do? How much can Ozzy even get up and do?’ It may just turn out to be much more of a tribute with them there and then them popping in here and there.”

• This article first appeared in Guitar World. Subscribe and save.

Since joining Ozzy’s band in 1987, save for a few pitstops along the way, Zakk Wylde has been the Prince of Darkness’s main guitar man. In fact, save for Tony Iommi, with whom Ozzy launched Black Sabbath (and heavy metal), and Randy Rhoads, who helped Ozzy resurrect his career in the early ’80s, no guitarist is more associated with Ozzy than Wylde.

With an array of bullseye-adorned and EMG-equipped Les Pauls slung low from his burly shoulders, a kilt hanging off his waist and a caveman beard that hangs even lower, Wylde has been a rock for Ozzy – and he’s also a friend, if not family.

“Ozzy is the godfather of my oldest son,” Wylde says. “My wife Barbara and I – our relationship with Ozzy and Sharon [Osbourne] is more of a family thing. I’m truly blessed to have him in my life.

“Musically, If I would have never played with Ozzy, he’d still be such a huge part of my life. Just getting to know him, and then being in a band with him – forget about it!”

You’ve been playing with Ozzy since the ’80s. Did the final show announcement come as a surprise?

“I was talking about this the other day, thinking, ‘What do I think should happen?’ When we did the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame [induction ceremony, October 19, 2024], we were doing a run-through, so the camera guys knew what to expect, and Oz was up there on the throne, and we started doing Mama, I’m Coming Home, and Ozzy just started singing!

“His mic was live, and he was just sitting down on the throne and started singing Mama, I’m Coming Home because Jelly Roll [who sang the song during the actual performance] wasn’t there. Oz was like, ‘Screw it – I’ll sing it, man,’ so he just started singing and it sounded great. I was like, ‘Alright! Hopefully there will be more of that.’”

Ozzy – and Sabbath – have been unkillable. Do you think this is really it?

“We did rehearsals, and he sang a bunch of songs and sang a bunch with Sabbath, and it went over great, and he had a great time. It’s like, ‘I guess we’re gonna do another tour…’ Hopefully, I mean… maybe this thing will be, I don’t know, won’t be the ‘beginning,’ but it’ll be the whole new beginning of another tour.

“If Oz is happy and he has a great time and sings great, God bless him. Whatever Oz wants to do; if he needs me to go out and get milk and eggs for him and bring them over to the house, I’ll do it. But overall, all these other bands are gonna be there, so it’s going to be a great day.”

What does Black Sabbath mean to you personally?

“They’re like how Henry Ford is the creator of the car. They’re everything. All the bands that have come after are basically, like with the car; it doesn’t matter if it’s NASCAR, a Formula One race car, a dragster or however advanced it gets, it’s all based on the original Ford Model T. It’s based on that basic design.

“It’s a testament to what was created. Sabbath are the architects of the whole thing. They’re the massive oak tree, and we’re all just branches off of that tree. I think everybody there loves them, and we wouldn’t all be doing it if it wasn’t for them.”

How has Iommi shaped you as a guitarist?

“He’s basically the Bach, Mozart and Beethoven of metal guitar. He’s all three of them in one. And he’s the Lennon and McCartney of riff writing. He truly is. It’s pretty mind-blowing. His genius is just immense. I love every aspect of his playing. And outside of songwriting, I love his solos; I love all of it. It’s not just the riffs; Tony Iommi has amazing technique and can play fast… he’s just the complete package.”

The July 5 show is a celebration of the original lineup. Is that your favorite era of Sabbath?

“I think that when Ronnie James Dio joined the band, they should have just started calling it Heaven & Hell right from the beginning. To me, let’s say if Ozzy retained the rights and owned the rights to Black Sabbath, and he started calling what he was doing with Randy [Rhoads], Bob [Daisley] and Lee [Kerslake] Black Sabbath, it would’ve been the same thing.

“When I heard Heaven & Hell, it sounded like a whole new band. I’ve always felt like it would have been interesting to hear Ozzy’s approach to singing those songs. It was a whole new thing, but all the records are classics.

“It was just them breaking up at that point, taking a break from each other and starting those things. It was almost like you hit the reset button. The creative juices were fresh, brand new and truly mind-blowing. But for me, it’s the Ozzy era.”

