Tony Iommi reveals surprising details regarding his Iommi 2000 album

Heavy metal originator Tony Iommi sat down with Ryan J. Downey at the Musicians Institute on 23 October 2017, to discuss his personal history from his upbringing and early influences through the end of Black Sabbath and his current ambitions. When it came time to discuss his first solo record, 2000's Iommi, and its wealth of guest contributors, the guitarist revealed a surprising request that came through.

For those familiar with the album, you already know that the litany of rockers includes Dave Grohl, Henry Rollins, Philip Anselmo, Billy Corgan, Brian May, Serj Tankian... the list goes on. On Black Sabbath's Forbidden, we were treated to the rap / metal hybrid as Ice-T was featured on the opening track "Illusion of Power"... but how would Iommi's riffs have sounded with Eminem over them? We'll never know, but it was within the realm of possibility as the rapper attempted to secure a coveted guest spot on the Iommi record.

Unfortunately for Eminem, Iommi was wholly unaware of the rapper when the request came through and, as we know today, the Detroit legend never made his way onto the guitarist's debut solo record. As it turns out, another Detroit icon, Kid Rock, was slated to appear on the album, but his track did not make the final cut.

It was also revealed that Dave Grohl was only supposed to contribute vocals to one track, "Goodbye Lament," but begged to play drums. Iommi informed Grohl that he was using Matt Cameron as the drummer for the album, but he was eventually booted from that one track to allow Grohl to sit behind the kit for his joint efforts.

Loudwire.com, 24 October 2017