BLACK SABBATH guitarist TONY IOMMI has spoken candidly about how the death of his lifelong friend and bandmate OZZY OSBOURNE has forced him to confront his own mortality. The 78-year-old heavy metal pioneer has also revealed heartbreaking details of his final conversation with the Prince of Darkness, just one day before Ozzy passed away in July 2025.
For more than five decades, Tony Iommi and Ozzy Osbourne helped shape the sound of heavy metal, taking their dark, thunderous music from the industrial streets of Birmingham to some of the biggest stages in the world.
Together, they helped create a genre that would influence generations of musicians.
But behind the legendary riffs, groundbreaking albums and unforgettable performances was a friendship stretching back more than 60 years.
Now, following Ozzy’s death on 22 July 2025, Iommi has admitted that losing his longtime friend has made him think more seriously about his own life and the inevitability of growing older.
In a deeply personal interview with The Telegraph, the BLACK SABBATH guitarist reflected on grief, friendship, the passing of time and the emotional impact of losing someone who had been part of his life since childhood.
And in typical Iommi fashion, even such a serious subject came with a touch of his trademark humour.
💔 Tony Iommi Admits Ozzy’s Death Has Made Him Think About His Own Mortality
During the interview, Iommi was asked whether losing Ozzy had made him more conscious of his own mortality.
His response was immediate.
“Yes, it does. A lot.”
The guitarist explained that losing several friends in recent years has made him increasingly aware of his own age.
At 78, Iommi acknowledged that he now finds himself thinking about questions that once seemed a long way off.
He explained that he sometimes wonders how much time he has left, particularly after witnessing the deaths of people who have been important throughout his life.
It is an unusually vulnerable admission from a musician whose public image has long been associated with ominous guitar riffs, black clothing and heavy metal’s darker imagery.
Yet beyond that legendary reputation is someone dealing with the same feelings of loss and uncertainty that many people experience as they grow older.
And it appears he is not alone in having those conversations.
🎸 QUEEN’s Brian May Also Talks About Mortality With Tony Iommi
One of the more unexpected revelations from the interview concerns Iommi’s longstanding friendship with QUEEN guitarist Brian May.
The two British guitar legends have known each other for decades and share a mutual respect for one another’s musical achievements.
According to Iommi, their conversations sometimes turn towards ageing, the passing of friends and their own mortality.
However, the BLACK SABBATH guitarist couldn’t resist making a joke about his friend.
He revealed that May tends to be even more pessimistic about the subject, describing him as more gloomy than himself.
The admission offers a fascinating glimpse into the friendship between two of Britain’s most influential guitarists.
Both musicians helped redefine the sound of rock guitar during the 1970s.
Both have experienced extraordinary success.
And both have now reached a stage in their lives where reflecting on the past has become increasingly significant.
Despite their legendary status, their conversations about growing older sound remarkably ordinary.
🖤 Tony Iommi Recalls His Final Conversation With Ozzy Osbourne
Perhaps the most emotional part of the interview concerns Iommi’s final conversation with Ozzy.
The two musicians spoke on the telephone on Monday 21 July 2025, just one day before the BLACK SABBATH frontman died.
At the time, Ozzy was recovering from the physical and emotional demands of the band’s historic Back To The Beginning farewell concert.
During their conversation, Ozzy told Iommi that he was exhausted.
The guitarist remembered reassuring his friend that feeling tired was understandable after everything he had experienced.
He encouraged Ozzy to rest and recover.
Neither musician could have known that it would be their final conversation.
The following day, Iommi received the devastating news that his friend had died.
Recalling the moment, he explained how strange and difficult it was to comprehend.
“He was a part of my life for 60 years. I do miss him.”
Those words capture the depth of a friendship that extended far beyond recording studios and concert stages.
For Iommi, Ozzy wasn’t simply the singer in BLACK SABBATH.
He was someone who had shared most of his life.
🔥 BLACK SABBATH’s Final Concert Became An Emotional Farewell
On 5 July 2025, BLACK SABBATH reunited for one final performance at Villa Park in Birmingham.
The historic event, titled Back To The Beginning, brought together Ozzy Osbourne, Tony Iommi, Geezer Butler and Bill Ward for their last appearance as the band’s original lineup.
It was a moment that many fans believed they would never witness.
The four musicians who helped establish heavy metal during the late 1960s were finally sharing the stage together again in their hometown.
The concert also featured performances from some of the biggest names in rock and metal, including METALLICA, GUNS N’ ROSES, SLAYER, TOOL, PANTERA, GOJIRA and ANTHRAX.
However, while the occasion was a spectacular celebration of BLACK SABBATH’s musical legacy, Iommi has admitted that it was emotionally difficult.
Ozzy’s health had deteriorated considerably.
When the musicians gathered for rehearsals, Iommi was shocked by how physically frail his friend had become.
