Tony Iommi Turned Down A One-Off Black Sabbath Reunion For Power Trip Festival

Tony Iommi, the Gibson SG-wielding guitarist of Black Sabbath fame, has revealed that Power Trip – the festival that’s hosting Metallica, AC/DC, Guns N’ Roses, Tool, Ozzy Osbourne and Iron Maiden at the Indio, California home ground of Coachella – could have featured a reunited Black Sabbath on the line-up; if he didn’t say no, that is.

In an interview on Sirius XM’s Trunk Nation, the heavy metal pioneer confirmed that he shot down the idea of reforming Black Sabbath for the festival while thinking of Osbourne’s health.

“It’s hard because Ozzy’s been going through a lot of stuff lately,” Iommi said (as transcribed by Blabbermouth). “He’s in hospital and out of hospital, and he’s really been fighting it; he really wants to get out there.

“But in my mind, it’s very difficult to sort of say yes. I’ve gotta think of the people in the band as well. I’ve gotta think of Ozzy: if he’s gonna be all right to do a show and whatever. So I wasn’t that comfortable with it.”

Expressing his surprise at Osbourne saying yes to the gig, Iommi continued, “I didn’t know Ozzy would be doing it on his own, but it’s great. I hope he can do it and that it’ll be really good. 

"He really wants to do it. And he’s really trying to pull to get himself back. He’s had to go through such a lot of hard stuff lately. It’s such a shame, really. But he’s still fighting there.”

You can listen to a snippet of the interview below.

Iommi had reason to be concerned about his bandmate: in February, the Paranoid vocalist shared that he had retired from touring.

“This is probably one of the hardest things I’ve ever had to share with my loyal fans,” Osbourne said.

“As you may all know, four years ago, this month, I had a major accident, where I damaged my spine. My one and only purpose during this time has been to get back on stage. My singing voice is fine. 

"However, after three operations, stem cell treatments, endless physical therapy sessions, and most recently groundbreaking Cybernics (HAL) Treatment, my body is still physically weak.”

Power Trip festival is likely an offshoot of the 2016 event, Desert Trip - which hosted the likes of Neil Young, Sir Paul McCartney, The Rolling Stones, Bob Dylan, Roger Waters and The Who - not a reference to the Texas thrash metal band, Power Trip, who, as BrooklynVegan pointed out, don’t seem very happy.

Power Trip will be put on by Coachella founders Goldenvoice from 6-8 October.