Tony Iommi was the guest of honor on SkyArts’ new show “Greatest Guitar Riffs”, to talk about the legendary Black Sabbath song, “Paranoid” with Queen’s guitarist, Brian May. Apart from talking the duo got down and jammed on the monumental riff Tony wrote back in the day.
“I’m sitting down with my mate, Brian, to talk riffs,” says Iommi. “We first met in the early ’70s, and we’ve been best friends ever since”, he continues.
May and Iommi then recalled a Black Sabbath rehearsal, during which May turned up and jammed with Iommi for hours after the band was finished. “We were jamming away, and gradually as we were playing, all the gear’s getting taken away apart from our two amps,” Iommi said. “Everyone got bored and left,” May laughs.
Later, May asks Iommi how he came up with such bold, iconic riffs. “I don’t know, I think it’s within,” Iommi says. “Normally, we jam around and play something, and then Ozzy [Osbourne] will go, ‘What the fuck’s that?’ It just feels right.”
After Iommi shared the storty about how ‘Paranoid’ was a last-minute addition the two guitarists jam to ‘Paranoid’. “I’m gonna commit sacrilege by joining in,” May says as Iommi begins the main riff. At the end of the jam, May calls the riff “good” and jovially adds that he thinks it “will go far”.
