Why Tool Nearly Turned Down Black Sabbath’s Final Show

Tool weren’t originally planning to play Black Sabbath’s farewell show at all, but Adam Jones says the band had a change of heart.

Tool are confirmed on the massive lineup for Back to the Beginning, Black Sabbath’s final performance going down in Birmingham next month – but according to guitarist Adam Jones, the band very nearly passed on the opportunity.

In a recent interview with Guitar World, Jones revealed that Tool were hesitant when first approached to take part in the farewell event, which takes place July 5 at Villa Park and features the likes of Metallica, Guns N’ Roses, Slayer, and Black Sabbath themselves. The show is being directed musically by Tom Morello, who originally pitched the idea to the band.

“The four of us were on the phone, or texting — I can’t remember — and someone went, ‘I don’t think I can do it.’ Someone else went, ‘Okay, yeah, I think I’m gonna do this other thing,’” Jones said. “I think I even went, ‘Yeah, let’s not do it.’ But it was really an honour that they asked us.”

Plans shifted when Morello later reached out to Jones directly about jamming a song at the show with himself and Billy Corgan of Smashing Pumpkins. Jones agreed, and then learned that Maynard James Keenan and Danny Carey had also quietly joined the bill to perform with other musicians.

“I went, ‘I didn’t know that,’” Jones explained. “It hit me, and I said, ‘If the three of us are there — and I know Justin [Chancellor] will want to do it.’ I went back to our people and went, ‘Why don’t we [Tool] just do it? We’re all going to be there.’ That’s how it happened – and why it was announced later.”

The full Back to the Beginning roster includes some of the biggest names in metal: Metallica, Guns N’ Roses, Pantera, Lamb of God, Slayer, Halestorm, Gojira, Alice in Chains, Mastodon, Anthrax, and of course Tool, Ozzy Osbourne, and Black Sabbath.

The July 5 show will mark a historic send-off for Black Sabbath, considered one of the most important bands in heavy music – and for Tool, a last-minute decision that became an unforgettable moment in the making.