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Birmingham Mail, UK
March 3 2013
Black Sabbath's Tony Iommi has song selected for the Eurovision Song Contest
3 Mar 2013 20:48
Track written by Brummie guitarist officially chosen as Armenian entry
for this year's event
Birmingham rock legend Tony Iommi has qualified for this year's
Eurovision Song Contest - after his song Lonely Planet was selected as
the official entry for Armenia.
Gor Sujyan, singer with Armenian rock act Dorians, performed four
songs during the national final before a studio panel and TV audience
voted the track written by Black Sabbath guitarist Iommi as their
favourite.
Gor Sujyan will perform the song at Eurovision's second semi-final in
Sweden on May 16, aiming to land a place in the big final in Malmo on
May 18.
Armenia holds a special place in Iommi's heart. He was involved in
Rock Aid Armenia, which raised funds and awareness following the
earthquake which devastated the country in December 1988.
In 2011 he teamed up with Deep Purple's Ian Gillan to raise money to
build a music school in Armenia.
The two, who were in Black Sabbath together between 1982-84, also
recruited Iron Maiden drummer Nicko McBrain, former Deep Purple
keyboardist Jon Lord and bass player Jason Newsted from Metallica for
the WhoCares project.
They recorded two songs , Out Of My Mind and Holy Water, with proceeds
from sales going towards a new music school in Gyumri.
Tony and Ian had visited the country, sandwiched between Turkey and
Iran, to receive an Order of Honour for Rock Aid Armenia's charity
single Smoke On The Water.
But they had been shocked at the devastation that still existed,
particularly around the town of Gyumri.
``To be honest, it reminded me of growing up in Aston in the 1950s,
which was really bad then - the area had been bombed in the war and
was full of bombsites and ruined buildings,'' Iommi recalled at the
time.
Gillan added: ``When disasters happen in richer countries, such as the
earthquake and tsunami in Japan, there is so much media coverage and
money floods in. But in poorer countries such as Armenia, it's more of
a struggle.''
Iommi was last year diagnosed with lymphoma in January 2012 but
promised to plough on with plans for a new Black Sabbath album after
linking up again with Ozzy Osbourne and Geezer Butler.
Black Sabbath will release their new album 13 - their first since 1978
- in June of this year.
The band were forced to move the recording of their new album from Los
Angeles to the UK after Iommi was diagnosed with cancer so he could be
treated by doctors and continue to work on new tracks for the band.
http://www.birminghammail.co.uk/whats-on/music/black-sabbaths-tony-iommi-song-1716002
March 3 2013
Black Sabbath's Tony Iommi has song selected for the Eurovision Song Contest
3 Mar 2013 20:48
Track written by Brummie guitarist officially chosen as Armenian entry
for this year's event
Birmingham rock legend Tony Iommi has qualified for this year's
Eurovision Song Contest - after his song Lonely Planet was selected as
the official entry for Armenia.
Gor Sujyan, singer with Armenian rock act Dorians, performed four
songs during the national final before a studio panel and TV audience
voted the track written by Black Sabbath guitarist Iommi as their
favourite.
Gor Sujyan will perform the song at Eurovision's second semi-final in
Sweden on May 16, aiming to land a place in the big final in Malmo on
May 18.
Armenia holds a special place in Iommi's heart. He was involved in
Rock Aid Armenia, which raised funds and awareness following the
earthquake which devastated the country in December 1988.
In 2011 he teamed up with Deep Purple's Ian Gillan to raise money to
build a music school in Armenia.
The two, who were in Black Sabbath together between 1982-84, also
recruited Iron Maiden drummer Nicko McBrain, former Deep Purple
keyboardist Jon Lord and bass player Jason Newsted from Metallica for
the WhoCares project.
They recorded two songs , Out Of My Mind and Holy Water, with proceeds
from sales going towards a new music school in Gyumri.
Tony and Ian had visited the country, sandwiched between Turkey and
Iran, to receive an Order of Honour for Rock Aid Armenia's charity
single Smoke On The Water.
But they had been shocked at the devastation that still existed,
particularly around the town of Gyumri.
``To be honest, it reminded me of growing up in Aston in the 1950s,
which was really bad then - the area had been bombed in the war and
was full of bombsites and ruined buildings,'' Iommi recalled at the
time.
Gillan added: ``When disasters happen in richer countries, such as the
earthquake and tsunami in Japan, there is so much media coverage and
money floods in. But in poorer countries such as Armenia, it's more of
a struggle.''
Iommi was last year diagnosed with lymphoma in January 2012 but
promised to plough on with plans for a new Black Sabbath album after
linking up again with Ozzy Osbourne and Geezer Butler.
Black Sabbath will release their new album 13 - their first since 1978
- in June of this year.
The band were forced to move the recording of their new album from Los
Angeles to the UK after Iommi was diagnosed with cancer so he could be
treated by doctors and continue to work on new tracks for the band.
http://www.birminghammail.co.uk/whats-on/music/black-sabbaths-tony-iommi-song-1716002