What have the conversations been like about preparing for the show?

“Oz said, ‘Let’s just do Free Bird twice. That should take up an hour!’ [Laughs] I said, ‘Is that what you really want to do?’ He said, ‘Yeah, let’s do that.’ I said, ‘Okay. You want fries on the side of that Coke?’ So, it’s Free Bird, which will take up an hour, or maybe two, depending on how long the jam is!

“But we haven’t even talked about… you know, it’s like when we did the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame thing, we knew – we had it all planned. Wolfie [Van Halen] did Crazy Train, then we did Mama, I’m Coming Home, then a little of No More Tears. So I’m sure we’ll figure out what songs we’re gonna do – and then maybe it’ll finally come down to ‘Let’s just do Free Bird for two hours.’”

This must be bittersweet for you.

“If I was a soccer player, and I got to play for Manchester United, and they were my favorite team growing up, getting to play with them would be like a dream. So this is like a dream come true. Being such a huge Sabbath fan, and then when Oz started with Randy and Jake, and then me being in the band, it’s pretty mind-blowing. I’m truly blessed.”

• This article first appeared in Guitar World. Subscribe and save.

Although Mastodon’s Bill Kelliher is one of metal’s premier riff writers, he remains in awe of Black Sabbath. Moreover, he’s in awe of being asked to be a part of the July 5 Back to the Beginning event.

“I’m just going to take it in, man,” he says. “I’m privileged to be in a band that’s been asked to be on such a metal experience.”

It’s been a whirlwind for Kelliher and Mastodon, who, back in March, announced the “mutual” departure of Brent Hinds, meaning Mastodon will be sporting a new lead guitarist – most likely Nick Johnston – come July 5.

Still, Kelliher marvels at the fact that the original four members of Mastodon held it together for so long, which makes the lessons learned from Sabbath – who have had trouble doing the same – bittersweet.

“They taught us that you’re never too old to rock,” Kelliher says. “They’ve withstood the test of time. They’ve been a band for over 50 years, since the late ’60s. That’s a long time, man.”

What led to Mastodon getting the call for Back to the Beginning?

“I’m not exactly sure who mentioned us, but I mean… we’re Sabbath-worthy! [Laughs] We toured with Sabbath during Ozzfest in 2005. And they were fans of Mastodon, but I’m not sure if they had anything to do with it. I’m just happy to go. I’m not asking any questions!”

What was it like touring with Sabbath? Did you rub elbows with the band?

“Those guys are pretty well-padded, you know? They’re kinda like fine china at this point. They’re not rubbing elbows with the common folk too much. [Laughs] But I remember sitting down with Bill Ward a couple of times, and he had nice things to say about us.”

You didn’t get to talk with Ozzy, Geezer or Tony?

“I believe I met Ozzy at one time for a second – but I think both of us had a few substances in us. [Laughs] The only time I spoke to Mr. Iommi was when we were accepting an award in London, 10 or 12 years ago; he was accepting an award, too.”

What did Tony have to say?

“We were all standing there and were going to perform a couple of songs. He was about to accept his award, and it was dark behind the stage; as he was getting ready to walk out, instead of being like, ‘Hey, man, you’re my favorite guitar player, let’s get a picture,’ I was like, ‘Watch out for that cable running across the floor.’ [Laughs] He was like, ‘Oh, yeah. Thanks, dude.’ That was my interaction.”

Do you regret not saying more – or not getting that photo?

“I’m sure he gets plenty of crazy, weird bands all over him. I don’t ever really like to meet my heroes, you know? I like to think of them as the way they are in my head, like these gods. I don’t want to be disappointed when I meet them.”

How has Iommi impacted your playing?

“They’re the quintessential heavy metal band. They’re like the original fucking metal band, really, in my eyes. His playing influenced just about every metal riff you’ve heard. Whether you want to admit it or not, he created a lot of those iconic harmonies.”

Tony is about as unique a player as it gets. What’s his secret?

“It’s not the proficiency of the playing. It’s more about writing a great riff that sticks in your head and is catchy. A lot of them are simple, but believe it or not, it’s harder to write a three-chord rock song than to write something super-arpeggiated with weird time signatures all over the place.”

Do you have a favorite Sabbath riff?

