Black Sabbath’s Tony Iommi says Hard Rock Café won’t let him have his favourite guitar back

Black Sabbath guitarist Tony Iommi has claimed that the Hard Rock Café won’t let him have one of his favourite guitars back, despite agreeing that they would.

The metal legend has told Guitar World that his beloved 1964 Gibson ‘Monkey’ SG Special, which he played on the early Sabbath albums, has been in possession of the restaurant chain, and now they are reluctant to let him have it back.

“The guy who used to buy memorabilia for the Hard Rock came to England and visited me,” Iommi explained. “He wanted to buy some stuff and I said it should be fine. I’d retired the Monkey SG because it was too valuable to me; I didn’t want to take it on the road and risk it getting damaged.”

“He offered to buy it and it seemed like a good idea because the guitar could be displayed for people to see and kept safe, instead of sitting in a case somewhere in my storage. But the deal was if I ever wanted it back, I could let him know and buy it back for the same price. It seemed fair enough, a good deal.”

However, the musician revealed that the individual in question has since passed away, and the deal he made is now seemingly lost. “We tried to get in touch with Hard Rock to get it back and they knew nothing about the deal,” he added.

The Hard Rock did, however, commission a run of replicas of the Monkey SG in 2021, including a limited edition batch that included the knicks and stickers of the original model.

Elsewhere, Iommi and Black Sabbath drummer Bill Ward shared a photo of themselves together in September, while at the Lord Mayor’s reception for International Birmingham Day.

That apparently impromptu meeting came amid rumours of the possibility of a one-off reunion of the legendary heavy metal band. Ward himself shared his thoughts on a potential gig in July, writing on Twitter/X” “I’m in for playing some of everyone’s old favourites. Loved playing them then, I’d love to play them one last time.”

Ward parted ways with Sabbath in 2012, citing an “unreasonable contract”. He would go on to miss the band’s Reunion Tour and the swansong The End Tour, which culminated in 2017.

Fellow founding members Ozzy Osbourne and Geezer Butler have also expressed interest in the idea of a final show for the band.

In May, Osbourne revealed that he would “jump at the chance” to play a final concert with Ward. Speaking on an episode of his podcast The Madhouse Chronicles, the singer reflected on the climactic show at the Birmingham Arena in 2017, saying he was “sad” that Ward was not there.

Bassist Butler then said later that month that he and Osbourne had “agreed” to play one last concert. It came after the singer’s wife Sharon said Ozzy was planning “two more shows to say goodbye” before he fully retires.

The provisional shows would likely take place at Villa Park, the home of Butler and Osbourne’s beloved Aston Villa. “I’m definitely up for it, to finish the whole thing off,” Butler added. “Me and Ozzy have agreed, but I’m not sure about anybody else.”

Butler later commented in June that Osbourne “desperately wants” to play the final show, while Iommi also expressed interest, saying it would be “a nice thing to do, but whether it happens will be another thing”.

However, last year, Ozzy said he might have to “accept the fact” that a live comeback may not be possible due to his ongoing health issues, including Parkinson’s disease and recovery from multiple surgeries.

“I’m taking it one day at a time, and if I can perform again, I will,” he told Rolling Stone UK at the time. “But it’s been like saying farewell to the best relationship of my life.

In January, Ozzy said he was going through a “slow recovery” process after his final operation.

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