Black Sabbath has played a few "final shows" throughout their career, most recently on February 4, 2017 at the Genting Arena in Birmingham, England. According to guitarist Tony Iommi in an interview with Trunk Nation With Eddie Trunk, there was almost a reunion of their classic at the upcoming Power Trip festival, but Iommi turned it down.
Funny enough, Iommi cites worrying about Ozzy Osbourne's health as the reason he said no… and then Osbourne went and signed on as a headliner anyway. So clearly a Black Sabbath reunion could've gone off without any concern from the Osbourne camp.
"Yes, there was. But I didn't, at that point… It's hard, because Ozzy's been going through a lot of stuff lately," said Iommi as transcribed by Blabbermouth. "He's in hospital and out of hospital, and he's really been fighting it; he really wants to get out there. But in my mind, it's very difficult to sort of say yes. I've gotta think of the people in the band as well. I've gotta think of Ozzy, if he's gonna be all right to do a show and whatever. So I wasn't that comfortable with it.
"But I didn't know Ozzy [chuckles] would be doing it on his own. But it's great. I hope he can do it and that it'll be really good. He really wants to do it. And he's really trying to pull to get himself back. He's had to go through such a lot of hard stuff lately. It's such a shame, really. But he's still fighting there."
Iommi later clarified that yes, Black Sabbath was asked to play Power Trip; and no, the question never got beyond Iommi once he declined.
"Yeah. Sort of, yeah. I mean, we hadn't approached the others as far as doing it. They might have said no. But it didn't get much further than me, really. But, yeah, that's the way it is. If you're gonna go out, I want to do a good show. I want to go out on the top and do it. I don't wanna just go and slap something together. And I'm not saying it would have been, but it could have been difficult."
Iommi further reasoned that he's not even sure how drummer Bill Ward is doing these days, and that he's not interested in doing a reunion unless he knows it'll be good.
"I've certainly done the Commonwealth Games with Ozzy, and that sort of happened. But to do a full show, you've gotta make sure everybody's in good shape because people are gonna remember you by that show. And I don't want our reputation to go downhill all of a sudden. If something goes wrong or somebody can't make it and we have to cancel… 'Cause I don't know everybody's health; I don't know how Bill's feeling these days. You just don't know. So I'd like to be sure. If you're gonna do anything, it's gotta be good or [you should] not bother."
The Power Trip Festival has announced their lineup and it's quite literally the six bands we thought it was, and nothing more. Or at least that's what the festival website says. The Power Trip Festival will feature:
- Guns N' Roses on Iron Maiden on October 6
- AC/DC and Ozzy Osbourne on October 7
- Metallica and Tool on October 8
Tickets are available here.
