It's no secret Black Sabbath guitarist Tony Iommi was diagnosed with blood cancer lymphoma in 2009 and has taken more than its fair share of a toll on the metal legend. Though, just as badasses are wont to do in action flicks and novels, Iommi has pulled through and is constantly trying to make a negative into a positive.
In a recent interview with U.K. website Mirror, Iommi said being sick has really changed his perspective on not only how he lives his life, but a respective appreciation for how he has lived up to now:
"I look at life differently now. I could be here another 10 years or just one year – I don’t know. Sometimes I wonder if I should try to live a more peaceful life. Then I think, ‘I don’t want to let the illness take over’. After all, I enjoy where I’m at now. I’ve even become a guest lecturer at Coventry University after they awarded me an honorary doctorate. If someone had suggested that to me years ago I’d have turned it down, but I’ve been through a lot and I’ve learned from it, so it feels good to pass that on."
Seriously, how amazing can one person be? Putting aside the current health setback, Iommi literally invented the heavy metal sound because he got his fingertips chopped off and needed to tune the guitar down lower so the prosthetics wouldn't tear to shreds. Apparently the universe hasn't figured out yet that if you try to make Iommi's life a living hell, he'll just turn it right back around on you and make the world a little more awesome!
He also spoke on touring with the group whilst ill:
"After we released the album we went on tour and played 81 shows in 28 countries. I really enjoyed it, but it was tough. After the illness I got really tired. Every six weeks I had to fly home for treatment at the Parkway Hospital in Solihull, just outside Birmingham.
I was hooked up to a drip and given an antibody that sort of coats the cancer cells and stops them spreading. Then I had to be home for two or three weeks recovering before I could join up with the band again. We had to plan the whole tour around my treatment.
That meant a lot of travelling. And to make matters worse, flying affects my blood cells now because of the cancer. By the time I got to the hotel I’d have anxiety, the shakes, all sorts of things I’d never had before. It was so bad I began worrying whether I was going to be all right. It took me two months to recover after the tour finished, but the doctors said: ‘What do you expect? You’ve been pushing yourself so hard.’"
And really, what Black Sabbath story would be complete without some kind of "Ozzy being dopey" anecdote?
"Ozzy was actually really helpful. It was good to have someone around who had experienced it all before because you always fear the worst when you talk about cancer. Ozzy went through a lot of that stuff when Sharon had colon cancer and it spread to her lymph nodes. When I felt tired he would say: ‘This is what happened with Sharon, you ought to go and lie down, have a rest.’ He even offered to make the tea, but he’s still Ozzy. He’d disappear for three hours then come back empty handed. You’d ask him: ‘Where’s the tea?’ And he’d say: ‘Oh yeah, I forgot.’"
We hope the Godfather of the heavy metal riff lives forever, but that's just us.
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