Watch Tony Iommi’s surprise ‘Black Sabbath Ballet’ performance in London
The Black Sabbath guitarist Tony Iommi joined the Black Sabbath Ballet on stage in London for a surprise performance at the end of the press night.
On October 22nd, the Birmingham Royal Ballet performed Black Sabbath – The Ballet at Sadler’s Wells in London. Iommi has had a hand in creating the ballet, which was first announced in 2023. Alongside Birmingham Royal Ballet director Carlos Acosta, Iommi helped envision a show that included eight of the band’s tracks plus some new music that had been inspired by the metal icons.
In celebration of his work on the show, Iommi played the iconic guitar solo in the hit song ‘Paranoid’ as part of the closing number.
It just so happened that another musical icon was in the building. Iommi’s friend and fellow guitarist Brian May of Queen shared clips of the display on Instagram, writing, “Wow! The true Father of Heavy Metal making that beautiful axe sing like a bird tonight at Sadlers Wells.”
He added, “Tony Iommi plus a 40 piece orchestra and a cast of 50 dancers – putting the icing on the cake of a great production of Black Sabbath the Ballet. Proud to call this infinitely modest and generous genius my friend.”
In 2023, Iommi admitted the ballet was “a strange combination, but you’ve got to push the boat out. And, you know, hopefully, we can get everybody together.”
The ballet will run for a few more dates in London before pirouetting up the country to Edinburgh Festival Theatre from October 30th.
Elsewhere, Iommi has shared kind words towards his friend and former Black Sabbath frontman, Ozzy Osbourne, after his passing on July 22nd. Less than three weeks before, the band threw the spectacular Black Sabbath farewell show in Birmingham, titled Back to the Beginning.
Despite grieving deeply for his good friend, Iommi is still happy that Black Sabbath performed again for a final time: “I’m really glad we did it, ’cause it was a final thing for everybody,” he shared. “And I think if we hadn’t done it, people couldn’t have seen the band and Ozzy. It would’ve been a shame. But they’ve got a chance to see us all and see Ozz for the last time in that situation.”
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