But whatever I do, Black Sabbath will always be there one way or another. On the day of Ronnie’s funeral me and Maria had dinner with Eddie Van Halen and his wife. The phone rang. I picked it up to answer it without looking at the display first, and it was Sharon Osbourne.
Blimey!
I hadn’t spoken to her for over a year. She said: ‘Oh, I’ve got the wrong number. I thought it was another Tony.’
When she realised it was me, she said she was sorry to hear about Ronnie. Then she went: ‘Will you call Ozzy? You must speak to Ozzy!’
I called him a few days later. He said: ‘I’d like to get together and have a chat.’
I said: ‘Well, I’ll be back in England in a couple of days.’
‘Good. I’m coming over to England as well, let’s see each other then.’
We didn’t actually get together then, but we’ve called each other quite a lot. The idea for a new Black Sabbath album had been floating around between our different managements for a while, and we’ve been talking about it more and more. It’s still not set in stone, but I talked to Ozzy towards the end of 2010, and he went: ‘I’m really looking forward to doing something!’
I actually wrote one or two songs for Sabbath, and there’s a lot more coming up. But you never know. By the time you read this we might be in a studio recording, or we might even have an album in the shops already. Or maybe nothing will have come of it and it’ll never happen. And we might be planning another tour, or we might never share a stage again.
Writing all this, my story, has obviously given me a lot of time to reflect on my life. It has been a bit like everybody else’s I suppose: up and down. I’ve loved the different turns over the years, good and bad. You learn from them. I’ve got no real complaints, although it would have been nice to have had no hassles with the business side of things, such as with management and band members. You’ve got to have those as well, I suppose. These things are sent to try us. But when I look around the world now and see all the things that are happening to people, I’ve had a good life in comparison to most everybody out there.
I’m really proud of what we’ve achieved. We spawned a whole new generation of music, of players. You can even say that our music has saved a few lives. Judging by the letters we’ve had from people writing: ‘Without you . . .’, people who might have wanted to commit suicide or do whatever were it not for the music, there’s always somebody you’ve helped out there. It’s extremely rewarding.
There was a time when all of the Brummie bands felt the city didn’t really care much about us so it was great when all of a sudden the people that run Broad Street decided to honour the city’s famous residents. So it came to be that in November 2008 while recording ‘The Devil You Know’ we all took time out so I could receive my star on the city’s Walk of Fame! It was bitterly cold, snowing, but even so a great crowd turned up and Mike Olley and his team did a great job with bands playing and Kerrang Radio hosting the event. It was good to join Ozzy and other famous friends like Jasper Carrott, and recently I got involved in Bev Bevan’s induction as well. The latest event in this change of heart from the establishment is the Home Of Metal exhibition, specifically honouring all of the heavy bands that came from the West Midlands, including Judas Priest and Led Zeppelin. I never thought that would happen!
And now I don’t have to go out to prove anything any more, to anybody. Years ago I was trying to prove to people that I could do this and do that, but nowadays I really enjoy what I do, and I only need to prove to myself that I can do things.
Of course, I have regrets – a lot of them. But I think without that I wouldn’t have learned anything. You can’t have it all your own way all the time; you’ve got to have the bad side of life as well, the bad things that happen to you. But you deal with them.
I probably upset some people along the way, what with all the marriages and all the things that have happened over the years. It’s all part of life. Hopefully, the people I’ve upset have gone on to better things.
My daughter Toni amazes me. After what she’s been through, she’s so out front now! Toni lives in Finland. She moved in with her boyfriend, Linde. He’s the guitar player in a band called HIM and they are madly in love. He’s a lovely lad and a very good player. He’s very quiet and she just won’t shut up, but they’re very happy together. Thankfully, they come over often, so Maria and me get to see them a lot.
All I’m hoping for these days is that I’m still here in a few years. I enjoy where I’m at now, I really do. It’s a good place. I’ve got a good home life and a good family. And I’m fortunate because I’m still able to create and to go out and play music, and have some of the best friends on the planet.
But whatever happens, there’s one thing I’m absolutely sure about.
I will never set fire to Bill Ward again.
Acknowledgements
T. J. Lammers, for the endless amount of listening and patience.
My managers Ernest Chapman and Ralph Baker, for their hard work, friendship, dedication and loyalty.
Ozzy, Geezer and Bill; there wouldn’t be a book without you. Through all the ups and downs we’ve managed to stay friends and hopefully we’ll have many more good times together.
My fans and supporters; thanks so much for being there.
Brian May, Eddie Van Halen and James Hetfield, for the kind words.
