Ozzy , Tony Iommi, Geezer Butler and Bill Ward have begun rehearsing for a tour and new studio album.
In June this year vocalist Ozzy and guitarist Iommi wrote new material for a record that will be released next year.
‘‘We’re really looking forward to it and I think the stuff we’ve been writing is really good,’’ said 63-year-old Iommi. ‘‘It’s more back to the old original stuff.’’
He added that the reunion has been kept under wraps for some time.
‘‘It’s all been very hush-hush. Ozzy’s been the worst at trying to hold it back. He’s doing a lot of TV and he’s being asked stuff about a reunion and he’s going ‘well I never say never’.
‘‘He told me, ‘I don’t know what to say’.’’
Iommi's last version of Black Sabbath, called HEAVEN & HELL, came to an end when singer Ronnie James Dio died in May 2010.
‘‘I had umpteen number of people on the phone asking if I fancied getting together with a band but I couldn’t tell them what I was doing. I just had to say I was busy.’’