Quotes by Tony Iommi

I was mostly surprised by the rap artists, actually, that were influenced by Sabbath. That was a surprise. But it's very nice and I'm very honored. It's nice to know after 27 years now that what I said in the first place has stuck, and that was the belief in it.

In the past, I'd sort of know before Ozzy sang something, what he was going to sing. I'd know what sort of way a melody was going to go 'cause of the way he'd approach it.

Like most things that happen with Sabbath, it happened all of a sudden. I was intending on doing some recording, but out of the blue, Sharon called up and said she wanted us to do these gigs with Ozzy. I said that if everybody else was up to it then I would love to do it.

My early influences were the Shadows, who were an English instrumental band. They basically got me into playing and later on I got into blues and jazz players. I liked Clapton when he was with John Mayall. I really liked that period.

We found in a lot of blues clubs that everybody's talking away so they're drowning you out. So we'd just turn up. We basically turned it up louder and louder and came up with this sort've Sabbath thing. It just sort of happened.

We got fed up with, as soon as you mentioned Sabbath, the gloom and doom. I just wanted a lighter side of it to be looked on.

Well, I think it's kind of good to step out of the Sabbath banner, you know, and not go under the name of Black Sabbath or whatever.