Tony Iommi in search for Guitar Star

By Scott Munro
published

Black Sabbath icon to appear as mentor on TV talent show alongside Rodrigo y Gabriela

Black Sabbath icon Tony Iommi is set to appear as a mentor on an upcoming talent show.

Guitar Star will air on Sky Arts on June 9 at 8pm (opens in new tab) and Iommi will be joined by Rodrigo y Gabriela, Lee Ritenour and Milos Karadaglic in a search for the most talented guitarist in the UK and Ireland.

Iommi says: “I’d like someone who plays from the soul as opposed to somebody learning every single note and getting everything perfect.

“The idea is to listen and absorb as much as you can and when you play, give it all you’ve got from the heart as opposed to a book or copying or learning. It’s got to come from within and show what you do and what you’re capable of doing.”

The winner will get the opportunity to play at the 10th Latitude festival, Henham Park, Suffolk from July 16-19.

The first eight Black Sabbath albums are to be reissued on vinyl over the coming weeks and the band are expected to record their final album and tour in 2016.

Scott Munro
Scott Munro
Louder e-commerce editor

Scott has spent more than 30 years in newspapers and magazines as an editor, production editor, sub-editor, designer, writer and reviewer. After initially joining our news desk in the summer of 2014, he moved to the e-commerce team full-time in 2020. He maintains Louder’s buyer’s guides, scouts out the best deals for music fans and reviews headphones, speakers, books and more. He's written more than 11,000 articles across Louder, Classic Rock, Metal Hammer and Prog and has previous written for publications including IGN, the Sunday Mirror, Daily Record and The Herald covering everything from daily news and weekly features, to video games, travel and whisky. Scott grew up listening to rock and prog, cutting his teeth on bands such as Marillion and Magnum before his focus shifted to alternative and post-punk in the late 80s. His favourite bands are Fields Of The Nephilim, The Cure, New Model Army, All About Eve, The Mission, Ned's Atomic Dustbin and Drab Majesty, but he also still has a deep love of Rush.