“Supernaut. I can’t imagine writing that at home and being like, ‘I can’t wait to take this to practice to show the other guys,’ and then showing up and being like [in a British accent], ‘Hey, mates, I got this cool fucking riff. Check it out!’

“It fucking checks all the boxes. It’s very upbeat but dark and evil at the same time. It’s got a great swing to it. Swing is another thing that metal guitar players don’t think about.”

What’s the greatest challenge in trying to cover Tony’s parts?

“A lot of people emulate him. He’s not over-the-top with his guitar solos, really fast or technical. He’s right in the middle. He created sludge metal with those slowed-down, heavy-ass riffs.

“It’s not hard to be like, ‘That kind of sounds like Black Sabbath’ when you’re writing riffs. I mean, it’s hard not to; I don’t know; he just used pentatonic scales in a really evil way and chose his notes wisely.”

Have you discussed what Sabbath song you’ll play at the show?

“I want to play Supernaut! But I don’t have all the details. We’re still in the dark about a lot of that. There’s a lot of bands playing, and there’s only so much time to let Sabbath do their thing… Metallica will probably play a few songs, so we may only get to play one song, which is fine.”

What does it mean to you to be a part of this event?

“It’s a very special occasion. Those guys are getting up there – we all are – so for them to get back together and do this one last show as the original four dudes is monumental.

“It’s great. When we were invited to do it, I was kind of beside myself, like, ‘Really? Wow.’ We’re going to be up there with some really fucking huge bands of our genre that we looked up to. I’m very humbled. It’s super-special that we got asked. It speaks volumes.”

• This article first appeared in Guitar World. Subscribe and save.

Like so many of the bands that were offered a spot on the Back to the Beginning bill, Halestorm came back with an instant “yes”. Well – not that instant.

“We got an email from Sharon Osbourne,” says Halestorm guitarist Lzzy Hale. “When the email came in, I didn’t answer it for two days because I was like, ‘What the hell is going on? Are we meant to have this email?’

“It was very hush-hush; no one was talking about it or knew anything about it. It was such a crazy feeling when it was confirmed that we were being asked to play at this monumental event.”

How important was Sabbath in terms of your musical development?

“When I was a kid, my ABCs of rock ’n’ roll were Alice Cooper, Black Sabbath, Cinderella and Dio. The first riff I ever learned was Heaven and Hell, so you can imagine that my inner-child was screaming at the top of her lungs, ‘I’d walk on broken glass to get there! I want to play this show!’”

Have you ever met Tony and the rest of the band?

“Yes! It was in 2009 – a fluke accident. Heaven & Hell had just released The Devil You Know, which was Sabbath and Dio, and they were playing in Atlantic City, New Jersey. The boys and I had just gotten off tour and were on our way home. We got a call from our booking agent saying, ‘Heaven & Hell’s opener dropped out for their last show. Do you want to open for them?’ We were like, ‘Oh, my god, yes!’

“We opened for them and got to know Ronnie James Dio, Geezer and Tony. They made us feel like family. They hung out with us until about three in the morning. A couple of months later, Ronnie was diagnosed with cancer.

“That ended up being the last show Dio ever performed [August 29, 2009]. And now we’re opening for Black Sabbath, which will be their last show with Ozzy. It’s crazy to have this almost full circle, closing the chapters of these legendary bands.”

Do you remember the first time you heard Black Sabbath?

“My introduction to Sabbath was actually with Dio. I hadn’t heard the OG [version with] Ozzy because I’m a child of the ’90s, so the timeline is all screwed up. But I took Heaven and Hell [1980] to a couple of sleepovers when the Backstreet Boys were popular, and they looked at me like I had aliens crawling out of my ears.”

That’s fitting since Sabbath and heavy metal were originally designated for outsiders.

“I remember coming home from that sleepover. The girls were trying to make me feel welcome, even though I was the weird chick, and my dad, a third-shift mechanic, said, ‘How was your sleepover?’ I said, ‘It was fun – but they didn’t like my music.’ My dad goes, ‘Oh, that’s great.’ I was like, ‘What are you talking about? My life is over!’

“But he said, ‘You love this music, and it’s part of your heart. You don’t love it because it’s on the radio or your friends are into it. It’s part of you.’”

When did you discover the original era of Sabbath with Ozzy?