Although Ozzy remained recognisably himself in conversation, the limitations caused by his health problems were impossible to ignore.
For a guitarist accustomed to seeing Ozzy running around the stage, pulling faces and entertaining audiences with his unpredictable personality, the difference was heartbreaking.
🎤 “I Was Concerned He Was Going To Knock Himself Out”
Iommi has also spoken about his concerns surrounding Ozzy’s decision to perform both a solo set and a BLACK SABBATH reunion performance.
The guitarist worried that the physical demands might be too much for his longtime friend.
He even suggested that Ozzy should consider performing just one set rather than attempting both.
However, Ozzy was determined to complete the farewell celebration.
During the concert, the singer performed seated on a specially designed throne.
He delivered five songs from his solo catalogue before returning for BLACK SABBATH’s final four-song performance.
🤘 BLACK SABBATH – Final Setlist
- War Pigs
- N.I.B.
- Iron Man
- Paranoid
For thousands of fans watching inside Villa Park, the performance was an extraordinary moment in heavy metal history.
But for Iommi, standing alongside his friend for the final time carried a deeply personal significance.
He has since admitted that he knew the occasion would mark BLACK SABBATH’s last live performance.
What he did not realise was just how little time Ozzy had left.
Seventeen days later, the Prince of Darkness was gone.
❤️ Ozzy’s Extraordinary Gesture During Tony Iommi’s Cancer Battle
One particularly touching revelation from Iommi’s interview highlights Ozzy’s caring personality away from the stage.
In 2012, Iommi was diagnosed with non-Hodgkin lymphoma.
The diagnosis came during preparations for BLACK SABBATH’s reunion activities and presented significant challenges for the guitarist.
When Ozzy learned about his friend’s illness, he decided to offer support in a characteristically unusual way.
At the time, Ozzy had become convinced that Guinness might have health benefits.
So rather than simply sending a supportive message, he arranged for an entire Guinness bar to be delivered to Iommi’s home.
Understandably surprised, the guitarist questioned why a truck had arrived carrying equipment for a bar.
When he discovered Ozzy was responsible, he asked for everything to be taken away.
Not to be discouraged, Ozzy then offered to send Guinness in a more conventional form.
According to Iommi, large quantities of the drink subsequently arrived.
While beer is not a treatment for cancer, the story demonstrates the extraordinary lengths Ozzy would sometimes go to when trying to support a friend.
It also reveals a more affectionate side of a musician often remembered for his outrageous behaviour and larger-than-life personality.
For Iommi, the gesture remains a fond memory of someone he describes as genuinely caring.
💀 The Friendship That Helped Create Heavy Metal
Tony Iommi and Ozzy Osbourne’s musical partnership began in Birmingham during the late 1960s.
Alongside bassist Geezer Butler and drummer Bill Ward, they formed the group that would eventually become BLACK SABBATH.
At a time when much of popular music remained influenced by blues, psychedelia and the optimism of the late 1960s, the young musicians developed something altogether darker.
Iommi’s heavily distorted guitar riffs, Butler’s ominous bass lines, Ward’s powerful drumming and Ozzy’s haunting vocals created a musical identity unlike anything audiences had previously experienced.
Their self-titled debut album arrived in February 1970.
Later that year, they released Paranoid, an album that would become one of the foundations of heavy metal.
Songs such as Black Sabbath, War Pigs, Iron Man and Paranoid helped establish a musical vocabulary that countless bands would later develop.
Further landmark albums followed, including Master Of Reality, Vol. 4, Sabbath Bloody Sabbath and Sabotage.
Together, these recordings helped shape the development of doom metal, thrash metal, stoner rock and numerous other heavy music genres.
Although Ozzy and Iommi would experience periods of separation throughout their careers, their musical partnership remained central to BLACK SABBATH’s legacy.
And when the original lineup reunited for that final performance in Birmingham, it brought their extraordinary story full circle.
🎸 Tony Iommi’s Own Health Battles
Iommi’s reflections on mortality also carry particular significance because of his own medical history.
In 2012, the guitarist was diagnosed with lymphoma and subsequently underwent treatment.
The experience forced him to reconsider the physical demands of touring and the importance of balancing music with his health.
Although he has since reported being in remission, the diagnosis had a lasting impact on his outlook.
It was not the first major physical challenge he had overcome.
As a teenager working in a Birmingham factory, Iommi suffered a serious industrial accident that severed the tips of two fingers on his fretting hand.
Doctors initially advised him that continuing to play guitar might be impossible.
Rather than abandoning music, he developed homemade protective fingertips and adapted his playing technique.
The accident ultimately contributed to the distinctive guitar sound that became central to BLACK SABBATH.
By using lighter strings and lower tunings, Iommi developed an approach that helped define the darker, heavier sound of early metal.
His extraordinary determination has become one of rock music’s most inspirational stories.
