Black Sabbath Guitarist Tony Iommi’s Cancer in Remission
Black Sabbath guitarist Tony Iommi‘s cancer is in remission. The metal legend revealed the good news during a plaque-unveiling at Spire Parkway Hospital’s Specialist Care Centre in Solihull, England, where he’d been receiving treatment for lymphoma. “I am in remission, and hopefully this situation will continue,” he told The Birmingham Mail. “I came back to hospital straight after [Black Sabbath] finished a round of European tour dates, and the good news is that everything is all right up to this point.”
Iommi said he’s aware the cancer could return one day, though it appears chemotherapy and follow-up treatment “have done the trick.”
“I have a blood test every six weeks at my GP’s, and I come in here at regular intervals for check-ups,” he explained. “That’s something that I’ll have to live with for the rest of my life, looking for any warning signs that it might be rearing its ugly head again.”
The 68-year-old was diagnosed with lymphoma in 2012, months before Black Sabbath started recording their comeback LP, 13. In a candid 2015 interview with Mirror, he admitted, “The surgeon told me he doesn’t expect the cancer to go away. So, I look at life differently now. I could be here another 10 years or just one year — I don’t know.”
Black Sabbath’s globe-spanning final tour, The End, will return to North America on August 27th before hitting South America and the U.K. The band will play their final show February 4th in their hometown of Birmingham, England.