Black Sabbath are done, but Tony Iommi is making another solo album: “I’m trying to finish what I started”

Black Sabbath might have finally thrown in the towel, but guitarist Tony Iommi hasn’t just yet. In fact, the Godfather of Heavy Metal has hinted at plans he has to finish a new solo album, his first in 20 years.

In a new conversation with Eddie Trunk of Trunk Nation, he reveals that he’s turning his attention back to the album, after it was diverted heavily by Back to the Beginning, Sabbath’s last-ever show and one of the largest heavy metal events ever put on.

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“I was doing my own album until [Back To The Beginning] came up, and then, of course, I had to stop and concentrate on [preparing for] the Sabbath [performance],” Iommi tells Trunk [via Blabbermouth].

He goes on: “But I’m continuing next week on trying to finish off what I started with this album. And then who knows what I’m gonna do then? It’s great, really, ’cause if something pops up, I’ll do it, if I want to do it. So it’s a good thing.”

The album will be Iommi’s third solo outing, after the self-titled Iommi in 2000 and Fused in 2005. While Iommi featured a plethora of guest vocalists, his upcoming effort looks to be similar to Fused, in that only one singer is set to appear. Glenn Hughes sang on Fused, but the identity of the singer on this album has yet to be revealed.

“I’ve got one singer on it at the moment, which I originally thought of different singers,” Iommi continues. “But it started off as, ‘It’s gonna be an instrumental album,’ and it’s gone from, ‘I’ve got some instrumental stuff,’ but then I thought, ‘Oh, I wanna try it with a singer.’ And so that’s what I’ve been doing.”

As it stands, that’s the only information we have on the status of Iommi’s next solo outing. But we can forgive him for taking his time, given the magnitude of his commitment to Back to the Beginning.

The event – hosted at Villa Park in Black Sabbath’s hometown of Birmingham, England – so thousands of metal fans turn out to watch the genre’s A-listers, including Metallica, Slayer, Pantera and many more, pay tribute to the band who spawned their entire genre.

Sabbath performed a set at the end of the night with their original lineup of Ozzy Osbourne, Tony Iommi, Geezer Butler and Bill Ward.

The event also reportedly raised a staggering £140 million for charities chosen by Ozzy and Sabbath: Cure Parkinson’s, Birmingham Children’s Hospital and Acorns Children’s Hospice.

It also saw plenty of killer guitar moments – as you’d expect, being metal, and all – including Kirk Hammett wielding the CEO4, a guitar built by Gibson CEO Cesar Gueikian, during Metallica’s cover of Sabbath’s Hole in the Sky.