“Of course, my dad said, ‘Okay, let me introduce you to the Prince of Darkness!’ I was like, ‘Oh, my God!’ I heard all the stories of biting the heads off bats, snorting the ants, the drugs, sex and rock ’n’ roll. It was just so magical. Then, in the summer of 1997, my brother, Arejay, and I started Halestorm.”

How do you measure the impact of Tony Iommi on metal guitar?

“Tony Iommi is my absolute favorite guitar player of all time. There’s the uniqueness of not having the entirety of all his fingers, which I did not know until years later, but there’s a unique tone he has.

“It has nothing to do with equipment or amplifiers; it comes from him. He could play through any amplifier, which would still sound like Tony Iommi. As a guitar player, I’ve always strived for that.”

Can you imagine the heavy metal landscape without Sabbath?

“You can’t even count on all your fingers and toes how many bands would not exist without Black Sabbath. Some of those albums were done in a couple of days because they only had a little time off the road. Those records would not be the same if they had a year’s worth of time and made everything perfect.”

What’s your favorite original-lineup-era Iommi riff?

“A National Acrobat because there’s a darkness to it. There’s a whole section in the middle where it gets almost positive and joyous; they were never afraid to add a bit of humor into their darkness.”

Have you considered what songs Halestorm will play?

“We’ve been talking to Tom Morello yesterday, and the poor guy is trying to organize 30 crazy guitar players and all these singers. He asked me, ‘Are you ready to take whatever I throw at you?’ I said, ‘Yes, sir. I’m there.’ It’s all being confirmed, I think, this week [March 10]. Keep your fingers crossed for us!”

What does it mean to you to help send off the original lineup of Black Sabbath?

“It’s a dream come true. Why do we do what we do? Why did we start a band, keep going when things got tough and remain in the same band as Halestorm? We boil it down to the fact that these men, against all odds and with society maybe saying, ‘You shouldn’t write about this,’ proved that there are no rules to this music thing.

“Music is magic. It’s a portal to this other world – but we can be a vessel for it. Music is a language that’s too old to totally understand, but we can try and pass it on by passing the torch to every kid who feels like a weirdo. It’s for the downtrodden, the silent ones, the ones with the darker thoughts who are ostracized.

“We are the voice for the voiceless – and that is what Black Sabbath began for all of us. They gave me a voice when I didn’t have one. They never strived for perfection; they strived for moments, feelings and human connection. They’re one of a kind, and no band will ever top them. But we can all try.”

• This article first appeared in Guitar World. Subscribe and save.

Considering that they’re old pals, Scott Ian wasn’t surprised to get a random text from Tom Morello. The surprising part was the text’s content: “Do you want to come jam a Sabbath song at the final Black Sabbath show in Birmingham on July 5?”

Obviously, Ian – a lifelong Sabbath devotee – was in. Soon, the rest of Anthrax was in too.

“It’s mind-blowing,” Ian says. “I’ve been flipping out. It’s hard to believe it’s real. It’s not hard for me to think back to my childhood discovering them – and the earliest days of Anthrax. We were a bunch of kids in Queens [New York], doing our best to emulate the bands we loved, thinking, ‘Could you imagine if we ever got to do this?’”

Were you nervous when you got Tom Morello’s text?

“Tom had texted me because we’re friends, so we’ll text each other out of the blue, and I got this text, which I read back quickly. In my brain, I got so excited reading the text that I thought he was asking me if I wanted to play a song with Black Sabbath onstage at some final show that I knew nothing about – but that Tom is now texting me about. [Laughs]

“I literally started sweating, like, the thought of that… I was like, ‘How is this even possible?’ Then I calmed down, looked at the text again and realized, ‘Okay, he’s not talking about me playing with Sabbath together onstage with them.’ I was equally excited about it – just much less nervous.”

Do you remember the first time you heard Sabbath?

“My uncle Mitch, who is only 10 years older than me – and this would have been when we were still in Queens – we used to go over there a lot, and I’d sit in his room.

“He had these cool rock and black-light posters on the wall, and he had a huge collection of vinyl and comic books. It was like my dream room! I’d go through his records, and I was eight years old. One time, I pulled out the first Black Sabbath record.”

That cover must have been a real sight for an eight-year-old.

