Black Sabbath star: I've seen a ghost

Jun 7 2009 by Lorne Jackson, Sunday Mercury

PERHAPS the name of the band is at fault, with its hellish hints of demonic rituals.

Whatever the reason, Black Sabbath have always been viewed as a group capable of sneaking up on the supernatural.

Now Tony Iommi, the lead guitarist with the Brummie rockers, has admitted that it’s all true – he has seen a ghost. And he wasn’t alone when it happened.

However, being a rock god ravaged by time and the trauma of hard-living, it’s not surprising that he remembers the ghost, but not who he was with at the time.

Though the 61-year-old does recall it being a fellow band member – either lead singer and future reality TV star Ozzy Osbourne or rhythm guitarist Terry “Geezer” Butler.

Back in the early 70s, the group were holed-up in Clearwell Castle, in the Forest Of Dean, to take part in a writing session for a new album, which would eventually be released as Sabbath Bloody Sabbath, in 1973.