BLACK SABBATH guitarist Tony Iommi has reacted to the passing of Terry O'Neill, the British photographer known for his famous shots of celebrities in the 1960s and 1970s. Earlier today, Iommi took to his social media to write: "Sad to hear about Terry O'Neil, he was a really nice guy and it was an honour to have him take the portrait shot for my autobiography." According to the BBC, O'Neill died on Saturday after a battle with prostate cancer. He was 81. Released in hardback in November 2011, Tony's memoir, "Iron Man: My Journey Through Heaven And Hell With Black Sabbath", landed at position No. 35 on the New York Times "Hardcover Nonfiction" best sellers list. Da Capo reportedly paid a six-figure amount at auction for the rights to the 352-page book, which was described as "'Angela's Ashes' meets 'The Ground Beneath Her Feet' meets 'Spinal Tap'" by Foundry Literary + Media co-founder Peter McGuigan, who completed the North American rights deal for the memoir. In an interview with Guitar World magazine, Iommi explained how his autobiography came together. "I had a chap called TJ Lammers, who I met many, many years ago when he used to work at Phonogram Records," he said. "He later became a journalist and he had his own magazine. He lives in Holland and we've stayed in touch over the years. I've had a few people say, 'Oh, I can write a book for you,' but I wanted a different outlook to the normal music journalist, and that's what happened. He came over to England and stayed with me for a few days. Then he'd write it up, come back again and do more. The whole thing took a couple years to finish." When asked how his book is different to the typical rock biography, Iommi said, "I don't know. I don't read rock biographies, so it could be the same, it could be different. It's just my life, really. It's about what happened and what I grew up from, and how I've gone through life to where I am now. It's something I probably should have done a long time ago because there are so many books out now. I've been meaning to do it for many, many years but never got around to it."
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Sad to hear about Terry O’Neil, he was a really nice guy and it was an honour to have him take the portrait shot for my autobiography. — Tony Posted by Tony Iommi on Monday, November 18, 2019
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