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From the Born Again US Tourbook "After a number of auditions were held, the band decided to contact Ian Gillan, who since his departure from Deep Purple in 1973, had been fronting his own band, Gillan, in Europe. 'We had considered a number of people for the positions', Iommi says. 'Luckily, Bill Ward (the band's original drummer who had to leave Sabbath in 1980 for health reasons) was able to rejoin us. The vocal spot was a little more difficult, but when Ian's name came up, Geezer and I both just smiled at one another - we just wondered why we hadn't thought of him earlier. We had known Ian for a long time and we knew that his vocal style would be perfect for us.'  'We had all been friends for a long time', Gillan echoes 'but still I was thinking in terms of keeping 'Gillan' going. I decided to meet with them and see exactly what they had in mind. We went to a pub and just started talking. Twelve hours later, as we all began to slide down under the table, we knew that we were going to work together.' To replace Bill Ward, whose recurring health problems prevented him from going on the Born Again tour with the band, Sabbath recruited former Electric Light Orchestra drummer, Bev Bevan, who Geezer describes as 'a mate from way back. He knew the Sabbath material better than any of us at rehearsals.' With the release of Born Again the members of Black Sabbath are truly looking forward to their 1983-84 invasion of the US, particularly Ian Gillan. 'I can't wait to get back on stage in the States', he says. 'I have so many found memories of America from the Purple days, especially the crowds. There's nothing that can match the American rock fans. They're a breed apart. We can't wait for them to see us and hear the new material. The way we feel right now, Black Sabbath will keep on rocking forever'." |
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Gillan The Hero - a tribute to Born Again