Tool are set to make an appearance during Black Sabbath’s final show and will play their brand of complex music in celebration of the legendary Birmingham band. But they almost didn’t make it. In fact, they could have easily missed out.
Speaking to Guitar World, guitarist Adam Jones revealed how reluctant he and his bandmates were to commit to playing at the show. They were on the phone after being approached by musical director Tom Morello, and none of them seemed too enthusiastic about the idea:
“The four of us [in Tool] were on the phone, or texting – I can’t remember – and someone went, ‘I don’t think I can do it.’ Someone else went, ‘Okay, yeah, I think I’m gonna do this other thing.’ I think I even went, ‘Yeah, let’s not do it.’ But it was really an honor that they asked us.”
Morello is persistent and that’s why he kept his eye on Tool and even approached Jones once more sometime later:
“Months later, Tom contacted me and said, ‘Would you be down to play something with me?’ I was like, ‘Hmmm, that could be fun. Yeah!’ He goes, ‘It’ll just be me, you and Billy Corgan.’ He was thinking we could play a tune, so I said, ‘Yeah, that’s fine. But if plans change, I won’t feel bad if you decide that you don’t want me to do it – but let’s do it.'”
Later on, they spoke again, and Jones learned a surprising thing about his bandmates:
“I was again talking to Tom, and I went, ‘Yeah, I’m sorry we all couldn’t do it.’ He goes, ‘Well, you know Dan is playing with these guys, and Maynard is playing with these people…'”
“I went, ‘I didn’t know that…’ It hit me, and I said, ‘If the three of us are there – and I know Justin will want to do it…’ I went back to our people and went, ‘Why don’t we just do it? We’re all going to be there.’ That’s how it happened – and why it was announced later.”
