On 17 February 2012, Black Sabbath reshuffled its reunion plans in light of guitarist Tony Iommi's battle with lymphoma. The band confirmed that they planned to play only one show on their planned European tour – Download Festival, which took place on 10 June in England. In between the lone performance, Ozzy Osbourne headed out on a 17-date tour as part of Ozzy & Friends, which featured special guests including Slash, Zakk Wylde, Tom Morello and Sabbath's own Geezer Butler on select dates.[1] In 2015, a similar outcome came along, and Sabbath had to pull away from some dates in their 2015 schedule including the 2015 installment of the Japanese Ozzfest.[2] and Ozzy Osbourne and Friends had replaced those slots.[3] The 20 June 2015 concert in Mannheim, Germany was canceled after the opening band, Black Label Society had completed their set due to vocal problems on Osbourne's part.[4]
^Lipshutz, Jason (17 February 2012). "Black Sabbath Reunion Tour Becomes Ozzy & Friends Tour". Billboard. Jason Lipshutz. In between the lone performance, Ozzy Osbourne will head out on a 15-date tour as part of Ozzy & Friends, which will feature special guests like Slash, Zakk Wylde and Sabbath's own Geezer Butler on select dates.