“I was intrigued! I was like, ‘What is this? Is it like a witch or something?’ I didn’t know from looking at it, and I said, ‘What’s Black Sabbath?’ My cousin said, 'Oh, that’s acid rock…’ That’s how he described them, which meant nothing to me and still means nothing to me. [Laughs]

“But he took it out, the record started, and I heard the sound effects and the bell, and I’m like, ‘What the fuck is this?’ Now I’m sitting there scared, and there’s some haunted-house shit going on… it sounds cliché, but it just completely changed the whole mood.”

How do you measure the influence of Tony Iommi on you as a guitarist?

“Tony was such a big influence on me as a kid. I actually tried to play lefty… it didn’t work. [Laughs] I tried as hard as I could because I was convinced that him playing lefty was part of why he sounded so evil.

“I was like, ‘He’s the only left-handed player I’ve ever heard of, so it must have something to do with that.’ But I can’t even quantify it because I grew up learning by listening to Tony, the down-picking, the tone and the galloping.”

Where would heavy metal be without Black Sabbath?

“It wouldn’t be. Without Sabbath, Judas Priest wouldn’t have become the band they became, and then there’d be no Iron Maiden and so on and so on.

“Maybe there would have been another band… maybe in an alternate universe, there’s some other band that would have been like Black Sabbath is in our universe but without them… I don’t know. I can’t tell you that metal would exist the way it does in 2025 without them.”

What’s your favorite original-lineup Sabbath riff?

“The first thing that popped into my head is Into the Void, for whatever reason. There’s just something about that riff; it’s got what I consider to be the origin of thrash metal. The bridge in the middle, where they pick it up, and Bill [Ward] starts playing double kick – to me, that’s the beginning of thrash metal.”

Once you get onstage, what’ll be the biggest challenge in terms of doing justice to Tony’s unique style, which seems simple… until you try.

“Sabbath and AC/DC are similar to me because people make the mistake of thinking, ‘That’s so easy. It’s like a caveman. Anyone could play those parts.’ If they could, they would. That’s why there’s never been another Black Sabbath or another AC/DC – nobody else can do it!

“Nobody else could play those parts the way those guys do. They’re original entities on guitar, and that’s why I don’t even try. I play it the way I play it. We’ve always been a band that tries to honor it.”

Can you tell us what you’ll be playing?

“No! I’m not going to give away the song we’re playing. And I don’t think this is public knowledge, either, like the way it works for most of the bands on the bill; you do a Sabbath cover and one of your own.”

Have you gotten to meet or play with the Sabbath guys before, and what does it mean to be a part of this final show?

“Yeah, [Anthrax] played with them in ’05 at Download [Festival], I think. I got to stand on the side and watch them play. That would have been the last time I saw them. If I weren’t a part of this show, I’d still be going; I’d make the pilgrimage, be there all day and watch the whole thing.”

You’ve done a ton of cool things, but this seems like it’ll be at the top of your list when you look back.

“It’ll be high up there. Some of the coolest moments of my life are just having been involved with the fact that I got to stand and talk to Tony Iommi. He’s always been just so wonderful and fantastic to speak with. I call them ‘Who let me in here?’ moments, where it’s hard to believe I get to do this.”

• This article first appeared in Guitar World. Subscribe and save.

As a fellow native of Birmingham, former Judas Priest – and current KK’s Priest – guitarist K.K. Downing remembers coming up within the same scene as Black Sabbath. Prior to hearing their music, specifically their debut album, Downing felt like an outlier who was consistently misclassified, genre-wise. But upon hearing Sabbath’s kindred spirit music, everything changed.

“There was a kind of similarity,” Downing says. “[Sabbath and Priest] were doing something that was different. It gave us a real confidence boost to carry on what we were doing. Black Sabbath was a big confidence boost to us.”

Like many greats from the metal community, Downing has been invited to participate in the Back to the Beginning farewell show. That said, it’s a bit bittersweet for Downing, who was on the ground floor of the Birmingham metal scene and still makes his home nearby. But he’s not sad, as it’s a celebration of how far they’ve come.

“It was hard,” Downing says. “It was tough. We were troopers and fought in the trenches together to survive. But we came out of it. If we never see another Ozzy or Black Sabbath show, this hits home hard. Nothing lasts forever. Nobody lasts forever. But one thing’s for sure: we’re here, and we’re going to make the best of it.”

What led to your getting the call for the Back to the Beginning show?

