Black Sabbath
Members of Black Sabbath pose backstage at Rock and Roll Hall of Fame induction ceremony in New York Reuters

Questions of whether Black Sabbath will reunite have been trending on the Internet since Birmingham Mail reported so on Tuesday. Fans all over the world were just that curious to know if the four original members were reuniting for an album.

Guitarist Tony Iommi has not denied the rumors. Iommi "was not saying that it wasn't true," Ralph Baker, the guitarist's manager, clarified.

The massive interest on whether the reunion news for Black Sabbath was true caused Iommi's Web site to "virtually crash," Baker said. Although no one was denying or confirming the reports, there wasn't really a clear answer.

"We haven't got anything in place. He's not denying that the guys have been talking but there's nothing in the way that's been implied in the statements that you made. ... He made them to you in June and he felt that he made them to you off-the-record."

The report -- originally posted on a Web site and then elaborated on in the Birmingham Mail -- spread like wildfire to fans all around the world. Apparently, Iommi's comments about a reunion to the small Web site were taken out of context.

"I'm saddened that a Birmingham journalist whom I trusted has chosen this point in time to take a conversation we had back in June and make it sound like we spoke yesterday about a Black Sabbath reunion," Iommi said.

The report was written by Andy Coleman, a veteran reporter at Birmingham Mail, who quoted from the other source. "A very insignificant little Web site put something out about Sabbath getting back together and being in the Midlands. End of story," said Baker. "When you [The Birmingham Mail] went online, that's when it went around the world because it was official."

"I don't consider some dodgy little Web site a trigger [to publish]," he said. "It was picked up by everybody because a lot of these kids have nothing better to do than simply pick up a story from one site and run with it and see what happens," Baker added.

Iommi suggested on his site that he was only speculating when he spoke of a possible Black Sabbath comeback with Ozzy Osbourne, Geezer Butler, and Bill Ward. He claims he was "shooting the breeze, on something all of us get asked constantly, 'Are you getting back together?'"