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Tony Iommi has\u00a0<\/a>explained why his old friend Brian May<\/a> appears on the Black Sabbath<\/a> guitarist\u2019s new solo album, and why longtime colleague Geezer Butler<\/a> didn\u2019t.<\/p>\n Iommi also discussed how he came to work with the musicians who make up the band as heard on From the Dark<\/em><\/a>, which is released on Oct. 23.<\/p>\n Asked if he\u2019d wanted bassist Butler to be part of the record, Iommi told Rolling Stone<\/em><\/a>: \u201cI wanted him\u2026 but he couldn\u2019t do it. He\u2019s doing his own album, I think. Or at the time, something happened there, so he couldn\u2019t come to England.\u201d<\/p>\n READ MORE:<\/strong> When Tony Iommi and Brian May Kept Jamming, So Black Sabbath Left<\/a><\/p>\n He said he decided not to wait for another opportunity because \u201cI wanted to get it done and finally get it out.\u201d He added of his bassist, Becky Baldwin: \u201cBecky lives in Birmingham and she\u2019s a really good player. And she\u2019s certainly a fan of Geezer and she plays in Geezer\u2019s style. And that\u2019s what I wanted. \u2026 I thought, \u2018Let\u2019s give it a try.\u2019 And she was good.\u201d<\/p>\n Drummer Karl Brazil is also Robbie Williams\u2019 drummer and musical director \u2013 but he and Iommi met by accident rather than though the industry.<\/p>\n \u201cI\u2019ve got a house by the beach,\u201d the guitarist explained. \u201cI was walking along the perimeter of the beach,and this guy come up to me and said, \u2018Oh, Tony, hello.\u2019 And I thought, \u2018He\u2019s just a fan\u2019 [until] he said, \u2018We\u2019ve got a mutual friend. Mike Exeter is my engineer\u2026 Then Mike, my engineer, he said, \u2018Oh, yeah, he\u2019s a good drummer, Karl.\u2019<\/p>\n \u201cI used him on one of my instrumental tracks with the perfume thing I did. And then I thought it\u2019d be nice to use him on the album\u2026 Also, he\u2019s from Birmingham, which is really good because I wanted to try and keep it local.\u201d<\/p>\n