Ken Dashow

Ken Dashow

Listen to Ken Dashow everyday and don't forget about Breakfast With The Beatles every Sunday Morning.Full Bio

 

Tony Iommi "Amazed" Keith Richards Is Still Alive but Lemmy Isn't

Tony Iommi "Amazed" Keith Richards Is Still Alive but Lemmy Isn't

Tony Iommi knows excess. 

He's seen plenty of it first hand. And like so many others, the Black Sabbath guitarist is surprised at the staying power of some fellow rock 'n' roll elders, like Rolling Stones guitarist Keith Richards, in spite of all the ... overdoing it over the years. 

Iommi recently lamented his classic rock contemporaries who have passed on because of problems with drugs and alcohol.

"I've seen so many of my friends or people in the business who have done drugs and whatever else and died, from John Bonham onwards," he told The Herald. "John was a good friend. I've seen other friends go a similar way through drugs and alcohol abuse."

Iommi added that he recognizes the impulse to imbibe. Iconic Mötorhead frontman Lemmy Kilmister is another one, he pointed out, who lasted longer than people thought possible.

"You get lonely," he continued. "You get bored in the hotel so you try to find something to do to be somewhere else. We saw it with Lemmy. He was the epitome of rock and roll. He was the one who would burn the candle at both ends all the time, but at some point, you've got to look at it and say, 'I can't do that anymore.' ... Keith Richards, I'm amazed he's still pottering on. I take my hat off to him."

The guitarist, of course, watched Ozzy Osbourne's legendary intake of drugs and alcohol for the better part of a decade in Black Sabbath before firing Ozzy when it got to be too much

Iommi has thought a lot about his mortality since losing Ronnie James Dio to cancer in 2010 and then being diagnosed with the disease himself less than a year later.  

While Iommi's cancer is in remission, he's expressed that he expects the disease to return

Since laying Black Sabbath to rest last spring, Iommi has pledged his intent to return to music ... but not at the expense of enjoying a few more sunny days


Photo: Getty Images


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