Former Black Sabbath frontman Tony Martin recently opened up about the time band recorded their seventeenth studio album entitled ‘Cross Purposes.’ Apparently, late Van Halen guitarist Eddie Van Halen stopped by to jam with Tony Iommi and his band which resulted in the creation of ‘Evil Eye.’
Two legendary guitar players, Eddie Van Halen and Tony Iommi had a very close friendship for many years until the ‘Eruption’ originator’s passing in 2020. The duo connected on a personal level through their musicianship and shared emotional moments as revealed by them during old interviews.
During a conversation with Eddie Trunk last year, Tony Iommi reflected on his relationship with Eddie Van Halen, saying their friendship had started in 1978 during the ‘Never Say Die‘ tour. Since then, the duo always stayed in touch, and they had family dinners whenever Iommi was in L.A. with his wife.
The Black Sabbath guitarist also said that Van Halen was very supportive of him when he was diagnosed with the early stages of lymphoma in 2012. As a good friend, Iommi also supported the Van Halen icon during his battle with cancer until his condition got him into hospital.
Following the devastating death of Eddie Van Halen, Tony Iommi shared a farewell message to his late friend via a post on his official Instagram page. The emotional letter reflected that Iommi was heartbroken but grateful that he had a friend like Eddie, who was special, lovely, and brilliant.
During a recent interview with Metal Voice, Tony Martin, who had a tenure with Black Sabbath from 1987 to 1991 and again from 1993 to 1997, looked back on when the band recorded its seventeenth studio album named ‘Cross Purposes,’ released in January 1994.
Apparently, Tony Iommi and Eddie Van Halen suddenly ended up in the studio together, which was surprising to Martin, and they started playing together. During their time in the studio, Van Halen even contributed to the writing of ‘Evil Eye’ along with Butler, Iommi, Martin but was uncredited due to the restrictions of his record label.
When asked about meeting Eddie Van Halen, Martin said:
“As a guitar player, what can you say? The dude was just talented. Van Halen was on tour in England at the time. I didn’t even know he was coming, so Tony Iommi just turned up with Eddie Van Halen. What? You are kidding me. Eddie just popped in for a jam. I had an 8 track recording machine, so I just pressed play record.
I did get the recording of Eddie playing with us, which was just amazing, and in no time, he was gone, and I never saw him again. Eddie just came in, brought his guitar, and plugged into one of Iommi’s amps, and they just jammed and played. As soon as the recording starts, you can tell who is who, but it sounds great.”
You can listen to ‘Evil Eye’ below.
