Warming up in Dubai on the ’13’ tour
Some sad news regarding Black Sabbath guitarist and founder of Heavy Metal, Tony Iommi.
After receiving the news in August that his cancer is in remission (here), Tony will now have to undergo surgery to remove what he is saying is a “activity in the throat”.
Tony said: “I went for a check four weeks ago and the doctor said that at the moment there is no activity where I had the cancer before, but there is activity in the throat. When I get back to England, I have to have an operation to remove this thing at the back of my nose.
“The doctors found a lump there and we don’t know if it is cancer or what, but I feel OK at the moment.”
It is unclear whether the lump is related to Tony’s previous bout with lymphoma.
With Black Sabbath’s The End tour set to conclude after the final UK leg in January and February, Iommi admitted that his health troubles are part of the reason he’s retiring from touring.
“I was knocked for six when the doctors told me that it was, that it was stage III cancer. It really did change my life as far as what I have to do now. I have to live what life I’ve got because I have been on the road nearly fifty years. I need to be at home more and I need to pay more attention to my friends and family.”
Tony was diagnosed with lymphoma in 2012 and after a four-year battle, he revealed the disease was in remission, although he anticipated that it would reemerge.
“The surgeon told me he doesn’t expect the cancer to go away. So, I look at life differently now. I could be here another ten years or just one year — I don’t know.”
It’s been a busy 2016 for Black Sabbath with the founding fathers of Heavy Metal playing around ninety gigs so far this year on what they have dubbed “The End”, their final ever dates before they pack in touring for good.
After their splendid headline appearance at Download Festival in the pouring rain, Sabbath finished off their last ever European tour in mid-July and undertook their last ever US and South America tours which wrapped up on December 4th at Estadio Morumbi in Sao Paulo, Brazil.
That Sao Paulo date was thought to be the last ever Sabbath gig until it was announced that Ozzy, Tony, Geezer and Tommy would be undertaking their last ever UK tour in January and February 2017 which consists of seven dates at high profile venues in Britain’s biggest cities with the last ever Black Sabbath gig taking place in the band’s home town of Birmingham on Saturday 4th February.
Tickets for Sabbath’s last ever shows are available by clicking here.
Black Sabbath 2017 Last Ever Tour Dates:
January 22nd: Manchester Arena
January 24th: Glasgow – The SSE Hydro
January 26th: Leeds – First Direct Arena
January 29th: London – The O2
January 31st: London – The O2
February 2nd: Birmingham – Genting Arena
February 4th: Birmingham – Genting Arena
Our review of Black Sabbath’s performance in the pouring June rain at Castle Donington is right here, along with video and photos and our review of a fabulous day out at the Laszlo Papp Sports Arena, Budapest, Hungary is right here.
And we will be at The Genting Arena for Sabbath’s last ever gig in February of course to bring you a full report. In the meantime, here’s a reminder of how good Sabbath were when they played London in 2013 right here.
