Black Sabbath guitarist Tony Iommi has announced that he is preparing to record a new solo album.
The musician shared this news during the almost eight-minute video “New Year’s Message” on his official YouTube account on January 1 (see below).
“It’s been a good year for me, 2022, in places anyway,” Iommi said (via Blabbermouth). “I wrote and recorded. I have built a new studio, which I am very happy about. Well, actually, the studio is built and almost ready to work; I’m just waiting for the equipment.
“Because of the war [in Ukraine], some parts kind of stopped. But we’re almost there. In another couple of weeks, I think I’ll be ready to get to work, which I’m really looking forward to — recording another album.”
In addition, Iommi once again confirmed that Tony Martin-era Black Sabbath albums will be re-released in 2023.
“Of course, we will have a Tony Martin box set, as well as Cozy Powell and Neil Murray,” he explained. “And I’m looking forward to it because a lot of people have asked about it and it’s great. They wanted to see when it would come out, when it would come out. And we’ve done them consistently, actually, with these albums. You can’t just put it all together; it has to come out at the [right] time.
“So we released all the original Sabbath stuff, the box sets, and then we have the Ronnie [James Dio] stuff. And then the next thing will be Tony Martin, and then my solo stuff.”
Iommi continued, “So he’s going to be busy again. But it’s great. And it’s nice to give interviews and talk about what we’ve done and everything else.”
At the end of last year, Ozzy Osbourne said that he would be happy to work with Iommi again, but not on any new Black Sabbath music.
Iommi participated in Osborne’s latest solo album, Patient Number 9, which was released in September 2021. Last summer, the pair reunited on stage to perform Sabbath’s classic single “Paranoid” at the closing ceremony of the Commonwealth Games in Birmingham.
