Tony Iommi Awarded Lord Mayor's Awards from His Birth City

JAKARTA - World music legend and Black Sabbath guitarist, Tony Iommi, has officially been awarded the prestigious Lord Mayor's Awards.

The award was presented directly by the Mayor of Birmingham, Zafar Iqbal MBE, at the city council's annual meeting, as a form of appreciation for Iommi's contribution to the international scene.

Iommi, who was born in Handsworth, Birmingham, on February 19, 1948, was successful in putting Birmingham on the world cultural map through the blueprint of heavy metal music he created.

Together with Black Sabbath, his innovations not only influenced hundreds of bands afterwards, but also enriched the lives of millions of music lovers around the world.

Zafar Iqbal stated that this award is a form of respect for figures who provide extraordinary service and dedication to the community.

"From global icons like Tony Iommi to those who work tirelessly in our communities, every award winner has played a vital role in shaping the Birmingham we all love, strengthening our community, and enhancing its reputation on the national and international stage," said Iqbal, quoted by Blabbermouth, Wednesday, May 20.

Iommi's success in the global music industry actually came from a story of incredible determination. When he was a teenager, he almost lost his musical career due to a tragic accident in a metal factory that cut off the tips of his right fingers.

Inspired by guitarist Django Reinhardt, Iommi refused to give up and made a makeshift tool from soft plastic to attach to the tip of his finger.

The physical limitations actually gave birth to the detuned technique - lowering the pitch of the guitar strings - which produced a dark, heavy, and thick sound. This style of play then became the foundation for the birth of the heavy metal genre.

Together with Ozzy Osbourne, Geezer Butler, and Bill Ward, Black Sabbath produced legendary albums that dominated the world, such as "Paranoid" (1970) and "Master of Reality" (1971), and managed to sell more than 70 million albums worldwide.

As the only member to survive throughout Black Sabbath's history, Iommi's dedication to music never wavered. Even when he was diagnosed with follicular lymphoma in the process of recording the album "13" (2013), he still wrote songs in his home studio between chemotherapy treatments.

The maestro's tenacity bore fruit by bringing the album to the top of the Billboard charts in the United States for the first time in the band's history.