“I watched Tony a lot. We became friends. It was emotional – not in a ‘pinch me!’ sense, but realizing how on-point he was – and how much he was not phoning in that performance”: Rival Sons’ Scott Holiday on what it’s like to open a Black Sabbath show

Scot Holiday of Rival Sons leans back into a solo. Tony Iommi performs with Black Sabbath under dark purple lights.

If you caught Black Sabbath’s The End tour, which lasted from 2016 to 2017 and spanned 81 shows over six legs, there’s a good chance you caught Rival Sons opening for them. But even if you didn’t, that tour remains a significant pride point for Rival Sons’ fuzz-laden guitarist, Scott Holiday – and it’s why Rival Sons are a part of Back to the Beginning.

“I got to see a lot,” Holiday says about his time on the road with his heroes. “It’s rare that you get to spend that much time with a band that has been that legendary for that long. It was a heavy feeling to think you could be that deep into your career and be so totally focused on delivering those old songs. It was really inspiring. It was an energy.”