EXCLUSIVE: Why Black Sabbath's 'Lost' Final Album Was Never Recorded

Tony Iommi has revealed why Black Sabbath's "lost" final album never happened, after turning down the chance to reunite the band's original lineup in the studio one last time before Ozzy Osbourne's death.

RadarOnline.com can reveal the guitarist, 78, said producer Andrew Watt had been eager to record Iommi, Osbourne, bassist Geezer Butler, and drummer Bill Ward together again.

Watt had already worked with Osbourne on his final solo albums, Ordinary Man and Patient Number 9, but his hopes of producing another Sabbath record ultimately came to nothing.

A music industry source claimed to : "There was a genuine desire to see whether the original four members of Sabbath could make music together one final time. Andrew had worked closely with Ozzy and naturally saw how special another record could have been, particularly if Tony, Geezer and Bill were all involved.

"But Tony's feeling was that Sabbath had already made its final studio statement. 13 had been presented as the comeback album, and effectively the closing chapter, so simply going back into a studio and making another record for the sake of having one more release didn't appeal to him."

"The idea was incredibly exciting on paper – the original Black Sabbath making one last album while all four men were still here," the insider claimed. "But Tony knew better than anybody that getting those personalities into a room and recreating the chemistry of the original band was far more complicated than simply booking a studio."

They continued, "Andrew's enthusiasm was understandable because for any producer it would have been an extraordinary project.

"But Tony had lived through every incarnation of Sabbath and knew exactly what making a record with that original line-up involved. He wasn't going to agree to it purely because other people loved the idea.

"Looking back after Ozzy's death inevitably gives the album-that-never-was an added poignancy. Nobody knew how little time remained. What they did manage to achieve was getting all four original members together for that final performance, which ultimately became their goodbye."

Speaking to Classic Rock magazine, Iommi said about the failed project: "I'd met Andrew Watt when he was producing Ozzy. He was very keen and a bit too excited."

Iommi added the producer had not experienced the particular dynamic of working with Sabbath's original lineup – including Ward – and questioned the point of recording another album after the band had already delivered what was intended to be its farewell studio statement.

He said: "(Watt) also didn't know what it was like working with the original Sabbath, working with Bill. Also, we'd done 13, and I didn't like the idea of, 'Now here's another album.'"

13, released in 2013, became Black Sabbath's 19th and final studio album, although Ward did not perform on the record.

The original quartet would eventually reunite – not in the recording studio, but on stage.

Iommi, Osbourne, Butler and Ward appeared together at Back to the Beginning, the band's farewell benefit concert at Villa Park in Aston, Birmingham, in July 2025.

It became their final performance together. Osbourne died 17 days later at the age of 76.

Iommi has since revealed he spoke to his longtime friend the night before his death.

During an appearance on the Loudwire Nights podcast, Iommi revealed: "I spoke to him the night before he passed. He said to me: 'I really feel tired and really worn out.'

"I said: 'Well, you're bound to really, it's been a lot of stress and pressure and stuff like that.' And the next thing, the next day, (he's) gone."

Reflecting on Osbourne's death, he added: "It still feels like he's there."