Metal Shock Finland (World Assault )

Source: Classic Rock Magazine

Tony Iommi is looking forward to feeling less tired when his cancer treatment schedule lightens shortly.

He’s been attending hospital on a regular basis since being diagnosed with lymphoma in 2012, which has placed restrictions on Black Sabbath’s touring schedule in support of award-winning album 13.

And although he’ll will need continuing medical attention, it will be less pressing when he no longer has to receive antibodies administered every six weeks.

Iommi says: “We’ve some good things lined up for the coming year, firstly the Grammys, then some dates in the US and Canada, and in the summer a quick trip round Europe.

“I should also be finishing my regular treatment and I’m hoping to not get so tired – all positive.”

Last year Iommi said his health could constrict Sabbath’s plans for the rest of their career, saying: “I can’t commit to doing another two years or anything like that. I have to play it as it comes now.”

In April he told how bandmate Ozzy Osbourne coerced him into seeking attention when he first felt ill. “Ozzy was the one who kept on at me to go to the doctors because he was concerned about me,” the guitarist said.

He admitted he’d “started writing himself off” after his diagnosis, explaining: “Cancer meant death to me. I would lie awake at night, thinking about selling this, getting rid of that, and preparing everything: who should speak at my funeral and where I’d want to be buried.

“But I also kept thinking ‘I’m not ready to go yet. I’ve got too much to do, and I like being here’.”