The storytelling studio from Gibson dedicated to original, artist-driven content that celebrates music history, culture, and the instruments that shape sound—proudly announces the worldwide premiere of Volume One of its new limited music docuseries, Iommi: The Godfather of Heavy Metal, streaming exclusively via Gibson TV throughout 2026.
Watch the global premiere of Volume One—the first installment of the limited series.
From the industrial heart of Birmingham, England, to stages around the world, Iommi: The Godfather of Heavy Metal traces the life and work of Tony Iommi, the guitarist whose ideas didn’t just change rock music—they created an entirely new musical vocabulary. Beginning with his working-class roots and the emergence of Black Sabbath, the series follows how Iommi’s riffs, tunings, and sense of atmosphere laid the groundwork for what would become heavy metal, influencing generations of players across blues-based rock, hard rock, and metal.
Volume One pairs Iommi’s own reflections with conversations from a wide range of artists who built on that foundation, including Brian May, Slash, Zakk Wylde, Yungblud, Scott Ian, John 5, Phil Anselmo, and Blackie Lawless, with appearances by Tom Morello and Troy Van Leeuwen, and firsthand perspectives from fellow Birmingham originals Rob Halford and Justin Broadrick. Rather than treating metal as a monolith, the series shows how Iommi’s ideas splintered into countless scenes, sounds, and styles—all tracing back to the same source.
The series also places Black Sabbath in a longer musical lineage, showing how Iommi’s dark, blues-rooted riffs and sense of space drew from earlier traditions while pushing rock into something heavier, moodier, and more confrontational. Decades on, those choices still echo across modern guitar playing, from doom and sludge to alternative and experimental rock.
As Iommi puts it, he’s grateful to see the story told through the voices of so many musicians who carried the music forward, and to the fans who kept it alive long after it first emerged from Birmingham’s factories and rehearsal rooms.
By the time the optimism of the Summer of Love faded, Iommi and Black Sabbath were carving out a heavier path for rock music. What began in Birmingham became a lasting reference point for hard rock and metal, still heard in how today’s players approach the instrument.
