Last month, metal guitar legend Tony Iommi said he turned down Andrew Watt’s offer to make one last Black Sabbath album with the original lineup. Watt himself, however, has just spun a very different story on the matter, and why plans for a 20th Sabbath album never got off the ground.
Watt first made his name working with pop artists before working with giants of rock and metal, from being a key player in Ozzy Osbourne’s late-career purple patch to Pearl Jam and the Rolling Stones. Through his closeness with the Prince of Darkness, the idea of making one last Black Sabbath record with the original lineup – Bill Ward having been absent from 2013’s 13 – was floated.
The young producer was desperate to get the band back together. Iommi, citing Watt’s pushiness and lack of understanding of how the original lineup operates, rejected the offer.
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However, in a new interview with Lipps Service/Spin, Watt blames the botched plans on other circumstances, and insinuates Iommi was onboard.
“We had made these two Ozzy albums, and Ozzy wanted to make another album,” Watt says. “He didn’t want to do exactly the same thing that we had done before, so he was into the idea of doing a Sabbath album.
“Sharon and him said I had to call and talk to each guy and see if they were into it,” he continues. “So I called Tony, talked to him, and he said he was into it as long as Bill [Ward, drums] was there. That was everyone’s thing. Ozzy was like, ‘If Bill does it, we’ll do it.’”
Bass player Geezer Butler – who has just made a guest appearance on the new Mastodon record – is said to have felt the same. So all Watt had to do, he says, was convince the drummer to pick up his sticks and play.
“I had this 40-minute call with Bill, which was one of the weirdest and funniest phone calls ever,” Watt details. “Long story short, it ended up that Bill wasn’t able to do it for a multitude of different reasons, so that’s why that didn’t happen. But the other guys were all into doing it.”
It doesn’t take a detective to spot the big difference between the two stories, so it’s anyone’s guess which tale is closer to the truth.
What is apparent, however is that Iommi has a new solo album – and band – to focus on in 2026.