💿 Tony Iommi Prepares To Release New Solo Album ‘From The Dark’
Despite his reflections on growing older, Tony Iommi has no intention of abandoning music.
The legendary guitarist is preparing to release his new solo studio album, From The Dark, on Friday 23 October 2026 through BMG.
The record marks his first solo album in more than two decades.
It features Norwegian rock vocalist Jørn Lande and drummer Karl Brazil among its musical contributors.
Iommi has already introduced the project with singles including World Alone and Stormwatcher.
The album promises a return to the powerful guitar riffs, dark atmospheres and heavy arrangements that have defined his career.
For fans of BLACK SABBATH, the prospect of hearing new music from the musician who helped invent heavy metal is particularly exciting.
And although Iommi is now 78 years old, his continued enthusiasm for writing and recording demonstrates that creativity remains an important part of his life.
🤘 Could BLACK SABBATH Have Recorded One Final Album?
Another interesting subject raised during Iommi’s recent interviews concerns the possibility of a final BLACK SABBATH studio album.
Producer Andrew Watt, who worked with Ozzy on Ordinary Man and Patient Number 9, had previously explored the idea of recording new material with the band’s original lineup.
The proposed project would have reunited Ozzy, Iommi, Geezer Butler and Bill Ward in the studio.
However, the album never materialised.
Watt has suggested that scheduling and the availability of the musicians presented difficulties.
Iommi’s recollection places greater emphasis on the creative challenges involved.
The guitarist explained that recording with the original BLACK SABBATH lineup was considerably more complicated than simply exchanging guitar riffs and assembling songs.
He also expressed reservations about following the band’s 2013 album 13 with another reunion project.
Ultimately, BLACK SABBATH’s final studio album remains 13, while their final live appearance took place at Villa Park in July 2025.
For fans, that means the band’s recorded legacy is complete.
But the influence of their music will continue for generations.
🏆 Tony Iommi Honoured For His Contribution To Music
Alongside preparations for his new album, Iommi has received another major recognition of his extraordinary career.
The BLACK SABBATH guitarist was appointed a Member of the Order of the British Empire for his services to music and charity.
The honour recognises a musician whose influence extends far beyond his own recordings.
From the earliest days of BLACK SABBATH to the countless artists who have followed in their footsteps, Iommi’s contribution to British music is enormous.
Few guitarists can claim to have helped establish an entire musical genre.
Tony Iommi is one of them.
And despite the sadness of losing Ozzy, his latest interviews demonstrate that he remains proud of what BLACK SABBATH achieved.
🖤 Remembering Ozzy Osbourne – More Than Just A Bandmate
The relationship between Tony Iommi and Ozzy Osbourne was never simply a professional arrangement.
They shared childhood memories, musical ambitions, international success, difficult periods and decades of extraordinary experiences.
Their friendship survived changing lineups, personal disagreements, health problems and the pressures of worldwide fame.
They helped create music that transformed the lives of millions of people.
And ultimately, they shared one final stage in the city where everything began.
For Iommi, Ozzy’s absence is now something he must learn to live with.
The memories remain.
The recordings remain.
And the enormous musical legacy they created together will never disappear.
But the person who shared those experiences is no longer there.
That is what makes Iommi’s latest comments so moving.
Behind the legendary musician is a man mourning the loss of a friend he had known for most of his life.
🤘 THE RIFF REPORT VERDICT – A Friendship That Helped Change Music Forever
Tony Iommi’s reflections on the death of Ozzy Osbourne offer a deeply personal insight into the human side of heavy metal history.
For generations of fans, BLACK SABBATH represent enormous riffs, dark imagery and some of the most influential recordings ever made.
But behind those legendary albums were four young musicians from Birmingham who created something extraordinary together.
Tony Iommi and Ozzy Osbourne shared more than six decades of friendship and musical history.
They experienced worldwide success, difficult personal challenges, health battles and unforgettable performances.
And just 17 days before Ozzy’s death, they stood together on stage at Villa Park for one final BLACK SABBATH performance.
Iommi’s recollection of their last telephone conversation is especially heartbreaking.
There was no dramatic farewell.
No final grand speech.
Just two longtime friends discussing exhaustion, recovery and the need for rest.
The following day, everything changed.
His admission that Ozzy’s death has made him question his own mortality is understandable.
Yet despite those difficult thoughts, Iommi continues to create music and celebrate the extraordinary legacy he helped establish.
With From The Dark arriving later this month, heavy metal’s founding guitarist is preparing to write another chapter in his remarkable career.
And while Ozzy may no longer be here, the sound they created together will continue to echo through rock and metal for generations.
Two friends from Birmingham. More than 60 years of history. One musical legacy that changed the world.
Thank you, Tony and Ozzy, for giving us the music that became the foundation of heavy metal. 🖤🤘🔥
BLACK SABBATH FOREVER.
