Tony Iommi Turns Down Final Black Sabbath Album

Tony Iommi has revealed he declined an offer to make a final Black Sabbath album with Ozzy Osbourne, Geezer Butler and Bill Ward — a move that closes the door on one more full reunion at the band’s classic peak. The comment comes as Iommi promotes his new solo LP From The Dark, due October 23, 2026 via BMG.

A producer close to Ozzy Osbourne approached Iommi in the early 2020s about reassembling the original quartet, Iommi told Classic Rock, as reported by LouderSound. The producer was Andrew Watt, who produced Osbourne’s recent solo records, and Iommi said Watt was enthusiastic — "He was very keen and a bit too excited."

Iommi told the magazine that Watt didn’t fully grasp how recording with the original Sabbath could play out, and that after making 13 he wasn’t comfortable with the idea of another full-band album. Those comments frame why a fresh, final studio statement from the original lineup never materialised.

The rehearsal and recording history is part of the context: drummer Bill Ward was originally slated for the 2013 reunion record 13, but withdrew over a contractual dispute and Rage Against the Machine/Audioslave drummer Brad Wilk played on the release instead, a detail noted in the recent coverage of Iommi’s interview.

Black Sabbath completed their year‑long The End tour in early 2017; aside from the reunion LP the band later issued an EP of unreleased studio tracks and live cuts from the reunion era. Those moves, and Iommi’s decision not to re‑commit to a full reunion album, help explain why no final-sweep studio record arrived.

Iommi’s interview is available in the new issue of Classic Rock, and more on the Watt approach and Iommi’s reasoning was summarised by LouderSound. Fans will find that Iommi, while protective of Sabbath’s legacy, is channeling focus into his solo work this autumn.