“I’m actually involved with quite a sizable venue here in the Midlands [of England] called KK’s Steel Mill [in Wolverhampton]. A lot of bands played there, like Michael Schenker and Wishbone Ash, and it’s a cool venue. The guys that run that facility contacted me and said Andy Copping from Live Nation has been in touch, and they did mention Sharon [Osbourne].

“I thought, ‘Oh, that’d be great.’ I hadn’t seen or spoken to Sharon for a long time, but Andy called me and said, ‘Would you be on board for doing this?’ I said, ‘Well, yeah.’ And the thing is that it’s only about an hour away from where I live; it’s not much further than that. I was thinking, ‘That’s really cool. I’m on board. Let’s do it.’”

Judas Priest came up in Birmingham around the same time as Sabbath. What was that scene like?

“Ever since I started, I was always playing this weird music that nobody could describe. At the time, it was all progressive blues bands, and Tony [Iommi] would tell me the same thing. I’m sure that when people booked Judas Priest into a venue, they’d call us a ‘progressive blues band’ because rock wasn’t really consolidated.

“It went from progressive blues to rock to progressive rock to hard rock to heavy rock to heavy metal. But in the late ’60s, none of that existed.”

Do you remember the first time you heard Sabbath’s music?

“I wasn’t aware of Black Sabbath until I heard their [first] album. Somebody introduced me to it, and it was basically a sigh of relief, with me thinking, ‘Thank fuck,’ you know? I thought, ‘There are other dudes on the planet that are thinking the same as me.’ And I thought, ‘Behold! They’re not far away from where we live and operate from.’”

Did Tony’s playing impact yours much?

“Well, those guys were doing what we were doing, which was metal, though we didn’t know that at the time; we only knew it wasn’t a progression on a blues song. It was just the atmosphere, the mood, the heaviness of the riffs, the darkness and a lot of other words I could think of to describe the kind of similarities, which was really cool.”

I assume you’ve rubbed elbows with Tony, Ozzy and the rest of Sabbath a lot over the years?

“Oh, yeah. They’re just really nice guys, and I wouldn’t say that if it weren’t absolutely true. I know the guys were from a similar sort of area, and they’re just typical guys from there, sort of salt-of-the-earth people, very kind, very warm and good guys to be around.

“Everybody says the same thing about all the guys from Black Sabbath; they’re lovely people. [Judas Priest] were fortunate; we went out and did Ozzfest with the guys and had some good times. True to form, with those guys, it’s all about a sense of humor. Everything’s got an element of humor. It’s what gets us through the day; it’s great to be around guys like that.”

What can you say about the idiosyncratic way Tony plays guitar – especially since you’ll be trying to cover it at the show?

“There’s only one Tony Iommi. He can’t be replicated. I wouldn’t anticipate that would be the case, so I’ll do justice the best I can.”

Does he play very differently from the way you do?

“I think it’s exactly the same as myself, and I stand corrected if Tony thinks otherwise, but we were young guys, and I think it’s fair to say we had a great passion for what we were doing, what we wanted to do and what we wanted to become. I think we placed more importance on preconceived conceptions of what we were going to become than on studying music, musical notation and doing musical homework.

“I think we considered that we would go it alone and do our own things – and that’s what we did. You can hear that in our playing, we were in search of what we could do musically, whether it was right or wrong, or what anybody thought about it because it sounded good to us. For that reason, we were executing what we were doing on the guitar; it was coming from inside of us, it wasn’t from the sheets.

“Back in the day, we just saw ourselves as guys thinking, ‘We look like we should be doing this,’ whatever that means. ‘We’re going to do it. Whatever our skill set is, good, bad, we’re going to go out there, front it, show some shapes [devil’s horns] and some attitude.’ It was early days, and we thought, ‘We’re on board with it. It’s nasty and it’s different from everything else.’”

Do you have a favorite Sabbath riff, and have you decided what song you’ll play?

“They’re all good! It’s still up in the air at the moment. It’s moving fast. First, they said, ‘Can you play this song?’ I said, ‘Sure,’ but it kind of got changed, and they said, ‘What about this?’ I went, ‘Yeah, cool!’ So, whatever the guys decide to do, I’m happy with it.

