Hello!
Right off the bat, I need to tell you that the bulk of this issue – with its extra-cool cover illustration by artist Graham Humphreys – is a celebration of Black Sabbath’s historic Back to the Beginning event, which takes place July 5 in good ol' Birmingham, England, Black Sabbath's hometown.
If you don't know about Back to the Beginning, you really should! It's a once-in-a-generation event that’s destined to be one of the biggest single-day shows in the history of hard rock and heavy metal. In fact, think Live Aid (which also included a Black Sabbath reunion).
But speaking of history, I thought I’d hit you with some Sabbath-centric history of our own:
+ June 1990: Ozzy Osbourne makes his first Guitar World cover appearance. He’s standing next to his loyal guitarist, Zakk Wylde, who made his first cover appearance exactly one year earlier.
+ August 1992: Tony Iommi makes his first GW cover appearance, sharing precious real estate with Metallica’s James Hetfield.
+ June 1997: Ozzy and Iommi appear on their first GW cover together, a fancy-pants foldout job that also features Marilyn Manson, Korn and Dimebag Darrell.
+ August 1998: Ozzy appears on the cover alone, meaning he got his first “solo” cover before Iommi did. That’s a little odd, but it does sort of explain how Sabbath were perceived in the '90s, the era of Tyr, Dehumanizer, Cross Purposes and Forbidden.
+ July 2001: Just in time for one of many reunions, the OG version of Black Sabbath – Ozzy, Iommi, Geezer Butler and Bill Ward – finally snag the GW cover.
+ September 2004: With Ozzfest in the air, we got only Ozzy and Iommi (another first) together against a nifty red background.
+ May 2007: Iommi shares a “living legends” cover with Angus Young and Jimmy Page.
+ Holiday 2008: Can you believe it took this long for Iommi to get his own cover?
On that semi-awkward note, let's dive in!
- The Final Interview: Tony Iommi, Ozzy Osbourne, Geezer Butler and Bill Ward walk us through 57 years of Black Sabbath history – from the very beginning to Back to the Beginning, the band’s history-making farewell bash in Birmingham, England, this July 5.
- The Supporting Cast: Back to the Beginning performers Jake E. Lee, Zakk Wylde, Jerry Cantrell, Adam Jones, K.K. Downing, Lzzy Hale, Bill Kelliher, Scott Ian and more talk Sabbath, Iommi and what it’s like getting random texts from musical director Tom Morello.
- The Discography: A complete album-by-album, lineup-by-crazy-ass-lineup history of Black Sabbath.
Hold on, now! There's also this other stuff...
- Creed Bratton: A rare interview with the guitar-playing former star of NBC's The Office.
- Martin Barre: The former Jethro Tull guitarist revisits some choice moments in Tull history, including his Aqualung solo, Steel Monkey and that weird Grammy win.
- Goose: Meet your new favorite jam band!
- The Gear Hunter – G&L Guitars: Leo Fender called G&L the best instruments he ever made. Forty-five years later, the firm remains, albeit with the cachet of Leo's name lingering above.
There's also a tribute to the late John Sykes and new interviews with Muireann Bradley, Steve Stevens, D.K. Harrell, Junior Marvin, Billy Duffy, Robben Ford, Ben Lechuga and Tetrarch's Diamond Rowe and Josh Fore.
Gear-wise, we explore the history and allure of the 1989-1994 DigiTech WH-1 Whammy, and we review all this cool stuff:
- PRS Archon Classic head
- Fender Player II Modified Telecaster SH
- John Page Signature The DL
- Xotic AC Booster V2
- Warm Audio Fen-Tone WA-FT ribbon microphone
Finally, we have new columns by Joe Bonamassa, Jared James Nichols, Sue Foley and Cory Wong, plus transcriptions of Children of the Grave by Black Sabbath, Suffocate by Knocked Loose (ft. Poppy) and The Fish by Yes.
Head to Magazines Direct to pick up your copy of Guitar World August 2025.
