BLACK SABBATH's TONY IOMMI, GEEZER BUTLER and BILL WARD talk about 50th anniversary of 'Sabotage' album
31-03-2025
BLACK SABBATH guitarist Tony Iommi, bassist Geezer Butler and drummer Bill Ward have opened up to Rock Candy for the magazine’s latest expansive cover story marking 50 years since the release of the band’s seminal sixth studio album, “Sabotage”, in 1975.
The three musicians recall the stresses and strains of going though litigation with their former manager, while at the same time trying to create new music that was designed to push the boundaries of what the Birmingham group had previously deemed possible.
“We were obviously immensely pissed off because we had hardly anything to show for five years of constantly touring, writing, and recording,” Butler explained to Rock Candy editor Howard Johnson. “It was difficult dividing time between creating music and time spent in lawyers’ offices, with QCs, and in law courts. But with our backs against the wall I think some of the songs on ‘Sabotage’ were the angriest that we’d ever written.”
“It wasn’t easy, because as it turned out the court case happened smack bang in the middle of recording ‘Sabotage’,” says Iommi. “One minute you’d be worrying about whether a riff was right for a song, the next you’d be sat in court.”
Yet despite such immense outside stresses, SABBATH were absolutely determined to forge ahead on their musical journey.
“We were in an experimental phase at the time,” says Butler. “We’d introduced different instruments on the previous ‘Sabbath Bloody Sabbath’ album, and once again were looking for new directions. Synths were relatively new at that time, so we had a go at introducing them on some songs. It was fun playing around.”
With their backs against the wall, SABBATH dug deep to produce some of the most exciting rock music of the ’70s — or any other decade.
“‘Hole In The Sky’ and ‘Symptom Of The Universe’ are two of my all-time favorite BLACK SABBATH songs,” confirms Geezer. “I still love playing them, and they really come alive when we perform them live.”
“I was really, really happy with the writing,” says Ward. “I think we were expanding, allowing ourselves to expand. We’d come a really long way from the song ‘Black Sabbath’, as great as that song is. I thought the richness of what we were doing on ‘Sabotage’ was brilliant.”
You can read the exclusive BLACK SABBATH “Sabotage” story in issue 49 of Rock Candy, together with in-depth stories and interviews with Billy Squier, ANGEL, MACHINE HEAD, Don Airey, L.A. GUNS, JETHRO TULL and more.
For more details, visit www.rockcandymag.com.
Rock Candy is a 100-page, full-color bi-monthly rock magazine, created in the U.K. It covers the sights, sounds and smells from the greatest era in hard rock music, the ’70s and ’80s. It is the brainchild of respected U.K. rock journalists Derek Oliver, Howard Johnson and Malcolm Dome — all frontline writers for Kerrang! magazine in the golden era.
Ozzy and the rest of the original BLACK SABBATH lineup — guitarist Tony Iommi, bassist Geezer Butler and drummer Bill Ward — will perform one last time as part a fundraising event at Villa Park, featuring a host of bands they inspired, including METALLICA, PANTERA, SLAYER, GOJIRA and ANTHRAX.
The concert, dubbed “Back To The Beginning”, was announced at Villa Park on Wednesday (February 5) by Sharon and Tony.
See the full list of performers in the poster below.
All proceeds from the show will go to Birmingham charities Cure Parkinson’s, the Birmingham Children’s Hospital and Acorn Children’s Hospice.
Osbourne comments: “It’s my time to go ‘Back To The Beginning’… time for me to give back to the place where I was born. How blessed am I to do it with the help of people whom I love. Birmingham is the true home of metal. Birmingham Forever.”
METALLICA says: “We are beyond honored and humbled to be invited to perform at BLACK SABBATH‘s final show, back where it all began in Birmingham, England. On July 5 at Villa Park — home of Aston Villa — Ozzy Osbourne, Tony Iommi, Geezer Butler, and Bill Ward will reunite to play their first show together in 20 years. Tickets go on sale at 10 AM GMT on Friday, February 14, via Ticketmaster UK and Live Nation UK.
“As part of this huge celebration of nearly six decades of BLACK SABBATH, we’ll hit the stage just before a short solo set from Ozzy Osbourne, followed by the mighty SABBATH closing the show. ANTHRAX, ALICE IN CHAINS, GOJIRA, HALESTORM, LAMB OF GOD, MASTODON, PANTERA, and SLAYER will also be a part of the massive night.
“An incredible lineup of musicians from around the globe will also be on hand to pay tribute, including Billy Corgan (THE SMASHING PUMPKINS), David Draiman (DISTURBED), Duff McKagan & Slash (GUNS N’ ROSES), Frank Bello (ANTHRAX), Fred Durst (LIMP BIZKIT), Jake E. Lee, Jonathan Davis (KORN), K.K. Downing, Lzzy Hale (HALESTORM), Mike Bordin (FAITH NO MORE), Rudy Sarzo, Sammy Hagar, Scott Ian (ANTHRAX), II (SLEEP TOKEN), Papa V Perpetua (GHOST),Tom Morello (RAGE AGAINST THE MACHINE),Wolfgang Van Halen, and Zakk Wylde.
“All profits from the night will go to the following charities: Cure Parkinson’s, Birmingham Children’s Hospital, and Acorn Children’s Hospice, a Children’s Hospice supported by Aston Villa.
“Our admiration for BLACK SABBATH runs deep, and we cannot wait to be a part of this historic event! We’ll see you in Birmingham!”
A year ago, Sharon said that Ozzy was hoping to play a farewell concert at Birmingham’s Villa Park as a “goodbye” to fans.
BLACK SABBATH is considered a pioneer of heavy metal and was formed in 1968 in Aston, Birmingham.
BLACK SABBATH has sold over 75 million albums worldwide and were inducted into the Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame in 2006, awarded a Lifetime Ivor Novello Songwriting Award in 2015 and were presented with a Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award in 2019.
The band has a star on the Broad Street Walk Of Stars in Birmingham, alongside individual stars in their own right, together with a bench in their honor.
In February 2017, SABBATH finished “The End” tour in Birmingham, closing out the quartet’s groundbreaking 49-year career.
“The End” was SABBATH‘s last tour because Iommi — who was diagnosed with lymphoma in late 2011 — can no longer travel for extended amounts of time.
Iommi revealed his cancer diagnosis in early 2012, shortly after SABBATH announced a reunion tour and album. He underwent treatment throughout the recording of the disc, titled “13”, and the subsequent tour to promote it.
The BLACK SABBATH guitarist successfully underwent an operation in January 2017 to remove a noncancerous lump from his throat.
“13” was the first album in 35 years to feature Iommi, Osbourne and Butler all playing together.
Ward was on board for the SABBATH reunion when it was first announced 11 years ago, but backed out soon after. The drummer later claimed that he sat out the recording and touring sessions because of unfair contractual terms, although the members of SABBATH have hinted in other interviews that he wasn’t physically up to the task.
All four original members of SABBATH were present when the band announced its final reunion in late 2011. But Ward split from the group in 2012, citing an “unsignable” contract, and Osbourne, Iommi and Butler carried on with their Rick Rubin–produced “13” LP and extensive international touring without him.
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