Black Sabbath Reunion Tour Kicks Off Promoting New Album '13'

Black Sabbath, the band helmed by Ozzy Osbourne, released the reunion album "13" last month and is kicking off their North American reunion tour July 25.

In 2010, Osbourne said that he didn’t think the band would ever come back together for a reunion. "I'm not gonna say I've written [a reunion] out forever, but right now I don't think there is any chance,” Osbourne said. “But who knows what the future holds for me? If it's my destiny, fine."

When asked about their new album, Geezer Butler explained it bears similarities to their old work. “It’s got the same feeling, same kind of spirit as the first few Sabbath albums,” Butler said. “But it’s obviously done this year, so contemporary as well.”

Black Sabbath’s reunion – "13" is the first album they’ve released with Osbourne on lead vocals in nearly 35 years – hasn't come along easily. “When Tony [Iommi] came down with the diagnosis of lymphoma, I thought: ‘No, this is not happening; not really,’” Osbourne told DC101. “I mean, we had been keeping everybody waiting for like 35 years or so for another album. Every time we got down to writing, or trying to write something would happen."

However, despite being treated for lymphoma, Iommi put his all into the album. “Tony was in treatment, but he came down and he never missed one session. I suppose working for him was kind of like therapy, in a way for him.” Additionally, the band moved forward without their original drummer, Bill Ward.

Despite moving forward with a different drummer, Brad Wilk of Rage Against The Machine, Osbourne believes that the band’s chemistry is still there. “We’re all pros, so it’s like getting back with the guys, just like, never-ending,” Osbourne said. Iommi agreed, saying that he believed the chemistry was better this time around. “We had a lot more stuff ready to go,” he said. “We had a lot of ideas, where in the early days we were writing just enough stuff for the album. This time we wrote more than enough.” He added that the group had a fun time working together again.

"13" is Black Sabbath’s first album to top the Billboard Top 200. Osbourne joked that he can now die happy because of it. “After 45 years it's kind of a hard thing to swallow. It's great,” Osbourne said. “This album has been received really well all over the world. I know I can now rest my head and die a happy man."

Black Sabbath’s North American tour will go from July 25—September 3. On October 4, they will tour South and Central America until October 26, and then move to their European tour, which will go on through December 22.