BLACK SABBATH guitarist Tony Iommi has successfully undergone an operation to remove a noncancerous lump from his throat.
Back in December, Tony revealed in an interview that doctors discovered new activity in his throat and they were unsure whether the lump was cancerous until he went under the knife.
Speaking to Wyatt of the U.K. rock radio Planet Rock to promote the choral arrangement he has penned for Birmingham Cathedral, Tony said he received the ultimate gift when he was told on Christmas Day that the lump wasn’t cancerous.
“Well, I had the treatment when I got back from [touring] South America [with BLACK SABBATH],” Iommi said (hear audio below). “I went in for the throat [operation]. They found a lump at the back of my sinus, in the throat, and we had to have it checked in case it may have been cancerous. But it turns out it wasn’t, which I found out Christmas Day, which is brilliant. So far [I’m all good]. I daren’t say that. I’ll probably fall down the stairs now. [Laughs]”
Iommi told The Irish Times last month that his late 2011 early-stage lymphoma diagnosis changed his perspective on life. “I was knocked for six when the doctors told me that it was stage III cancer,” he said. “It really did change my life as far as what I have to do now. I have to live what life I’ve got because I have been on the road nearly fifty years. I need to be at home more and I need to pay more attention to my friends and family.”
Iommi went on to say that “the lowest moment” for him was being diagnosed. He explained: “You automatically wind yourself up saying, ‘That’s it then,’ but that is not always the case. When they tell you, you think, ‘Oh God.’ That was a low time. I have had a few low times in my life like everybody has, but that was one that stuck in the head.
BLACK SABBATH will bring its storied career to a close in its native England, with seven shows booked there in January and February. The last two, on February 2 and February 4, will take place in SABBATH‘s hometown of Birmingham and will likely be their final shows.
Pressed on where there is a possibility of a new album, Iommi said: “We haven’t talked about it. This is my view thinking it would be nice. At the moment, I think there is a call for a bit of time off, really. I think anything is possible. It is down to how everyone feels and if people want to do it.”
Iommi recently told Ultimate Classic Rock that he plans to stay busy with music even after SABBATH plays its final shows. He said, “I’m not going to leave the music business. I still want to write and play and I’ll be doing some TV for something over here in England called ‘Guitar Star’. But I love the playing, I love gigs, I just can’t travel anymore.”
SABBATH played the last U.S. shows of its career two months ago, on November 8 in Tulsa, Oklahoma, November 10 in Houston, Texas and November 12 in San Antonio.
Blabbermouth
