The Day Tony Iommi Set Bill Ward on Fire

If you were in a band with Ozzy Osbourne, it’s a safe assumption that you had your share of wild times.

That’s certainly true for Black Sabbath guitar legend Tony Iommi. But as we learned speaking with him about his upcoming solo album, From the Dark (which will be released Oct. 23), it was Sabbath drummer Bill Ward who was frequently a target for their mischief.

“Bill, if you didn’t do anything to him, he’d always come up and go, ‘Is everything all right?’ And you go, ‘Yeah, why?’ ‘Well, nobody’s done anything to me today,'” the guitarist recalls with a laugh, during an interview for the UCR Podcast you can listen to below.

The Day That Tony Iommi Set Bill Ward on Fire

One of the most notorious incidents happened when Iommi decided to light Ward on fire. Yes, you just read that sentence correctly. It happened while Sabbath were in the midst of working on 1980’s Heaven and Hell album, their first outing with Ronnie James Dio at the helm.

“We used to have this party piece, Bill and I, where we’d [get] the rubbing alcohol in the studio,” he explains. “You could put it on you and light it and it would just burn off. You know, you wouldn’t feel it.”

Listen to Tony Iommi on the ‘UCR Podcast’

“So we were using Martin Birch, the new producer [and he] didn’t know us, really. Of course, the first time he was in the studio, Bill and I planned to do this trick, where I’d put the liquid on Bill and light him, and it should have burnt off,” he continues. “But I put too much on him. I poured it on him, and lit him, and he went woof, like that, like a bomb.”

“He’s rolling on the floor and I’m still pouring this liquid on him, thinking it was part of the joke. Of course, Martin Birch is freaking out, Bill’s shouting and screaming and I thought, ‘Oh, it’s part of the joke, and God, it wasn’t,” the guitarist remembers. “I found out afterwards that  he got third degree burns on his legs and he had to go to hospital. We [never did] it again after that.”

What to Expect From Tony Iommi’s Upcoming Solo Album

Naturally, the guitar icon is on better behavior these days. From the Dark, which was officially announced earlier this summer, finds him collaborating with vocalist Jorn Lande, who previously played with Iommi and his Sabbath bandmates when they honored Dio following his passing.

The pair wrote the bulk of the material for the album together, including the first single, “World Alone.” Bassist Becky Baldwin (Mercyful Fate) and drummer Karl Brazil worked with Iommi and Lande to record the songs. The results form the Black Sabbath cofounder’s first solo release in 21 years, which also features a guest appearance by Queen guitarist and longtime friend, Brian May.

“The great thing for me, there was no pressure. I didn’t have to have it done in four weeks,” he tells us. “Normally, when we’ve done a Sabbath album, it has to be a certain time because you book the studio and then you’ve got the tour and this and that.”

“But there’s no pressure here. I could do it when I wanted, which was great, and it was more relaxing,” he shares. “We really enjoyed doing it. It was good fun, and that’s what it’s all about: is to enjoy what you’re doing, and you don’t have to do it. So that’s what I did.”

Watch Tony Iommi’s ‘World Alone’ Video