Tony Iommi

Anthony Frank "Tony" Iommi (born 19 February 1948, Heathfield Road Hospital, Handsworth, Birmingham, England) is an English guitarist and songwriter best known as the founding member of pioneering heavy metal band Black Sabbath, and its sole continual member through multiple personnel changes.

Iommi is widely recognised as one of the most important and influential guitarists in heavy metal music. According to Allmusic, "Iommi is one of only two guitarists (the other being Led Zeppelin's Jimmy Page) that can take full credit for pioneering the mammoth riffs of heavy metal." In 2004, Iommi was ranked number one on Guitar World's "100 Greatest Metal Guitarists of All Time", and in 2011, ranked 25th in Rolling Stone magazine's list of the "100 Greatest Guitarists of All Time". On 13 October (Europe) and 1 November (United States) 2011 Iommi's autobiography was published, entitled Iron Man: My Journey Through Heaven and Hell with Black Sabbath. On 9 January 2012, it was announced that Iommi had been diagnosed with early stage lymphoma.

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