Black Sabbath, the guitarist’s band, would perform at the same charity event as the singer, in 1985
In 1985, Madonna was one of the revelations of pop music. The singer had released two albums in the previous two years – 1983’s eponymous debut and like a virginfrom 1984 – and some of his songs, like “Holiday”, “Material Girl” It is “Like a Virgin”became hits inside and outside the United States, their country of origin.
Even so, as it was a relatively recent phenomenon at that time, there were those who did not know about it. It was the case of the guitarist Tony Iommi, who even expelled the singer from a rehearsal of his band, the black Sabbathfor the charity festival Live Aid.
The story was told by Iommi in 2020, during an interview with SiriusXM(via Ultimate Guitar). The British musician recalled that his band’s original lineup would practice for a reunion show, which would take place exclusively at the event. So, at the time of rehearsal, he was with Ozzy Osbourne (voice), Geezer Butler (down) and Bill Ward (battery).
“They booked a studio room for us to rehearse. We started playing and then we started talking about old times. So, most of the rehearsal was chatting. By the time we were actually playing, it was a closed session, and it was awkward when two girls came up from the back of the room.”
The constraint cited was because the Sabbath it wasn’t sounding good at the time. The members hadn’t played together for a long time and were still dealing with substance abuse. So what he needed most at that moment was rehearsal.
Madonna, one of the girls
As the musicians of black Sabbath didn’t want anyone to see the rehearsal, the two girls mentioned by Tony Iommi were asked to leave. Little did he know that one of them was Madonnaan artist who was also scheduled to perform at the Live Aid.
“I said to one of the people on our team: ‘look, there are people coming in, you need to tell them it’s a private rehearsal’. He went there and spoke to them. As it turned out, one of them was Madonna. It was a little embarrassing, but anyway, we rehearsed and went back to the hotel.”
In the end, the show wasn’t all that great – at least in Iommi’s opinion. The reason? They had too much to drink the night before and had to play the show during the day, in such heat.
“The night before the show we ended up at the bar and it was another disaster as we had a little too much to drink. The next day, of course, I had a terrible hangover. And we didn’t expect the show to be so soon, but of course we went there and played. I didn’t feel on top of the world at that time.”
Black Sabbath at Live Aid
Ozzy Osbourne, Tony Iommi, Geezer Butler It is Bill Ward played three songs at the reunion show of black Sabbath at the Live Aid: “Children of the Grave”, “Iron Man” and “Paranoid”. The presentation took place at the American edition of the event, in Philadelphia. On the same day and time, the English version took place in London.
Source: Rollingstone
Earl Johnson is a music writer at Gossipify, known for his in-depth analysis and unique perspective on the industry. A graduate of USC with a degree in Music, he brings years of experience and passion to his writing. He covers the latest releases and trends, always on the lookout for the next big thing in music.
