Tony Iommi raises more than £19,000 for NHS charity

Tony Iommi has raised more than £19,000 for Birmingham’s Heartlands hospital charity after auctioning a number of personal items.

The Black Sabbath icon revealed earlier this month that he had been planning to hold An Evening With Tony Iommi charity event when coronavirus struck.

Rather than wait for the all clear, the guitarist put several items up for auction, including a signed Epiphone SG, an autographed Supersonic Years box set, various signed versions of The End, and a copy of the Dehumanizer CD with his signature.

The BBC report that the guitar sold for £11,300.

Iommi said on Twitter: “Many thanks to everyone who bid for the auction, it’s a great result. We’ll do our best to get things sent out as soon as we can.”

Announcing the charity auction earlier this month, Iommi said: “Now as all charitable events have been cancelled, I wanted to still do something to help. So, I’ve put a few things together of my own up for auction. All the money raised will go to the Birmingham’s Heartlands hospital charity.

“Please! I hope that you can help – they really do need our support. Without these doctors and nurses, what would we do? We owe them so much.”

Last week, Iommi told Birmingham Live what he’d been doing during the current lockdown, and added:  “I think this has brought us all closer. I’m even in touch with Ozzy every day as he gets over his own health problems in Los Angeles.”