Tony Iommi, guitarist of Black Sabbath and Heaven And Hell, and the godfather of heavy metal riffs, has posted a video to his Youtube account reflecting upon the year we’ve left behind. A year where he performed the single most iconic concert of his music career, only to then suffer the loss of his friend and creative partner from across nearly 60 years, the irreplaceable Ozzy Osbourne.
Iommi, who is now 77, opens the video by discussing the 2025 vinyl re-issue of 1987 Black Sabbath album ‘The Eternal Idol’, and his unlikely collaboration with Robbie Williams at the start of the year. The product of this partnership was single ‘Rocket’, a raucous hard rock anthem, with a music video that saw Williams tick every metal cliche in the book. Of the song, Iommi says “I really enjoyed it, it was really different for me to do that.”
The focal point of the year was the build-up to ‘Back To The Beginning’, a monumental farewell show starring the four founding members of Black Sabbath all reuniting for the last time. Formed in Aston, Birmingham in 1968, the band’s core line-up was Tony Iommi on guitar, Ozzy Osbourne as vocalist, Geezer Butler on bass, and drummer Bill Ward, who hasn’t performed with the others since 2012 due to tensions with them.
As suspense grew for the concert in July, the four members were granted Freedom of the City of Birmingham, an honour which Iommi never expected to receive. Then there was the ‘Summer of Sabbath’, a celebration of art and culture themed around the band and their impact over the decades. Iommi also takes great pride talking about the Black Sabbath Ballet, a string of performances fusing Sabbath’s music with ballet choreography, which he himself played guitar for at several dates.
Perhaps the most exciting prize was the plaque displayed at The Crown Pub in Birmingham. This was the site where Black Sabbath, then going by the name Earth, performed their first live show. The plaque marks the location, now a Grade 2 listed building, as the birthplace of the heavy metal genre, and Black Sabbath as its creators.
A tour poster for Black Sabbath’s 2025 final show
When Back To The Beginning finally arrived on July 5 2025, it drew worshippers from across the globe, either physically into Villa Park, or from the reaches of the internet. Sporting an all-star cast of guests, including actor and musician Jack Black, Guns’N’Roses, and Metallica, the evening built a crescendo into the finale of a solo performance by Ozzy Osbourne, and the last ever Black Sabbath show. In his video, Iommi said “the amount of bands that turned up to support Sabbath on that was just fantastic. What a great event.”
The pressure to put the show on was caused by Ozzy’s worsening health. Having suffered with Parkinsons Disease since 2019, he was forced to stay seated for the performance. Not long after Back To The Beginning, Ozzy Osbourne died from a heart attack on July 22.
Other news in the summary include the launch of his own website, as well as brand sponsorships, in the form of his signature guitar amplifier from Laney, and his personal line of Gibson humbucker pickups. Iommi wraps the video up by praising how much money had been raised for charity, by the Villa Park show, the ballet, and his guitar raffle, which raised £53,000. In addition, he confirms that in 2026, he will be releasing his first solo album since 2005’s ‘Fused’.
