Get well Tony Iommi!

Today I was informed via a friend that Tony Iommi has been diagnosed with cancer. According to his www.Iommi.com, "Tony has been diagnosed with the early stages of lymphoma, his bandmates would like everyone to send positive vibes to the guitarist at this time. Iommi is currently working with his doctors to establish the best treatment plan--the “IRON MAN” of Rock & Roll remains upbeat and determined to make a full and successful recovery."

This is very sad news and believe me I am sending Tony all the positive vibes that I can right now and will continue to do so until he manages to slay this bloody cancer dragon that has already taken down one of metal's finest and bravest warriors, former Black Sabbath vocalist Ronnie James Dio. I am sure Ronnie was able to at least permanently injure the cancer dragon, thus hopefully giving Tony a slight edge towards a speedy recovery.

The fact that this comes as Ozzy, Tony, Geezer and Bill Ward are writing and recording their first album in 33 years makes this news all the more sad, but hopefully after beating the cancer and taking care of his own health first, he will be able to carry out the plans and even tour. However, the important thing is that the mans gets healthy first, everything else is secondary.

Here is a very unprofessional photo I took of Tony and Ozzy via a disposable camera at Ozzfest 1999

Now I am going to go put on some Sabbath and start sending those positive vibes Tony's way. For the record, last time I saw Black Sabbath was at Thunderbird Stadium in Vancouver BC, at Ozzfest on July 16, 1999. I almost did not go to that show due to some personal problems at the time, and as a long time Sabbath fan I was very stressed that I was probably going to miss the reunion with Ozzy, however, a friend stepped up and bought me a ticket. I still owe him for that one as it was a great show and Ozzy was in excellent form. Slayer also played on that bill and Black Sabbath is probably one of the few bands that can successfully follow a Slayer set. In fact, I once left a Judas Priest concert after about 5 songs because my energy was so high after a ferocious Slayer set that I could not handle late 80's Priest after being totally and absolutely Slayerized! I don't think I need to say that of course, I regret that decision now.  Anyway, Black Sabbath are one of the most important bands in the history of rock and roll period, and this is not debatable.

This was also probably the most expensive concert I attended up until that point in 1999. At the time $70.00 to see Sabbath and Slayer seemed like a lot of money, but in hindsight it seems pretty reasonable now, but I still miss paying between 5-25 bucks for a concert.