Tony Iommi is expected to share the first real details of his long-gestating solo album — his first in more than 20 years — during a YouTube livestream on Wednesday, July 29.
The broadcast is scheduled for 7:30 a.m. PDT / 10:30 a.m. EDT / 3:30 p.m. BST. Ahead of it, Iommi has posted a short teaser to social media: a close-up clip of him playing a riff, stamped with Wednesday’s date, with a countdown running on the livestream.
The album will be Iommi‘s third solo release, and the wait for it has been long. His debut, Iommi, came out in 2000, followed by Fused in 2005. A new one would end a solo drought of more than two decades.
Iommi has been trailing the project for a while. In a New Year’s message posted at the end of 2025, he committed to a 2026 release:
“In 2026, I shall definitely, definitely have my solo album out. And I’m really looking forward to that. I’m enjoying doing it, and it’s been great fun, and I really hope you enjoy it.'”
“But I’ll keep you more up to date as we go on, what’s happening with that and when it’s gonna be released. In the meantime, very happy new year and take care. All the best.”
Back in July 2025, on SiriusXM‘s “Trunk Nation With Eddie Trunk“, Iommi explained why the record had stalled — it was set aside so he could prepare for Black Sabbath‘s farewell:
“ I was doing my own album until [the ‘Back To The Beginning‘ event] came up, and then, of course, I had to stop and concentrate on [preparing for] the Sabbath [performance]. But I’m continuing on trying to finish off what I started with this album. And then who knows what I’m gonna do then? It’s great, really, ’cause if something pops up, I’ll do it, if I want to do it. So it’s a good thing.”
That “Back To The Beginning” show, on July 5, 2025 in Birmingham, turned out to be Black Sabbath‘s final performance and the last time Iommi shared a stage with Ozzy Osbourne, who died just over two weeks later.
Iommi also indicated the new album takes a very different shape from his star-studded 2000 debut, which featured a rotating cast of vocalists including Dave Grohl, Billy Idol, Brian May and Ozzy himself. Asked whether the new one follows that guest-heavy model, he said it does not:
“At the moment, no. I’ve got one singer on it at the moment, which I originally thought of different singers. But it started off as it’s gonna be an instrumental album, and it’s gone from I’ve got some instrumental stuff, but then I thought, ‘Oh, I wanna try it with a singer.’ And so that’s what I’ve been doing.”
Iommi has hardly been quiet in the years between solo albums. In 2024 he released the instrumental “Deified“, tied to a fragrance of the same name, reuniting with longtime collaborator Mike Exeter on keyboards and production, with Laurence Cottle, who played on Black Sabbath‘s Headless Cross, on bass, Feeder and Robbie Williams drummer Karl Brazil behind the kit, and Ben Andrews handling orchestration.
Three years before that he unveiled “Scent Of Dark“, then his first new music in eight years, again paired with a cologne. More recently, he guested on a Robbie Williams single released in May 2025.
Fans will learn what’s next when the livestream goes live on Wednesday.
