Black Sabbath touring drummer Tommy Clufetos thinks he's guessed the secret of how Ozzy Osbourne, Tony Iommi and Geezer Butler are able to keep rocking so hard – despite having a combined age of 195.
But he doesn’t want to reveal his own methods of getting ready to play, because he doesn’t want anyone to take his job away.
Frontman Osbourne is 65 while guitarist Iommi is 66 and bassist Butler is 64. But Clufetos tells Chom 97.7 (via Blabbermouth): “I give them all the respect in the world. I’m 34 now and they’re twice my age.
“They rock harder than any 20-year-olds I know; they go every night to the fullest. It’s what it’s all about – giving it up for the people, for the show and the music. It keeps you young.”
Asked how he gears up to provide his own share of the band’s onstage energy, he he says: “I’m not telling you any secrets because I don’t want people stealing my gigs.
“I just do everything I can. I go over everything with a fine-tooth comb, over and over and over. I try to get myself into the music and the spirit of what the music is all about. I do anything and everything.”
Clufetos, who’s been a member of Osbourne’s solo band since 2010, was originally lined up to replace Bill Ward in the studio for Sabbath reunion album 13, but producer Rick Rubin persuaded them to hire Rage Against The Machine drummer Brad Wilk.
Osbourne said last year: “Tommy was offered the gig until Rick came along. It was a bit of a communication breakdown. Tommy was on the side waiting and it just didn’t work out.”
Sabbath return to the UK to headline the first night of this year’s British Summer Time festival in London’s Hyde Park. They’re joined by Soundgarden, Faith No More, Motorhead and many others.
