Black Sabbath’s Tony Iommi Recalls Their Van Halen Tour: “We Took Them On Their First Big Tour”
In a new appearance on Guitar World, Tony Iommi, known as one of the four founding members of the English heavy metal band Black Sabbath, looked back on their “1978 Never Say Die! Tour,” which include Van Halen, and took his fans back.
When the interviewer asked, “Did anybody else turn you on later? People like Yngwie Malmsteen or Van Halen?”, Tony Iommi replied:
“Van Halen, yes. We took Van Halen on their first big tour. They were with us for eight months. Eddie was playing things I’d never seen before.
“We’re still friends and we became friends then. Of course, he set off a whole new load of players playing like that, and now I can’t believe some of them. I can’t follow it. I certainly couldn’t do it.”
While he spoke about those days in any interview, Van Halen singer Eddie Van Halen to described those days by saying that it was incredible that 23 shows in 25 days, and that to meet with Tony Iommi.
The tour kicked off in Sheffield on May 16, 1978, and concluded in Albuquerque on December 11, 1978.
