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Tony Iommi has recalled his last ever conversation with Ozzy Osbourne – the night before the Prince of Darkness’ death.

The Black Sabbath frontman died on July 22 of last year, just weeks after his Back To The Beginning retirement show held at Villa Park in his hometown of Birmingham.

Sabbath guitarist Iommi spoke with Ozzy on the phone the night before his passing and says the singer was exhausted.

Iommi tells Loudwire Nights: “I spoke to him the night before he passed.

“He said to me, ‘I really feel tired and really worn out’. I said, ‘Well, you’re bound to really, it’s been a lot of stress and pressure and stuff like that’.

“And the next thing, the next day, gone.”

Iommi admits he has struggled to accept Ozzy is no longer around and that, at times, he still feels his presence.

“It still feels like he’s there,” he says.

While the Back To The Beginning celebration was a huge success that fans and artists on the bill were thrilled to be part of, Iommi reveals it was difficult for him to see Ozzy performing from a seated position when he had been such a live wire for decades.

He adds: “It was difficult because seeing Ozzy sitting in a throne is not the way I see him.

“Always when we’ve been on stage, he’s been running around, and he’d run up to Geezer and pull a face jokingly and come over to me and pull a face or the drummer or whatever.

“We always had a little laugh on stage and enjoy when he’d run about.

“But at Back To The Beginning, of course, he’s in a throne, and I couldn’t see him, which felt very unusual.

“But it was a great moment, and I’m really glad we could get the opportunity to do it, because I mean, God, we didn’t know he was going to go that quick.”

Farnham trio Kit Trigg are about to embark on their first headline tour, and we hope they’ll be buoyed by the news that their recent Down To Earth single is the latest winner in our Tracks Of The Week fandango. Indeed, we hope they mention it every night.

Danielle Nicole and Grace Potter picked up the silver and bronze medals (disclaimer: there are no actual medals), and an exciting new batch of rockers and rollers are now eagerly awaiting your ears. They’re below.

Sweat – Open My Eyes

Pittsburgh’s bell-bottomed, curly-cabled brigade evoke the freewheeling, anthemic heat and richness of The Who circa Who’s Next (along with some tasty 70s organ action and swirls of psychedelia) on Open My Eyes. And is that a touch of Elton John’s Saturday Night’s Alright For Fighting we hear? Tried n’ tested classic rock sensibilities, lovingly cooked up to commanding effect. A vibrant, fulsome three minutes and forty-seven seconds.

Bleeker – Feel It Again

A big, hard-kicking rocker, full of teeth and swagger, the Canadians’ latest sounds like something that belongs in arenas and on festival stages. It’s anthemic but gritty; the riff and central hook are relatively simple, but they jazz it all up with dynamics and subtle touches (e.g low-key backing vocals, pacing shifts) that elevate it above standard pop/rock song territory. Check out more on its parent album, Elephant, which has just come out.

Gen & The Degenerates – Hotter On The Internet

A raw, garage-fresh hit of New York art punk riffing (from the North West of England), Hotter On The Internet kicks, sidles and struts with the same power, self-deprecating humour and sensuality captured in Genevieve Glynn-Reeves’ deliciously satirical lyrics. The synthed-up, dreamlike bridge section feels a bit out-of-the-blue, but just about works. Either way, a lip-smacking cocktail, teasing their next album Earthly Delights, which comes out in January.

Europe – Scandinavian Eyes

One of our favourite tracks from the Swedes’ excellent new album, Come This Madness (their first since 2017’s Walk The Earth), Scandinavian Eyes finds Messrs Tempest, Norum, Leven, Michaeli and Haughland going full Deep Purple – in the best way. Think galloping riffage with fiery organ lines and beats in hot pursuit, plus theatrical flourishes in the form of orchestral layers. Nice growl from Opeth mainman/friend/fan Mikael Akerfeldt, too.

Airbourne – Kid In A Candy Store

Ahhh Airbourne, doing their Airbourne thing in such a straight-shootingly likeable manner of which has never shifted and is not about to change now. Accordingly, Kid In A Candy Store finds the Aussie foursome rocking the bejeezus out of a big fat A-chord boogie, complete with drums that charge forth like dinosaurs gatecrashing a school sports day, and lyrics about using ‘the back door’ and ‘69 on the seventh floor’ that make Def Leppard sound like Shakespeare. Imminently reliable fun.

Scarlet Rebels – Chains

Captured on film as headliners at Chepstow Castle, the Welsh rockers fly high on this upward-punching new single. The sort of moody, euphoric banger that lifts them up a league. It all sets the stage in style for their next album, Flawed By Design, which comes out in November. “This song dropped out of the blue, quite literally,” frontman Wayne Doyle says. “I picked my acoustic guitar up at home, hit the first chord and sang ‘Set my soul on fire again’. It went from there. This was the first song we started to work on for the record.”

Stanley Simmons – Cold

Stenley Simmons have now released an estimated eight singles (to be honest, we’ve lost count), and the quality shows no sign of dropping. The latest, Cold, has a Fleetwood Mac vibe, with the sweetest of harmonies and the kind of relaxed, impossibly breezy vibe you only get with Californian types and those attempting to sound Californian. Lovely guitar solo too. The pair’s debut album, Dancing While The World Is Ending, is out on physical formats now.

Silvertomb – Graves In The Sky

American doom metal supergroup Silvertomb (featuring members of Type O Negative, Inhuman, Agnostic Front and Empyreon) have come up trumps on a new single that sounds like Black Sabbath (expected), Pink Floyd (less so, but not a surprise) and Oasis (probably an accident). The end result works well, with Kenny Hickey’s Ozzy-ish vocal matching both the spectral vibes of the first half of the song and the Gallagher-ness of the second. New album The Interpretation Of Nightmares will surface in November.