It was a case of rock meets rock as legendary Black Sabbath guitarist Tony Iommi was presented with a life-sized sculpture of a prehistoric fossil named after him.
Palaeontologist and heavy metal fan Mats Eriksson had previously discovered the 469 million-year-old fossil of an eel-like marine vertebrate in Russia – and had no hesitation in naming the new species Drepanoistodus Iommii after his rock hero.
And Mats was invited to Westside from his home in Sweden to present Tony with a life-sized model of the fossil, specially made for the occasion by sculptor Esben Horn. Tony had previously enjoyed a Facetime chat with Mats on the Black Sabbath bench on Westside at the end of 2021.
Mats and Esben were invited to the Velvet Music Rooms in Broad Street to present Tony with the sculpture of the fossil.
Tony said of the meeting: “It was great to meet Mats and Esben today and receive an amazing replica of the Iommi fossil. And thanks to Mike Olley and Steve at Velvet Music Rooms.”
The Black Sabbath legend had previously said: “It was a real shock to hear that a fossil’s been named after me. I’ve had a bit of abuse from my friends about it who’ve enjoyed calling me an old fossil, but I think it’s great, a real honour.
“This has to be the weirdest thing that’s ever been named after me but I’m really proud of it and I wanted to thank Mats and his team in person for being such brilliant fans.”
Mats, who has been a fan of Black Sabbath since he was a boy, said he was thrilled by his team’s discovery of the fossil, and it was great to combine his love affairs of nature and music.
Mike Olley, general manager of Westside BID, said: “I’m delighted we were able to set up a meeting between Tony, Mats and Esben, and present Tony with the model of the fossil named after him.
“Tony is one of Birmingham’s greatest rock heroes and this is a fantastic gesture by Mats, and Esben, to honour him in this way. He is now officially an old fossil!”
Tony posted Westside BID’s pictures of the event on his social media channels, which on Twitter alone generated nearly 28,000 views within 24 hours.
Main picture: (from left) Mats Eriksson, Tony Iommi and Esben Horn.
REmarkable!
It’s an honour for Iommi ! His Sabbath music travelled through decades and fashions and will stay for ever for thousand years..