The two Mike’s, Clement and Exeter, and endless amounts of crew members over the years.
My closest friends (you know who you are).
Love you all!
Tony
Index
ABBA
Abrahams, Mick
AC/DC
Ackrill, Phil
Adams, Brian
Aerosmith
Air Supply
Albert (schoolfriend)
Alcoholics Anonymous
Ali, Muhammad
Allom, Tom
Anderson, Ian
Anne, Princess
Anselmo, Phil
Appice, Vinny
drumming style
and Heaven and Hell
rejoins band
and reunions
Arden, David
Arden, Don
arrest and imprisonment
manages Sabbath
and Born Again cover
Arden, Sharon, see Osbourne,
Sharon
Armenia
Aronoff, Kenny
Art
Astbury, Ian
Aston
Aston gang
astral travelling
Axén, Martina
Bad Company
Bain, Rodger
Baker, Ralph
Bandy Legs
Banfield, Phil
Bassey, Shirley
Battle Abbey
Beach Boys, The
Beastie Boys, The
Beatles, The
Beck, Jeff
Bee Gees, The
Belch
Berry, Chuck
Betty Ford Clinic
Bevan, Bev
Birch, Martin
Birds & The Bees, The
black magic
Black Oak Arkansas
Black Sabbath
awards
and Can Am studio
and crosses
down-tuned sound
first album
first American tour
first European tours
formation
and keyboards
last studio album
Live Aid reunion
management
and money
the name
and the occult
reunions
Stonehenge set
Black Sabbath albums
Black Sabbath
Black Sabbath Vol 4
Born Again
Cross Purposes
Dehumanizer
The Dio Years
The Eternal Idol
Forbidden
Headless
Cross
Heaven and Hell
Live at Last
Live Evil
Master of Reality
Mob Rules
Never Say Die!
Paranoid
Past Lives
Reunion
Sabbath Bloody Sabbath
Sabotage
Seventh Star
Technical Ecstasy
TYR
Black Sabbath (film)
Black Sabbath (racehorse)
Black Sabbath tracks
‘After All (The Dead)’
‘After Forever’
‘Anno Mundi’
‘Behind The Wall Of Sleep’
‘Black Sabbath’
‘Buried Alive’
‘Cardinal Sin’
‘Changes’
‘Children Of The Grave’
‘Children Of The Sea’
‘Computer God’
‘Danger Zone’
‘The Devil You Know’
‘Die Young’
‘Dirty Woman’
‘Disturbing The Priest’
‘Electric Funeral’
‘Embryo’
‘Evil Eye’
‘Evil Woman’
‘Eye Of The Storm’
‘Fairies Wear Boots’
‘Feels Good To Me’
‘Fluff ’
‘FX’
‘The Hand That Rocks The Cradle’
‘A Hard Road’
‘Headless Cross’
‘Heaven and Hell’
‘Hole In The Sky’
‘Hot Line’
‘Into The Void’
‘Iron Man’
‘It’s Alright’
‘Junior’s Eyes’
‘Keep It Warm’
‘Lady Evil
‘Laguna Sunrise’
‘Lord Of This World’
‘Megalomania’
‘The Mob Rules’
‘A National Acrobat’
‘Neon Knights’
‘Never Say Die’
‘N.I.B.’
‘Nightmare’
‘Nightwing’
‘No Stranger To Love’
‘No Way Out’
‘Orchid’
‘Over To You’
‘Paradise City’
‘Paranoid’
‘Psycho Man’
‘Sabbath Bloody Sabbath’
‘The Sabbath Stones’
‘Sabbra Cadabra’
‘Scarlet Pimpernel’
‘Selling My Soul’
‘Seventh Star’
‘The Shining’
‘Sign Of The Southern Cross’
‘Sleeping Village’
‘Snowblind’
‘Solitude’
‘Spiral Architect’
‘Star of India’
‘Supertzar’
‘Sweet Leaf ’
‘Swinging The Chain’
‘Sympton Of The Universe’
‘The Thrill Of It All’
‘Time Machine’
‘Turn To Stone’
‘Turn Up The Night’
‘War Pigs’
‘Warning’
‘When Death Calls’
‘Wicked World’
‘Who Are You?’
