Tony Iommi has revealed that the upcoming film documenting Black Sabbath's farewell performance was "difficult to watch" due to the band's close bond, describing the footage as "emotional".
A Final Farewell Captured on Film
The 78-year-old musician, nicknamed the Godfather Of Heavy Metal, co-founded the iconic rock group in the 1960s alongside the late Ozzy Osbourne, Terence "Geezer" Butler and Bill Ward. Black Sabbath's final show at the Back To The Beginning concert in Birmingham in July last year was captured on film and is set to hit screens in October.
When asked whether the film's release would stir up emotions, Iommi told the Press Association: "Yeah, I do yeah. I mean I've watched the footage and it's emotional. I've watched it only twice now. I find it difficult to watch it, to be honest, because obviously (of) our relationship with each other. But I'm sure people will like it."
Life After Osbourne's Passing
Osbourne passed away from a reported heart attack aged 76, just over two weeks after the farewell concert. The rock legend had endured a series of health struggles over the years, including multiple surgeries following a fall and a diagnosis of Parkinson's disease.
Iommi told PA, "it's been up and down for me" since Osbourne's passing, adding that he had "I've just kept busy, really." He said: "I've just kept busy, really, you know, I can do nothing else. I do what I do, and it's been up and down for me. Obviously, the Sabbath thing has finished, but it's enabled me to do other things, other ventures, and I played on Robbie Williams's last album."
The guitarist teamed up with Williams for the rock track Rocket, which was released in May last year.
An MBE and Musical Legacy
Iommi was appointed a Member of the Order of the British Empire by the Princess Royal at Windsor Castle on Wednesday in recognition of his services to music and charity. When asked how he felt about the accolade, he told PA: "Brilliant. Really, it's really going. I mean, I've got a lot of awards over the years... but this is very special to me because (it is) from our own country, from England, so yeah really great."
He added that Osbourne, known as the Prince of Darkness, "would have been pleased" to see him receive the honour. Born in Birmingham in 1948, Iommi almost abandoned a career in music after being told he might never play again when he lost the tips of two fingers on his right hand in an industrial accident. He later met drummer Ward and, in 1968, the pair established a heavy blues rock band based in Birmingham – bringing in bassist Butler and frontman Osbourne to form what was originally known as Earth Blues Company.
The group subsequently changed their name to Black Sabbath, going on to sell millions of records over the following decade with iconic tracks including Paranoid and War Pigs. Black Sabbath went through numerous line-up changes over the years, yet achieved two UK number one albums, won four Grammy Awards and were inducted into the Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame.
Reflections on Early Struggles and Charity Work
While the band is widely celebrated as a trailblazer of the heavy metal genre, Iommi told PA "it was difficult to get through" in the early days, as the band "came up with something completely different". He said: "We came up with something completely different in those days, which was really difficult to get through, but the whole thing is belief, believing in what you do, and we love what we've done. And it took a lot of work because there was no internet then, and no websites and all the rest of the stuff. You had to physically go around all these places and play, different countries and word of mouth, so that was sort of how you had to do it then. But yeah, I mean, I didn't know to this day now that we were as big as ever."
Iommi has also devoted himself to humanitarian causes and championed charities including Macmillan Cancer Support, having received a lymphoma diagnosis several years before announcing he was in remission in 2016. Earlier this year, the Birmingham legend revealed he had auctioned one of his guitars and raised £53,000 for a new haematology and oncology centre at the Birmingham-based Heartlands Hospital Charity. Iommi told PA: "I love doing the charities, and it's very close to my heart because I was diagnosed in 2011." Reflecting on the auction, he said: "I enjoyed doing that. It's nice to give back because I know what it's like for those patients, and they needed new machinery and new beds, and it was great to be involved, to be able to do that and help to buy the new stuff."
The guitarist expressed his delight at the launch of his new solo album, From the Dark, on October 23, stating he was "looking forward to that coming out".
