Black Sabbath in London on September 9, 1989

In a very unique Black Sabbath moment, a 2nd guitarist joins Tony on stage, Queen’s Brian May! Brian joined the band for their encores of “Heaven And Hell” and ‘Paranoid” at the end of this show.

Thierry Bauwens: “Hello Rob! I need help with a fact about Sabbath history. I think you are the only one who can find the answer with all the contacts you have. During the Hammersmith 1981 shows, a story said: Geoff was ill during three days, and Brian May was the keyboard player and also played a guitar solo with Iommi (the guitar story is good, we have the bootleg show). But still can’t confirm the part about May replacing Nicholls on keyboards? I don’t know if it’s only a legend, or the true story!!! Is there on earth a guy, who can say: Yes that’s true, or it was just a wrong story!!!! What do you think about it? Have you any sure infos?? I think that’s all I need!”

Rob: I’m well aware of the fact that Queen’s Brian May joined Sabbath onstage at the Hammersmith Odeon in London, England on September 9th, 1989 for their encores of “Heaven And Hell” and “Paranoid”. But this is the first mention I’ve found of Brian playing keys for the band. I’d be quick to write this one off as a rumor, since Brian didn’t even play a whole lot of keyboard parts in Queen. But maybe someone who was at this show knows better than I?

In the February 1982 issue of RECORD REVIEW, Jon Sutherland asked Tony Iommi if he ever had the desire to play with other people once in a while. Tony answered, “No, not really. The only one that ever played with us is Brian May from Queen. He got up and played with us one night, but normally we don’t have anyone jam with us. It was good to play with him because he’s a good player and he’s got a good style.”