‘The Wizard’
‘Work Till Death’
‘The Writ’
‘Zero The Hero’
Blackmore, Ritchie
Blair, Linda
Blair, Tony
Blue Murder
Blue Öyster Cult
Body Count
Bolton, Michael
Bonham, John
Bonham, Pat
Bordin, Mike
Boston
Branson, Richard
Brownsville Station
Buckingham Palace
Bush, George
Butler, Geezer
and band tensions
and Black Sabbath name
and Devil sign
and Earth
and first European tours
guitar sound
and Heaven and Hell
leaves and rejoins band
and Led Zeppelin
lifestyle and escapades
and Mods and Rockers
and the occult
and recording
rejoins band
and reunions
and Ronnie’s death
and song-writing
and Stonehenge set
Butler, Gloria
California Jam
Cameron, Matt
Campbell, Phil
Can Am studio
Carlisle
Carlton, Sergeant
Carno, Fred
Carrott, Jasper
cars
Cathedral
Celador
Chaplin, Charlie
Chapman, Albert
Chapman, Ernest
Chapman, Roger
Chapman Whitney Streetwalkers
Charles, Prince
Chicken Shack
Children In Need
Chimes, Terry
Church of Satan
Clapton, Eric
Clash, The
Clearwell Castle
Clement, Mike
Coheed & Cambria
Collins, Phil
Cooper, Alice
Copeland, Miles
Copley, Gordon
Copley, Jimmy
Corgan, Billy
Cornick, Glenn
Costa Mesa gigs
Cottle, Larry
Coverdale, David
Crosby, Denise
crosses
Crowley, Aleister
Crows, The
Cult, The
Cunnigan, Ernie
Curtis, Tony
Daily Mail
Daisley, Bob
De Carlo, Lee
De Carlo, Yvonne
Deep Purple
Dep sessions
‘Devil’s interval’
Dio, Ronnie James
his death
and Devil sign
and Heaven and Hell
joins band
leaves band
and Led Zeppelin
lifestyle and escapades
rejoins band
and singing
solo career
and song-writing
Dio, Wendy
Dio
Dire Straits
Divine Records
Donato, David
Down
Downes, Geoff
Downing, John
Drain STH
Dudgeon, Gus
Dupont, John
Eagles, The
Earth Blues Band
Earth
becomes Black Sabbath
Edmunds, Dave
Elizabeth II, Queen
ELO
ELP
Epic Records
Epstein, Brian
Essex Music
Exeter, Mike
Exorcist, The
Faithfull, Marianne
Fear Factory
Fenholt, Jeff
Fields of Rock
Fiji
Fleetwood Mac
Fontana Records
Foo Fighters
Ford, Lita
Forster, Mark
Frankie (lodger)
Free
Freeman, Alan
Frost, David
Gee, John
Geffen Records
ghosts and apparitions
Gibb, Andy
Gibb, Barry
Gillan, Ian
his boat
and ‘Out Of My Mind’
and ‘Smoke On The Water’
and song-writing
Gillen, Ray
Gilmour, David
Girlschool
Glixman, Jeff
Godspeed
Goldstein, Doug
golf
Gotti, John
&nbs
p; Grant, Peter
Great Ngaruawahia festival
Grohl, Dave
groupies
Gruber, Craig
guitar strings
Guns N’ Roses
Haines, Norman
Halford, Rob
Hall, Tony
Hamburg
Hammersmith Odeon
Hard Rock Café
Harris, Dave
Harrison, Mike
Harry, Prince
Heart
Heaven and Hell
The Devil You Know
Heaven and Hell tracks
‘Atom And Evil’
‘Bible Black’
‘The Devil Cried’
‘Ear In The Wall’
‘Eating The Cannibals’
‘Neverwhere’
‘Shadow Of The Wind’
‘Turn Of The Screw’
Heavy Metal
Hell’s Angels
Hemmings, David
Hendrix, Jimi
Henry’s Blues House
Hetfield, James
Hildebrandt, Greg
HIM
Hiseman, John
Hitler, Adolf
Holland, Dave
Holly, Buddy
Hollywood Bowl
Home of Metal exhibition
horror films
Hughes, Glenn
and Dep sessions
and Fused
Ice T
Idol, Billy
Iommi, Anthony Frank
Iommi, Toni
Iommi, Tony
accident and guitar style
arrest in California
and awards
band leader
and band tensions
carpal tunnel operation
and cars
childhood and family
and ‘dead’ girl
Dep sessions and album
and dogs
and Earth
education
and his father
first bands
food poisoning
Fused album
guitar solos
hand problems
Iommi album
and Jethro Tull
jobs
marriage to Maria
marriage to Melinda
marriage to Susan
marriage to Valery
and money
and Mythology
and Ozzy’s departure
and practical jokes
and recording
and song-writing
and squatters