The heavy metal guitarist meets paleontologist Mats Eriksson via a video call when shown a photo of Drepanoistodus Iommii at a ceremony in his native Birmingham, England.
- November 26, 2021
AceShowbiz - Black Sabbath star Tony Iommi has met the paleontologist who honored the rocker by naming a 469-million-year-old fossil after him.
The heavy metal guitarist was shown a photo of the ancient remains of the eel-like creature at a ceremony in his native Birmingham, England, and called Drepanoistodus Iommii "the most weirdest thing that's ever been named after me."
"It was a real shock to learn that a real fossil has been named after me," Tony said. "You can imagine my friends now, and all the abuse I've got."
Paleontologist Mats Eriksson, who named the fossil after his favorite rocker, joined the ceremony via a video call and told the guitarist it was "an absolute honor to meet you."
"The only reason why we do this is to sort of have fun and for me it's a way of combining my love affairs with nature and music," the scientist said. "That's played such an important role in all my life."
Tony replied, "It's really great, I'm really proud of it. Thank you very much."
Eriksson told NBC News in October 2021 that naming the fossil after Iommi was his way of "honoring one of the greatest guitarists in the world in one of the greatest bands of all time."
"He is already immortalized in the music history books and now also in science with this fossil bearing his name," Mats said.
