The members of Black Sabbath reflected on 50 years of rocking while talking about wrapping up their farewell tour and calling it a day.
Tony Iommi told Rolling Stone:
“When I think of all the things we’ve done, whether good or bad, I think there’s a reason for everything.
“I think if you change anything, it wouldn’t be what it is today. There’s things you regret, like the legal stuff, and the drugs and everything, but without that we might not be what we are today.”
Geezer Butler chimed in:
“You can’t regret anything, because we all live great lives.
“If we had been millionaires in 1971, we would have probably killed ourselves; we would have probably bought a million dollars’ worth of her*in.
“So you have to think of it like that. The drugs were what they were. They helped us.
“It was like four blokes going to the pub, but instead of going to the pub and having a good laugh, we were in a big mansion having a laugh with a lot of dope and groupies.
“The only regrets I have would be financially in the early ’70s; I would have gotten a lawyer and an accountant. But that’s fate.”
Ozzy added:
“What I was really proud of was we were four guys from a place called Aston, Birmingham, and it opened the doors to the best f*cking gig that anyone could ever have.
“And to boot, sitting here nearly 50 years later, we’re looked at as one of the icons of our time.
“I have a problem getting my head around that. It sometimes seems like my time with Sabbath was longer than my time on my own. As I get older, time gets faster for some reason.
“The saddest thing was it didn’t work out with Bill Ward. I would have loved that, but hey, it’s done now.
“I could remember sitting in a van going to London from Birmingham with the rest of the guys, and then after 49 years, back in Birmingham, with the band.
“What a f*cking journey, man.”