In a recent conversation with That Rocks, veteran rocker Glenn Hughes opened up about the real reason Tony Iommi decided to replace him in Black Sabbath in the 1980s. Speaking about his health struggles at the time, Hughes recounted a dark period of illness and also shared that he was unaware of the band’s dissatisfaction with him at the time (transcribed by Ultimate Guitar).
“I didn’t know that they were thinking of replacing me. Look, I wasn’t well. A lot of my friends that were as ill as I never recovered, or they just disappeared. So I was very grateful to have found my feet in 1991. Having a heart attack got my attention.”
When asked if he had any inkling that Ray Gillen would take over his role, Hughes expressed his surprise: “You know, word got around after the show in Worcester that I was going to be replaced, and I was flabbergasted. I had no idea how sick I was. Ray came to see me, and I couldn’t be anything but kind of happy for him, because I kind of probably should have gone, you know? So that was the worst period for me in my career, but to pick myself up after that was not quite easy, but I did it. But I was really happy for Ray. Somebody could come in and take my place.”
He continued to praise Iommi‘s decision and expressed no hard feelings: “I love Tony, and he had no choice other than… When someone is as sick as I was… I’m not like grandly, you know, glamorizing it, but I was really ill, and I’m glad that Ray could step in. And he was a beautiful guy, you know.”
Despite the turbulent past, Hughes left the door open for a potential future collaboration with Iommi: “Tony and I are best of friends. So you never know.”
