Yesterday, Black Sabbath announced that they were canceling their “farewell” performance at Ozzfest Japan this year. Instead of Sabbath closing down the show, Ozzy Osbourne will be taking the stage to perform his solo act.

The cancellation of the gig, plus the fact that Osbourne himself was not the reason for the nixed show, led some to speculate that Black Sabbath guitarist Tony Iommi may have suffered a setback in his battle with lymphoma, but the metal legend squashed those rumors with a post on his official website.

“Thank you for all the enquiries about my health, very kind,” wrote Iommi. “I’m not sure how the rumour of my being unwell started as I was away on holiday! Once you’ve had something like lymphoma the fear that it will return never leaves, all I can say is that right now I’m fine and have regular blood tests.”

That is certainly great news, but does not shed any light on why Sabbath’s upcoming gig was axed. There was already some confusion surrounding the date, as fans did not know what the “farewell” label attributed to the gig meant. Would this gig be the band’s last show in Japan? Their last ever? Or something else? The “farewell” label began after Sharon Osbourne used the phrase in a promo for the gig. Watch it here.

Cancellations are in the air of late, as a few weeks ago it was announced that the first ever Ozzfiesta would be canceled so that Ozzy Osbourne could undergo surgery of some kind in May. The event was set to take place from May 27-31 in Riviera Maya, Mexico. Fans are still unclear as to what surgery entails.
Loudwire