Black Sabbath’s Tony Iommi puts his name to a Birmingham music scholarship
Heavy metal pioneer Tony Iommi is sponsoring a new music scholarship at BIMM Institute Birmingham.
The Tony Iommi BIMM Birmingham Scholarship is worth £20,250 for the successful applicant and recognises talent and creativity in music.
Speaking at the launch, BIMM Birmingham’s Executive Principal, Dara Kilkenny, said: “Tony Iommi has agreed to put his name to a scholarship which will be worth £20,250 for one of the applicants, and it could be one of you in this room. It’s available to all disciplines, all degree students. You will not pay any fees.”
Tony himself attended the launch where he took part in a Q&A, sat down for an interview with Orange Goblin drummer Chris Turner and signed records and took pictures with 20 soon-to-be freshers.
Commenting on the scholarship, Tony said: “It’s fantastic; I just think that you have to go for it and work as hard as you can. Believe in what you are doing. You have to believe in it, and follow it through. Work as hard as you can. You have to love it and enjoy it.”
In the Q&A, Tony spoke about Black Sabbath’s much-fabled jam sessions with Led Zeppelin, telling the students: “John (Bonham) and I were good friends. He used to play me their stuff, and I would play him our stuff at rehearsals.
“One night we were in the studio, and (Led Zeppelin) came down -it ruined our session- John said let’s play Supernaut, so we started playing it, and then we started making stuff up. It was quite good. There is a tape somewhere of those sessions.”
He was also asked what it feels like to be hailed as a torchbearer for heavy metal music: “We are proud of it. It feels weird, so many bands of the years recognise us as their influence. It’s a great honour.”
To find out more about the BIMM Birmingham click here.