Black Sabbath's Tony Iommi denies reunion reports

Black Sabbath guitarist Tony Iommi has denied reports that the rock group are reuniting.

The four-piece band, which originally consisted of Iommi, Ozzy Osbourne, Geezer Butler and Bill Ward, were believed to be working on a new studio album and Iommi was even quoted by The Birmingham Mail as saying that they were looking forward to performing together again.

Iommi has now written on his official website: "I'm saddened that a Birmingham journalist whom I trusted has chosen this point in time to take a conversation we had back in June and make it sound like we spoke yesterday about a Black Sabbath reunion.

"At the time I was supporting the Home of Metal exhibition and was merely speculating, shooting the breeze, on something all of us get asked constantly, 'Are you getting back together?'

"Thanks to the internet it's gone round the world as some sort of 'official' statement on my part, absolute nonsense. I hope he's enjoyed his moment of glory, he won't have another at my expense. To my old pals, Ozzy, Geezer and Bill, sorry about this, I should have known better."

Frontman Osbourne was fired from the band in 1979 and later replaced by Ronnie James Dio, but returned for a reunion in 1997 until 2006. Dio died in May 2010 after losing a battle with stomach cancer.

Watch the Black Sabbath 'Paranoid' music video below: