BREAKING: Black Sabbath Guitarist Tony Iommi C…read more.
When the lights dimmed inside Birmingham’s Genting Arena that February night in 2017, a hush fell over the crowd. For fans of Black Sabbath, it wasn’t just another concert it was goodbye. But while thousands of voices roared as the opening chords of “Black Sabbath” rang out, one man on stage was silently battling nerves: Tony Iommi.
Nearly eight years later, the legendary guitarist has finally opened up about what was going through his mind during that iconic final show and it wasn’t all calm and confidence.
“I was nervous as hell,” Iommi admitted in a recent interview, his voice tinged with both nostalgia and vulnerability. “You’d think after all the shows we’ve done Madison Square Garden, massive festivals, you name it I’d be used to it. But this was different. This was final.”
For Iommi, Black Sabbath wasn’t just a band. It was his life’s work, his identity, his family. Saying goodbye wasn’t easy. The farewell concert wasn’t just a tour stop it was coming home. Birmingham, the gritty city where Sabbath was born, had shaped everything about them from their dark sound to their unfiltered honesty.
“Being back in Birmingham, knowing this was the last time we’d be on stage together like that… it hit me in ways I didn’t expect,” he said. “Just before we went on, I remember standing backstage thinking, ‘This is it. This is the last time I’ll plug in that guitar and play these songs with these guys. This is the last bow.’”
Ozzy Osbourne was, as always, a fireball of energy. Geezer Butler played like a man possessed. But even they couldn’t hide the emotion that hovered over the setlist. As the band ripped through classics like “War Pigs,” “N.I.B.,” and “Paranoid,” the crowd screamed every word not just with excitement, but with reverence. Some cried. So did a few on stage.
“You could feel it,” Iommi recalled. “The love, the sadness, the pride. I think we all held it together because we didn’t want to break down up there. But inside? We were all feeling it.”
Still, Iommi’s fingers never faltered. His riffs were sharp and haunting, a reminder of how vital his playing has always been to Sabbath’s sound. When the final note rang out, there was a long pause a deep, emotional silence before the thunderous applause came. It wasn’t just for the show. It was for a lifetime of music.
Now, with no plans for another reunion, Iommi says he’s content. “That night gave us and the fans the closure we all needed. I’ll always be proud of it, even if I was shaking like a leaf backstage.”
In the end, Black Sabbath went out not just with power, but with heart. And for Iommi, it was more than the end of an era. It was the end of a beautiful, thunderous, unforgettable journey.
