The “embarrassing” night Tony Iommi ejected Madonna from Black Sabbath rehearsals
The mid-1980s was a strange time for Black Sabbath. Since original frontman Ozzy Osbourne’s departure in 1977, the group had a revolving cast of characters, including vocalist Ronnie James Dio, who entered the fold and then left not long after. Even the legendary rhythm section of Geezer Butler and Bill Ward headed for the door. The beast continued pushing on, but it seemed like the inevitable was nigh during this era.
After the release of 1983’s Born Again – the group’s sole album to feature former Deep Purple vocalist and fellow metal pioneer Ian Gillan – proceedings stalled for the group. The world had all but moved on beyond their era, with a new breed of metal acts, who ironically cited the Brummies as heroes, began pushing them out of the picture. Accordingly, the founding members, who were verging on their 40s, were grappling with the fact that they were not all the rage anymore, as they concurrently dealt with personal issues primarily concerning excess. This meant that after Butler and Ward departed, guitarist Tony Iommi put Sabbath on hold and instead began creating a solo effort with the group’s keyboardist, Geoff Nicholls.
However, due to pressure from the record label, Iommi’s solo effort became Sabbath’s ensuing album, 1986’s Seventh Star. It featured an entirely new cast and was their first without Butler, making the guitarist the only remaining original member. Naturally, it remains a divisive number due to its marked shift in sound, and when released, it was a reminder of the undisputed power of the classic lineup. Even Ward would later state: “What I saw was a great band I just felt was diminishing.”
Interestingly, though, the world would glimpse the original Sabbath lineup during this epoch when they played at Bob Geldof’s global charity bonanza, Live Aid, in 1985. While it was a historic moment, it also displayed why the original four horsemen of the apocalypse weren’t quite ready to be together once more. The group played the Philadelphia show on July 13th, but according to each member, they were all drunk. In a reflection of the state of play, Butler would recall that they’d all gotten inebriated separately. They were four flapping sheets to the wind.
Years after the show, Iommi recalled that another disaster occurred in the run-up to the performance. He revealed all of this when speaking to SiriusXM about the 35th anniversary of the event. “It was a bit of a disaster, really, to be honest. They had a room booked for us to rehearse. We started rehearsing, and then we started talking about the old times, so most of the rehearsal was talking,” he started.
The time the band did rehearse, it was a closed session. However, Iommi described it as “embarrassing, really”. When he saw two girls enter the back of the room, he instructed one of the crew members to get them out of the private space. One of the girls turned out to be rising pop star Madonna, who had released her number one second album, Like a Virgin, the previous year.
Iommi added: “Anyway, he goes up and tells them and it turns out to be Madonna. So it’s a bit embarrassing. But anyway, we had the rehearsal and then went back to the hotel.”
This personal embarrassment was a sign of things to come. It’s safe to say Madonna’s performance at Live Aid was much more resounding than Sabbath’s. Listen to Iommi discuss the Madonna incident below.