“I’d like to play some KK’s Priest, and that will be happening as well. But I think the element of surprise is a good thing. I think the fans have paid for a great day, and it’s gonna be pretty spectacular. Correct me if I’m wrong, but isn’t this the biggest metal fest in history?”

That’s what they say. It seems the entire metal industry will be on hand.

“I don’t know where they’re going to put us all! [Laughs] It’s a great thrill and an honor. At the same time, someone asked me, ‘Are you going to feel a bit sad and remorseful that it’s the end?’ I said, ‘No. None of that.’ This is going to be a massive party and a great celebration of metal. Maybe afterward, I might come back and think, ‘Well, you know…’”

Do you think it’s truly the end for Ozzy and Sabbath?

“Knowing this industry, and you’ll probably agree with me, you can never say never. It’s always changing. Hopefully, I’ll see Sharon and Ozzy and say, ‘Guys, that was awesome. Let’s take it here and there and see if you can drag it out a bit.’ But whatever will be, will be. It’s an incredible thing to have been on this journey from the beginning.”

• This article first appeared in Guitar World. Subscribe and save.

Tony Iommi has partnered with Laney to release a limited-edition signature guitar amp, the TI100 Reissue – a faithful replica of the Black Sabbath electric guitar legend’s original TI100 from 2012.

Back to the Beginning – Black Sabbath’s epic bow-out and Ozzy Osbourne’s last-ever show – is only days away, and to mark the occasion Laney has reissued the TI100, which, for the past decade or so, has been Iommi’s go-to amp of choice.

Notably, the TI100 was the most recent culmination of the pair’s long-standing partnership, which began way back in the 1960s when Iommi used a LA100BL model to help forge the sound of heavy metal on Black Sabbath.

Along the way, Iommi also released his first signature head, the GH100TI, in the 1990s. It was replaced by the TI100, which was designed for greater versatility and dubbed “the most significant amp launch” of the year.

Since the inception of the Sabbath sound, Laney amps – along with the customary Gibson SG – have provided the backbone of Iommi’s rig. Now, the 2012 signature model is back, but only as part of an ultra-exclusive launch that comprises just 50 units.

Launched in conjunction with Back to the Beginning, the TI100 Limited Edition is a like-for-like replica of the 2012 model, with the added benefit of some additional celebratory extras. That includes Iommi’s signature on the amp, a custom slip cover, a certificate of authenticity, a set of Iommi pics and more.

As for the amp itself, it offers Lead and Rhythm channels, which are housed in a custom-liveried chassis complete with Iommi inlay-style Cross motifs. The Lead promises liquid smooth gain, while Rhythm is concerned with edge of break up tones, with both offering a super-tight low-end primed for down-tuning.

Each channel gets parameters for Drive, Bass, Middle, Treble, Volume, Enhance and Presence, as well as Pre-Boost controls that can be engaged via two channel-specific toggle switches.

Under the hood, eight 12AX7 and four 6L6 tubes do the heavy lifting, while on the rear, an FX Loop with three different modes, and Preamp-Out and Power Amp In jacks, can be found for more complex rig assimilation.

“The return of a legend,” writes Laney. “We are extremely proud of our association with Tony Iommi and very happy to mark the final ever Black Sabbath show with the announcement of a very limited, hand signed and numbered faithful re-issue of his legendary signature amp, the Laney TI100.”

Only 50 TI100 Limited Edition amps will be made, and each will be available for $4999.

Visit Laney to find out more.

Back to the Beginning, which will pull the curtain down on Black Sabbath and Ozzy Osbourne’s live careers, will take place this weekend (July 5). The lineup features a huge roster of special guests, from Tom Morello and Adam Jones to Jake E. Lee and Lzzy Hale.

Judging by his cavernous riffs, it’s not hard to see that when it comes to guitar, for Jerry Cantrell, the apple doesn’t fall far from the Sabbath tree. It’s a fact, and Cantrell isn’t hiding it. “Those [Black Sabbath] albums and songs are timeless,” he says. “They spoke to me then; they speak to me today.”

Sabbath first entered Cantrell’s orbit when the burgeoning riff meister was a grammar-school student in Pennsylvania in the late ’70s. From the moment Cantrell took in the opening chords of Iron Man, he was hooked. So it must have been sweet when just over a decade later, in 1991, Cantrell’s band, Alice in Chains, supported Ozzy Osbourne on his first “farewell tour,” the No More Tours Tour.

