Tony Iommi Is The Best Metal Guitarist Of All Time

Gibson name the Black Sabbath guitarist as number one   24-Sep-12

Gibson have named Tony Iommi as the best metal guitarist ever in a list of the top ten metal guitarists on their website. The guitar manufacturer praised the Black Sabbath guitarist for his position as one of the pioneers of the heavy metal genre, with Gibson blogger Anne Erickson writing:

"Tony Iommi’s dark, distinct guitar textures in Black Sabbath helped spearhead the heavy metal movement and its signature massive riffing. 'Iron Man' 'Black Sabbath' and 'Paranoid' boast some of the most memorable riffs of all time, with lumbering heavy metal and crushingly heavy choruses. Iommi’s playing is certainly immortalized through the generations of heavy metal bands that have followed."

In January of this year, Tony Iommi announced that he had been diagnosed with lymphoma, a form of cancer. Despite this, Iommi and the band reunited on stage later in the year for a series of gigs.

Iommi's story is one of the most famous and spectacular in rock history, injuring his fretting hand in an industrial accident during his last day of work in a sheet metal factory (aged 17). Despite the setback he went onto achieve greatness with Black Sabbath.

But who else did Gibson include in their top ten metal guitarists of all time?

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