Rock legends Black Sabbath would never have existed if guitarist Tony Iommi had passed auditions for Jethro Tull.

Iommi tried out for IAN ANDERSON's progressive rock supergroup before forming the world's first heavy metal group - but complications led to Tull choosing MARTIN BARRE as their guitarist.

Barre says, "I know Tony very well. He's from Birmingham, where I'm from, the same town in England. And the nice thing about it was that he went on to do Black Sabbath.

"I just think, well, if Tommy Iommi had stayed in Jethro Tull, then I wouldn't have had a career, and then Black Sabbath might not have happened either. So you know, it was meant to be, and good came out of it for both of us."

12/11/2003 09:10