“We’ve had a close relationship with Ozzy since then,” Cantrell says. So when Tom Morello called Cantrell to ask Alice in Chains to participate in Back to the Beginning, it was an easy “Yes.”

“It’s an honor,” Cantrell says. “I just think it’s cool to be going back to their hometown and honoring the band, Ozzy and all of us who are fans and who have been influenced by them.”

How did you first get wind of the Back to the Beginning show?

“We got a call from Tom Morello, who is kind of handling this whole thing. He asked if we’d be into showing up to celebrate some Sabbath, and we were very happy to be included.”

What were your initial thoughts once you understood the scale of the show?

“First and foremost, I’m a huge Sabbath fan. Most of us rocker types would put Sabbath in the top tier of why we do what we do, and as our biggest influence. And we’ve [Alice in Chains] have had a long relationship with Ozzy, who took us out [on tour] in ’91, and gave us one of our first breaks – and gave us a bass player [Mike Inez]! [Laughs]”

What was it like touring with Ozzy?

“It was pretty cool to get that slot. We were just going to go out for a run, and then Ozzy asked us back for a few more. We hit it off with the band, obviously, Zakk [Wylde], Randy [Castillo] and Mike Inez. Ozzy was really cool to us and supportive. It was just a good vibe. We made a lot of lifelong friends, and having the opportunity to play on a big stage for one of your heroes is always a pretty big deal for a young artist.”

Can you remember the first time you heard Black Sabbath?

“I was probably in seventh or eighth grade. I was living in Pennsylvania, where my dad was stationed. I had a neighbor whose name I think was Dale, and he had a great stereo system. I used to always hear him rocking out next door, and I took to hanging out with him. He turned me on to Black Sabbath and Pink Floyd, which would have been 1978 or 1979.”

Once you picked up guitar, how did Tony Iommi influence you?

“He’s one of the prime faces of the [guitar] Mount Rushmore, if you want to put it that way. And he’s one of the handful of guitar players that really impacted me with the riffs, intensity and the band that he was a part of.”

Sabbath’s music is simple, but it’s hard to replicate. What did Alice in Chains take away from it?

“The best music is pretty straightforward and simple. I mean, what are you trying to do? When you first have the crazy notion in your head to follow your dream and think, ‘I’d like to do that, too,’ [Sabbath] are the guys you look to. You emulate your heroes until, at some point, your own identity starts to shine through.

“The lesson is that you’re just trying to find yourself and hope that at some point you have some sort of impact, too. But those are really lofty ideas that I don’t really think are front of mind.”

“First off, you just want to rock. [Laughs] You want to make your own rock that makes you feel like the rock of Black Sabbath, like, 'That’s badass, man,'you know? You want to create something that’s badass that has its own identity and flavor. We’ve been able to accomplish that, and that feels good.

“The lesson is to do what makes you feel happy and to create music you enjoy making. If you can satisfy yourself as an artist, and as a group, and throw something out there into the world, you’ve already won the game. Those are all the lessons and goals that we learned from listening to the bands that came before us, like Black Sabbath and Tony Iommi, one of my favorite guitar players.”

What’s a nuance of Tony’s playing that stands out, and do you have a favorite riff?

“The heaviness, the bends, the larger-than-life, doomy quality and the power of his guitar. I pretty much dig everything he’s ever done, so it’d be hard to pick out a riff. There are so many of them, but the first one I ever heard was Iron Man. That’s the one that struck me at the beginning.”

Have you decided what Alice in Chains will play?

“We had a little meeting a few months back, but it’s still in motion and in flux. We’re going into it like all the other bands, and we’ll do whatever they want us to do. We threw out a bunch of songs that we liked, like Children of the Grave, Hand of Doom and Fairies Wear Boots. They asked us what we’d be interested in, and we picked four or five, but we still don’t have a final idea of what we’re going to play.”

What does it mean to you to not only be a part of this show, but to witness it?

“As a fan, it’s something you want to do. You want to be there, and it’s going to be very satisfying. As a musician who’s been doing this for decades and been in a band that’s gone through changes like Sabbath has, it’s a triumphant thing. They’re representative of what it takes to last for decades and to be sent out on your own terms. It’s worth celebrating.”

• This article first appeared in Guitar World. Subscribe and save.