Tony Iommi and Ian Gillan Set To Release New WhoCares Disc

Back in May of 2011 the legendary forces of Black Sabbath guitarist Tony Iommi and Deep Purple singer Ian Gillan combined in both a musical endeavor and a humanitarian effort releasing two songs under the moniker WhoCares. The intent was to raise funds to rebuild a music school in Armenia – a cause near and dear to both musicians.

Now, the super-duo is planning to release a full WhoCares album that will include quite a few lost gems that fans will likely be lining up to sink their teeth into. In addition to the two original Who Cares tracks, the disc will include a Deep Purple studio jam curiously dubbed ‘Dick Pimple,’ an unreleased song from Repo Depo, the band Ian Gillan formed before Deep Purple reunited, two unreleased Tony Iommi songs with Glenn Hughes, some self-described “obscure collaborations” in addition to some lost b-sides and exclusive live radio cuts.

Gillan spoke about the new compilation, saying:

"As I said once in the song 'Razzle Dazzle' (From the Deep Purple Album 'Bananas') - 'It’s a real fine line between an orgy of destruction and a wonderful time.' The destruction of conformity in this case: Some of these pieces never really fit into their contemporary program and got side-lined or forgotten, and some of the album tracks never had much exposure. As the track-listing for this album came together I noticed many of the titles had character similarities; a combination of freshness as they finally felt the sun on their backs and rebellion in a ‘yeah told you so’ kind of way. And that adds up to a wonderful time. And that adds up to more money for the music school we are building in Armenia."

For the two previously released WhoCares original tracks, Gillan and Iommi called in a few of their heavyweight pals to lend a hand making for quite a 'super-group.' The band was rounded out by former Metallica bassist Jason Newsted, Iron Maiden drummer Nicko McBrain, guitarist Linde Lindström and Jon Lord on keys.

The new WhoCares compilation is due out on June 22 on earMusic.