Tony Iommi returns to Black Sabbath Bench for BBC’s ‘red sofa’ day

Legendary rock guitarist Tony Iommi was all smiles when he returned to the world-famous Black Sabbath Bench on Broad Street in Birmingham – and found himself on the couch!

It was more than five years since Iommi and bass-playing bandmate Geezer Butler arrived by canal narrowboat in June 2019 to unveil the bench, which was dreamt up, created and installed by Westside Business Improvement District (BID).

But this time, Iommi was flying solo, and waiting for him was BBC Midlands Today reporter Ben Sidwell, who had helped to wheel his studio’s distinctive red sofa over from Gas Street.

BBC Midlands Today is celebrating its 60th anniversary this week and Ben is towing the couch across the region to tell different stories which highlight the award-winning programme’s history.

With the recently-restored Black Sabbath Bench as a backdrop, Tony and Ben talked on the couch about the band’s history as heavy metal pioneers, how the city has changed along the way, and even how the sofa has become such a recognizable part of the program.

They also discussed Black Sabbath, of course, the band that was originally called Earth when four lads started out from neighboring streets in Aston – with the classic line-up including singer Ozzy Osbourne and drummer Bill Ward. Their journey to becoming superstars began when they first played live at The Crown pub on Station Street in 1968.

Incredibly, that same weekly Henry’s Blueshouse night is still being promoted 56 years later every Tuesday at its new home of Snobs in Broad Street. And Jim Simpson, the jazz impresario who managed the group during the 1970 releases of their first two seminal albums, Black Sabbath and Paranoid, is still the promoter behind Henry’s Blueshouse.

Luisa Huggins of Westside BID said: “We love our Black Sabbath Bench and it’s always wonderful to welcome Tony Iommi back onto Broad Street.”

To watch the full TV report, tune into BBC Midlands Today at 6.30pm tomorrow, Thursday 26 September.