Two Rock Legends Unite: Tony Iommi Reveals Brian May’s Role on His Upcoming Solo Record!

The release of Tony Iommi’s first solo album in over two decades is a massive cause for celebration among heavy music fans and guitar tone aficionados worldwide. What makes this long-awaited release even more historic is the confirmed guest appearance of his longtime friend, Queen guitar maestro Brian May.

The Black Sabbath riff lord Tony Iommi officially announced his brand-new solo effort titled From the Dark earlier this week alongside its lead single, World Alone. In a recent in-depth interview with Rolling Stone, Tony Iommi revealed that Brian May laid down an exclusive guitar solo for another album track, Death Wake.

The bond between these two electric guitar titans stretches back over half a century.

"In the very early Seventies, he was in one studio, and I was in another. We just hit it off," Tony Iommi recalls of his first meeting and instant friendship with the Queen star. "We've been friends for, God, nearly 60 years."

This is far from their first studio collaboration. Brian May previously delivered a memorable guest guitar solo on When Death Calls from Black Sabbath’s 1988 album Headless Cross. Later, he lined up alongside Dave Grohl on Tony Iommi’s 2000 solo track Goodbye Lament, which featured on his self-titled, guest-packed LP Iommi.

Their camaraderie goes far beyond the recording booth: Brian May famously gifted Tony Iommi a custom left-handed version of his iconic Red Special guitar for Christmas. Their enduring partnership continues seamlessly on From the Dark.

"We stay in touch all the time," Tony Iommi says of his bond with Brian May. "He's played onstage a couple of times with me, and then we've done a couple of album tracks we played on together. He's a very, very close friend."

Their musical partnership on From the Dark could have easily been doubled, as Tony Iommi offered the Queen legend the chance to contribute to more tracks, but Brian May humbly declined to overstay his welcome.

"I did say to him, 'Do you want to play on something else?'" Tony Iommi remembers. "He said, 'No, no. Your solos are good. I don't need to play.' It was great that he did. I just played him a couple of things, and he'd done it here at the studio in my house. Then of course he'd play something and go, 'Oh, I don't know about it.' I go, 'I like it.'"

During the recording process for the new record, Tony Iommi also teased subtle flirtations with orchestral arrangements and revealed that he had been experimenting with the digital Kemper profiling amplifier for tracking guitar tones.

In related Iommi news, the Black Sabbath legend also recently reflected on the passing of his iconic bandmate Ozzy Osbourne, one year on.