Black Sabbath film difficult to watch, says Iommi

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The legendary heavy metal group's Back To The Beginning gig at Villa Park in Birmingham last year has been turned into a movie and will be released next month.

Iommi co-founded the band in the 60s alongside Ozzy Osbourne, who died two weeks after the concert, aged 76, Terence "Geezer" Butler and Bill Ward.

However, 78-year-old Iommi said he had seen the footage and was sure that fans would like it.

"I mean I've watched the footage and it's emotional. I've watched it only twice now," he said.

"I find it difficult to watch it, to be honest, because obviously [of] our relationship with each other. But I'm sure people will like it."

Iommi, nicknamed the Godfather Of Heavy Metal, received a "very special" honour on Wednesday for services to music and charity.

The musician was made a Member of the Order of the British Empire by the Princess Royal at Windsor Castle and said Ozzy "would have been pleased".

"I mean, I've got a lot of awards over the years… but this is very special to me, because [it is] from our own country, from England, so yeah really great," he said.

Ozzy died of a reported heart attack while suffering from several health conditions including Parkinson's disease.

Iommi said it had been "up and down" since his death, adding, "I've just kept busy, really".

Born in Birmingham in 1948, Iommi almost did not pursue a career in music after being told he might never play again when he lost the tips of two fingers on his right hand during an industrial accident.

But he later met drummer Ward and, in 1968, the pair formed a heavy blues rock band based in Birmingham – enlisting bassist Butler and frontman Osbourne to form what was then called Earth Blues Company.

The group later changed their name to Black Sabbath, and went on to sell millions of records over the next decade with tracks including Paranoid and War Pigs.

"We came up with something completely different in those days, which was really difficult to get through, but the whole thing is belief, believing in what you do, and we love what we've done," Iommi said.

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