After it was revealed yesterday that Black Sabbath guitarist Tony Iommi had been diagnosed with the early stages of lymphoma, members of the hard-rock and metal community have followed the Sabbath’s request to send Iommi warm thoughts. Check out the words of support, below, for the man who helped give birth to metal—from the likes of Slash, Zakk Wylde, and Sebastian Bach.
Zakk Wylde (Black Label Society, Ozzy Osbourne): “Big BL get well wishes out to Lord Iommi!!!”
Glenn Hughes (Deep Purple, Black Sabbath, Black Country Communion): “Prayers please for my brother Tony Iommi… We all pray for a full, speedy recover from cancer…. Much love…”
David Draiman (Disturbed): “Everyone please send their prayers/good vibes/best wishes to Tony Iommi for a speedy recovery; he has been diagnosed [futureusgallerywith] lymphoma.”
Anthrax:: “This really does suck. GET WELL SOON TONY!”
Randy Blythe (LAMB OF GOD): “I absolutely insist that every single follower of mine, religious or not, send a prayer up for Tony Iommi. He has been diagnosed with lyphoma. It’s in its early stages—Sabbath is writing a new record, and they are continuing to. Iommi is the reason heavy metal exists. Pray for him. You pray to Crom, Odin, yourself—don’t care who. Just send up some positive vibes for Tony Iommi.
“This is terrible news for metal. I’ve toured with Iommi a coupla times. He is a gentleman and a living legend. Hopefully since it’s in early stages they can beat it pretty easily. But Iommi’s not a young man, so think good thoughts! It is no secret that I have donated both my time, energy, facial hair, and a fair amount of my money to cancer research. I’ve walked the walk (literally) as well as talked the talk. However, there’s nothing wrong with positive vibes.”
Sebastian Bach (Skid Row): “All hail the mighty Tony Iommi. & FUCK YOU, Cancer.”
Gus G. (Ozzy Osbourne, Firewind): “I’m in shock to hear the news about Tony Iommi. Get well soon ‘Iron Man’!! Your biggest fan.”
Slash: “Best wishes for a full recovery to Tony Iommi.”
Frank Bello (Anthrax): “Get well soon Tony!!”
Chris Jericho (Fozzy): “Best wishes and prayers to Tony Iommi in these tough times. The MASTER of the riff will crush his cancer with the power of metal (and God)!!
Mikael Akerfeldt (Opeth): “Just read the news, and it’s perplexing and shocking to say the least. On behalf of the band and, I’m confident to say, the whole population of rock music lovers in the world, we all wish for a swift recovery for Tony. Get well!”
Richie Faulkner (Judas Priest): “My thoughts go out to Tony Iommi and I wish him a fast and full recovery.”
Michael Amott (Arch Enemy, Carcass): “Here’s hoping for a solid and speedy recovery for my guitar hero Tony Iommi!”
Shawn Drover (Megadeth): “Tony Iommi – Please get well soon!!!!!!!!!!!!”
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Revolver Presents: The Big Four is available on newsstands and online everywhere today. It contains features all-new, exclusive interviews with members from each group talking about how they’ve crossed paths in the past, the idea behind the Big Four tour, and what lies in the future. For more on the issue, click here. Check out an excerpt below.
REVOLVER Lars, how much attention did you pay Megadeth early on?
LARS ULRICH I don’t remember getting that into the first record, but when Peace Sells came out in ’86, it just blew me away. That was right up my alley. That literally became my favorite record for a long time. Dave would come up and play San Francisco a lot. And I would always go find him, and we would drink and do lots of drugs and sit around. For those years, ’84, ’85…me and him got over our issues really quickly at that time.
I remember at the …And Justice for All tour, we played down in Irvine Meadows
, and Dave came down and hung out at the last couple shows at the Justice tour. This may have been ’89, and we just hang out. I remember actually when we finished the …And Justice for All album in L.A., in the summer of ’88, I went to some apartment and played it for him at 5 in the morning. We were sitting there, playing “Blackened” and a bunch of other stuff while we were busy keeping ourselves awake. Me and Dave had kind of a friendship and a cool thing going at that time, up through most of the ’80s.It wasn’t until both bands started getting bigger that this whole kind of thing started happening in the press, which was really kind of different than what we had going between us. There was almost like two relationships there. The press loved the whole Megadeth-Metallica [futureusgalleryrivalry]. And I sort of think it got a life of its own. And in some way, you could argue that the thing that the press was doing about setting our bands up, eventually started kind of transcending itself into our personal relationship and probably became a big part of the fact that over the ’90s it got a little frosty at times. You know what I mean?
Lars solo photo by Anton Corbijn. Lars and Dave by Ross Halfin.
In celebration of the upcoming Big Four shows—featuring Metallica, Slayer, Megadeth, and Anthrax—Revolver has created a new, special collector’s issue all about the giants of thrash metal. It hits newsstands today and is also available for purchase online here.
The issue features all-new, exclusive interviews with members from each group talking about how they’ve crossed paths in the past, the idea behind the Big Four tour, and what lies in the future. Also included are an in-depth history of U.S. thrash metal, a look back at the 1990 Clash of the Titans tour—when the Big Three of thrash, Slayer, Megadeth, and Anthrax, first joined forces—and stories on the making of each band’s masterpiece: Metallica’s Master of Puppets, Slayer’s Reign in Blood, Megadeth’s Peace Sells…but Who’s Buying?, and Anthrax’s Among the Living.
Revolver Presents: The Big Four features original “Four Horsemen” cover art by Baroness frontman John Dyer Baizley. The magazine is also jam-packed with rare and never-before-seen photos from the bands’ archives.
Get your copy now before the issue sells out!!! At your local newsstand or online here.
