Metal
Tony Iommi has explained, in an interview with Classic Rock magazine, that he turned down producer Andrew Watt’s pitch to record one last Black Sabbath album with the original line-up.
«I met Andrew Watt when he was producing Ozzy,» says the guitarist. «He was really keen, and maybe a bit too excited. He also didn’t know what it was like working with the original Sabbath, working with Bill. And besides, we’d already done ‘13′, and the idea of, right, another record, didn’t really appeal to me.»
Watt produced Ozzy Osbourne’s last two solo records, «Ordinary Man» (2020) and «Patient Number 9» (2022).
«13» came out in 2013, produced by Rick Rubin, and was the reunion’s only studio album. Bill Ward didn’t play on it: the drummer pulled out of the project over a contract disagreement, and the drums were recorded by Brad Wilk, of Rage Against The Machine.
The original line-up played together for the last time on 5 July 2025 at Villa Park in Birmingham, at the «Back to the Beginning» charity show. Ozzy Osbourne died seventeen days later, on 22 July, of a heart attack, aged seventy-six.
Text by Enric Vilaplana