Carl Palmer Very Nearly Joined Black Sabbath

Carl Palmer

Carl Palmer, legendary drummer/percussionist for prog-rock giants Emerson Lake & Palmer, was invited to join Black Sabbath for their new reunion album, 13, but he was tied up touring with ’80s supergroup Asia.

Palmer broke the (quite shocking) news to W.E.E.N., stating that Sabbath guitarist Tony Iommi offered him the job after original drummer Bill Ward declined to reunite with his bandmates.

“Tony and I did talk when they were looking for drummers to make the album and he put me forward,” Palmer said. “I couldn’t do it because I was off with Asia; we were touring, and then something else came up. I couldn’t have done it, but I would have loved to. It just wasn’t on the cards.”

Palmer also talked about the appeal of Sabbath’s signature brand of metal, which stands in sharp contrast to ELP’s classically-oriented prog.

“I was classically trained, but basically I’m a rock drummer, and I’ve never been in a true out-and-out guitar band like Black Sabbath, where it’s just big riffs – very simple but very dynamic,” he said. “It would be extremely invigorating.”

“The older I get, the more I appreciate that music,” he continues. “I was late to come to heavy metal. Asia had a bit of that but we were a little bit more corporate rock and melodic.”

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