Tony Iommi reacted to Ozzy Osbourne outshining Black Sabbath commercially when he left the band in a new interview.
Iommi told Eddie Trunk, “Well, I think it was the best thing for Oz. It was the best thing for all of us because he’d made us work again, made us all realize, ‘Blimey, we’ve got to do something here.’ And it was great because Sharon got Ozzy rolling again, I mean, Ozzy went through a real bad dip in himself, and he was managed to be pulled out of it, and got a good band behind him.
And coming out with some good songs, it was really good. He took on another career, as we did, so we took on the career with Ron, and then Ozzy took on his career as his solo thing, which was really good. People have got two bands for the price of one, really.”
He said he is open to select reunion shows, “Yeah, I don’t rule out anything at the moment, I’m quite open. And it’s great because, in this period, I enjoy everything. One of my main problems with touring all the time was I had no home life – none of us did, really – so for me, I wanted to have my home life, see my daughter and my wife, family, and everybody.
So now I’m getting that chance – well, sort-of getting that chance since the pandemic – I stopped seeing my daughter and things. You couldn’t unless you’re in a bubble. But yeah, I do miss playing, I miss playing live. I can play all the time here at home, but it’s nothing like a live show, there’s nothing like that stimulation.
And we’ve had some great players, Vinny [Appice, drums] was great, playing with Bill [Ward, drums], playing with Geezer [Butler, bass] and everybody, it’s been a great period. It’s had its ups and downs over the years, but you can’t take it away, I’ve stuck with it, and I enjoyed it.”
