In a new interview with The Irish Times, Black Sabbath guitar legend Tony Iommi provides an update on his health, his Birmingham roots, the status of Bill Ward and whether The End tour is truly the end.

Here are a few excerpts from the chat:

The Irish Times: How is your health at the moment Tony?

Iommi: “I went for a check four weeks ago and the doctor said that at the moment there is no activity where I had the cancer before, but there is activity in the throat. When I get back to England, I have to have an operation to remove this thing at the back of my nose. The doctors found a lump there and we don’t know if it is cancer or what, but I feel OK at the moment.”

The Irish Times: Do you know why Bill decided not to tour with you?

Iommi: “It just got silly. He got into a legal battle somewhere with the management and Bill pulled out and he did not come back. It was very difficult. I don’t exactly know what was going on in everybody’s mind at the time, because we started all together, but then it got too involved. I don’t know what Bill thought. It just didn’t happen in the end. Also, we were also concerned about how Bill was going to play and how he was going to handle things. He had a heart attack and then he had stents put in. It was a difficult time, and then, of course, I came down as ill. It was almost falling apart and we pulled it back together. Bill made his choice not to do it and that was it.”

The Irish Times: So is there a possibility of a new album?

Iommi: “We haven’t talked about it. This is my view thinking it would be nice. At the moment, I think there is a call for a bit of time off really. I think anything is possible. It is down to how everyone feels and if people want to do it.”

The Irish Times: You have called this tour The End. Is this it?

Iommi: “It is the end as certainly as far as touring is concerned. I hate to sound so definite, but I have to look at it that way now. We’re not getting any younger. It is difficult touring now. We travel the best way we can travel. We have our own plane, we have great hotels. On the stage, it is fantastic. The days off are boring because you are stuck in a hotel. We don’t socialise like we used to do years ago and go down the bar and drink because everybody is a recovering alcoholic. I’m the only one who still drinks. It is just different now. Everybody has their own space. When you are doing tours, you are on constant alert even when you have a month off. It takes me two weeks to wind down and then I start building up again. If you let it go, it would be more creative in the end. If we didn’t have any kind of schedule, you could just leave your mind to be a bit freer.”

Check out the entire interview at The Irish Times.