Riff merchant Tony Iommi

9th Nov 2009

Black Sabbath guitarist Tony Iommi doesn't reckon he'll ever run out of riffs.

The legendary guitarist said he has a huge stockpile of ideas which he's been saving up over the years, but he doesn't reckon he's likely to need to break into them.

He said to BANG showbiz: "I've got plenty in stock but I never get back to them. I always write new stuff. I have got riffs and ideas in my home studio that I've not even listened to yet.

"I find that by the time I'm ready to go back to them I've already written something else. If I ever get stuck, I will - but by now, you know, I've been going for a few years."

Iommi - now playing in Heaven and Hell, a group made up of himself and Black Sabbath bassist Geezer Butler, alongside ex-Black Sabbath members Ronnie James Dio and Vinny Appice - also said his favourite riffs are the ones he wrote on the early Black Sabbath albums in the early 70s.

Speaking at the Marshall Classic Rock Roll of Honour awards last week, he added: "I like the early stuff, basic riffs, and I also like 'Sabbath Bloody Sabbath', I think that was real landmark."