Tony Iommi has announced that he'll be auctioning off some personal items, with the proceeds going to the U.K.’s National Health Service to aid in the battle against coronavirus.

“We were about to announce a charity 'evening with Tony Iommi' to raise some money for the Birmingham hospitals, when this awful virus struck,” the Black Sabbath icon explained. “Now as all charitable events have been cancelled, I wanted to still do something to help. So, I've put a few things together of my own up for auction."

Full details will be unveiled online on April 6. The rocker went on to note how important medical professionals are in this ongoing battle. "Without these doctors and nurses, what would we do.... we owe them so much!”

 

In other news, Deep Purple announced that their new album, Whoosh!, which had been set for launch this month, would be delayed until August as a result of the coronavirus pandemic.

“For every action there is an equal and opposite reaction...well, not exactly in this case; more cause and effect, where the latter is often greater than the former,” Deep Purple frontman Ian Gillan said via Facebook. “Distribution lines (the physical sales of CDs, vinyl, cassettes (?) etc) and retail outlets are closed until The Dreaded Lurgy gets indigestion. Therefore, as there are still so many of us who love to hold a new record in our hands, and following advice from our magnificent label, we have decided to delay the release of Whoosh until August.”

He added that he was spending his downtime “listening to a lot of music” and guessed a lot of people would be doing the same. He continued: “We know, don’t we, that music will play a big part in our celebrations as we step back into the light. But, health comes first, so I must stuff my excitement about sharing Whoosh with you back into a box for a little while. Stay well and follow the light…”

Meanwhile, John Fogerty enlisted his family to perform a version of Creedence Clearwater Revival classic “Down on the Corner” as he continued to release home-based recordings. “Our family quarantine jam,” Fogerty explained. “We are thinking of all the fans and their families during these difficult times. Music brings us all together, even from our homes.” He introduced his assistants as: “Shane on 12-string acoustic guitar, John on electric guitar, Kelsy on acoustic guitar, and Tyler on bass.” You can watch the video below:

Pantera revealed a limited-edition version of their Vulgar Display of Power T-shirt, with the artwork adjusted to reflect coronavirus conditions. Instead of a fist punching a face, a fist in a rubber glove is seen punching a skull. The “Walk” lyric “Be yourself by yourself / stay away from me” appears below. Pantera noted that 40 percent of proceeds would be donated to the MusiCares organization.

At time of writing, 1.22 million cases of COVID-19 had been confirmed worldwide, with 65,605 deaths and 253,626 recoveries. Of the 895,256 active cases, 95 percent were described as mild with 44,638 described as serious or critical. In the U.S. the total confirmed cases numbered 311,637 with 8,454 deaths and 14,828 recoveries.

More From Ultimate Classic Rock