Monsters Of Rock (Black Sabbath m.fl.) - Friends Arena, 9 juli 2016

“I can’t actually do this anymore,” admits the guitar hero. “My body won’t take it much more.”

Iommi, who battled lymphoma, has tests in two weeks’ time to ensure the cancer has not returned.

“I don’t want that creeping back again,” he says. “And all the travelling involved in Sabbath tours increasingly takes its toll.

“That’s why we’re going out on one last tour, to say our farewells.

“And then it very definitely is the end. We won’t be doing it again.”

“Aside from my lymphoma, I’ve been back in hospital again recently because of back problems,” he admits.

“The funny thing is, while you’re out on tour it’s a full-on thing, you’re busy all the time.

“It’s when you come off tour that the side-effects kick in. While you’re at home, just when you think you got away with it!”

Doctors have warned there is a chance that Iommi’s cancer could return – and he is not keen to shorten the odds.

“I have finished my courses of treatment,” he says. “Now it’s a case of keeping tabs on things.

“I have the blood tests every six weeks, and then there’s a bigger check-up every now and then to make sure that all is still well.,

“I have my next one in a couple of weeks, and hopefully everything will be fine.

“I don’t have the energy to eat late and go out drinking until 2am,” he grins. “I need to go to bed early. It’s not very rock ’n’ roll, but it works for me.

“So, yes, the next tour will be the last one. Absolutely the last one.”