Early next year, Black Sabbath will end their touring career. February 4th will be their last show in Birmingham, but before then, guitarist Tony Iommi, who is in remission from stage 3 lymphoma, will be having an operation to remove a tumor from his throat. Speaking to The Irish Times, he says he’s feeling ok, but:
I went for a check four weeks ago and the doctor said that at the moment there is no activity where I had the cancer before, but there is activity in the throat. When I get back to England, I have to have an operation to remove this thing at the back of my nose. The doctors found a lump there and we don’t know if it is cancer or what, but I feel OK at the moment.
The fact that he’s been sitting with this for a month seems to suggest that it’s not an emergency, and at least the cancer isn’t returning where it was. Here’s hoping that the operation is a success and the tumor isn’t cancerous. While the February show will mark their final tour, Iommi still isn’t shutting the door to potentially playing a one-off show or even recording another album. Speaking of a potential follow-up to 13, he says:
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.
And of playing future shows with Sabbath:
It is very sad that we are going to finish touring, but I hope that we will do something else. I’m not going to tour the world again, but it would be nice even if we did the occasional one-off show or an album.
Hopefully everyone in the band, especially Iommi, remains healthy enough for either of those to happen.
