Black Sabbath announce comeback gig

Black Sabbath are set to take the stage in Birmingham, UK for their first show since 2005 in an event heralded as a ‘comeback gig’.

Heavy metal band Black Sabbath are set to perform a headline concert during the summer of 2012, according to the New Musical Express. The event will be in Birmingham, UK where the band will headline the Download Festival on June 10. After the comeback concert the band will begin a world tour, and are rumored to be working on their first new studio record in 33 years. Birmingham has been selected as it was the town, according to Rolling Stone, in which the group was formed. According to band’s Facebook site, three of the original line-up will feature in the concert: Ozzy Osbourne (whose wife Sharon was in the audience), guitarist Tony Iommi and bassist Geezer Butler. It will be an emotional gig for Iommi, who is, as the Digital Journal has previously reported, battling cancer. Drummer Bill Ward, who has fallen out with the other members, will not be taking part. In a statement, Ward has said that he was offered the chance to play just three songs with the band at Download. He wrote: "I was not willing to participate in that offer. I was not prepared to watch another drummer play a Sabbath set, while I was to play only three songs." Black Sabbath are an English rock band, founded in 1969 by Ozzy Osbourne (lead vocals), Tony Iommi (guitar), Geezer Butler (bass guitar), and Bill Ward (drums). Black Sabbath are cited as pioneers of heavy metal. The band’s best-selling global album was “Paranoid”, released in 1970. Their highest charting US album was 1971’s “Master of Reality”. Their last release of original material was “Forbidden” (1995).