During an appearance on the Thunder Underground podcast, legendary bassist/vocalist Glenn Hughes was asked if there are any plans for him to collaborate with Tony Iommi again. The legendary DEEP PURPLE bassist/vocalist previously worked with the BLACK SABBATH guitarist on “Seventh Star” (1986),and later reunited with him for “Fused” (2005),in addition to being featured on the “1996 DEP Sessions” (2004) collection of previously unreleased material. Glenn said (as transcribed by BLABBERMOUTH.NET): “[Tony and I] are really good friends. He lives on the other side of the world, and when we speak, we talk about, shall we do more work? And it’s like a matter of finding a window or an opportunity.
“People are asking, am I singing on [Tony‘s upcoming solo] album?” Glenn added. “Well, it’s not me. It’s somebody else. I don’t know who it is.”
Hughes also talked about last month’s “Back To The Beginning” concert in Birmingham, United Kingdom, which marked Ozzy Osbourne and BLACK SABBATH‘s final performance. He said: “Well, those guys are family to me. We grew up together. We were born very close to one another. So, I’ve known each and every member of that band since 1970. So you can imagine we have a lot of history and friendships. So I only wanna say I’m really grateful that they got an opportunity to do this. I think every band deserves to have one last moment. And if that was the last moment — but you never know, do you? [Laughs]”
Asked if that is something he would be interested in doing himself, in terms of announcing his final concert, when that time eventually arrives, Glenn said: “I don’t really think like that. I don’t think I’m gonna be the one to ever say, ‘This is gonna be my last show,’ to sell tickets. My last show will be my last show. And I’m hoping I’ll be around for a while, but I don’t really plan on doing anything. It may change, but I don’t know.”
Earlier this month, Hughes was asked by SiriusXM‘s “Trunk Nation With Eddie Trunk” if he has “an idea” in his mind on retirement and how he would like to end his career. The former DEEP PURPLE and current BLACK COUNTRY COMMUNION member, who turned 74 last week, responded: “ Good question. The word ‘retirement’ is something I don’t normally say.
“A good story for you there. In June, I went on a tour of Europe with BLACK COUNTRY COMMUNION. And Joe [Bonamassa, BLACK COUNTRY COMMUNION guitarist] and I were talking after two shows in that we were thinking before we started that tour that maybe this would be the end of BCC, maybe we’ve done and dusted what we started out to do. And funny enough, we felt on that tour of Europe that we were actually just getting started. We made a live album, by the way; it’ll be coming out early next year.
“I think sometime early this year, I thought, ‘Maybe I should slow it down. Maybe I should take it easy,’ blah, blah, blah,” Hughes admitted. “But ever since I came home from the BCC tour, I’m reinvigorated. I’ve got new purpose. I’ve never felt so strong, and I’m really looking forward to doing more shows, both solo and with BLACK COUNTRY COMMUNION.”
Five years ago, Hughes told the “Thunder Underground” podcast that he plans to continue writing music up until his “final day.” He said: “People ask me that question — not all the time, but they do ask that question.
“A good friend of mine, who you know of — I won’t say who he is — but we’ve had a conversation about retirement. And I know a lot of people older than me that are still going — [Mick] Jagger and Robert Plant; friends of mine. They’re still going ’cause they love music.
“If you are a musician who’s a songwriter, you just continue to write,” he added. “And that’s what I do — I’ve been doing it for [more than] 50 years. But more so since I’ve been sober, for the last [30-plus] years, I’ve been writing more proper songs, about recovery. In fact, I don’t know if you know, but most of my work deals with the human condition and about, pretty much, the love factor and recovery and being free, and that’s where I’m at.”
Glenn‘s new studio album “Chosen”, is set for release on September 5 via Frontiers Music Srl.
In early June, Hughes released the official music video for the “Chosen” title track. It was followed by the “Voice In My Head” video a month later. Earlier this month, Glenn shared “Into The Fade”.
This year will also see Hughes busy touring across Europe and South America, with “The Chosen Years” tour starting in Zoetermeer, Netherlands, on September 2 and ending on November 29 in Bogota, Colombia.
Glenn, a native of Cannock, England, absorbed all kinds of influences, including early British hard rock, THE BEATLES and, most importantly, American soul and R&B. The sleek Motown sound from Detroit and the gritty Stax/Volt sound from Memphis left their mark on him.
Hughes first found success in the early ’70s with the band TRAPEZE before joining DEEP PURPLE in 1973 during a pivotal lineup change that introduced him and David Coverdale to the group. Despite initial skepticism, the revamped band silenced critics with the release of “Burn” (1974),a powerful album that revitalized PURPLE‘s sound and remains a classic. During this era, the band headlined the iconic California Jam in front of over 300,000 fans, toured the world aboard their private jet The Starship, and released two more studio albums, “Stormbringer” and “Come Taste The Band”, before disbanding in 1976.
Glenn‘s first solo album “Play Me Out” was released in 1977. He joined former Pat Travers guitarist Pat Thrall to form HUGHES/THRALL, which released an acclaimed self-titled album in 1982. Throughout the ’80s and ’90s, Glenn Hughes made countless guest appearances (both credited and un-credited) as a vocalist, bass guitarist or songwriter on other artists’ albums. The endless list includes — among others — Gary Moore, John Norum and Tony Iommi of BLACK SABBATH.
Since 1992, Glenn has started a prolific solo career with a dozen studio albums where he explored all the different sides of his songwriting and influences: from hard rock to funk and more contemporary sounds. He collaborated — among others — with such musicians as Chad Smith (RED HOT CHILI PEPPERS),Dave Navarro, John Frusciante and many others. He also founded or took part in some amazing musical alliances such as CALIFORNIA BREED (with Jason Bonham and Andrew Watt),BLACK COUNTRY COMMUNION (with Joe Bonamassa and Jason Bonham) and THE DEAD DAISIES.
Glenn has collaborated with Robbie Williams on his new single “Rocket”, which was released on May 22, 2025. The track also features a collaboration from Iommi and will be the first time Glenn has been featured on a record with Tony since 2005, when they released “Fused” together.
Glenn also recently joined forces with SATCHVAI, a new collaboration by legendary guitar icons Joe Satriani and Steve Vai, by writing and singing on their new single “I Wanna Play My Guitar”.
Photo credit: Leo Baron
