Black Sabbath legend Tony Iommi’s guitar at center of dispute with Hard Rock Cafe

Guitar pioneer and Black Sabbath founder Tony Iommi has revealed a concerning situation involving one of his most treasured instruments and the Hard Rock Cafe chain.

In a recent conversation with Guitar World magazine, Iommi disclosed that the famous restaurant chain is refusing to honor an agreement regarding his iconic red Gibson SG guitar, affectionately known as “Monkey” due to its distinctive sticker. This instrument was notably featured on several of Black Sabbath’s groundbreaking early albums.

According to Iommi, the situation began when a Hard Rock Cafe memorabilia buyer visited him in England.

“At the time, I had retired the Monkey SG from touring because it had become too precious to risk damaging,” Iommi explained. The buyer proposed purchasing the guitar for public display, with a verbal agreement that Iommi could repurchase it at the original price if he ever wished to reclaim it.

The deal seemed mutually beneficial – the guitar would be preserved and publicly displayed rather than stored away in a case. However, following the buyer’s passing, complications arose. When Iommi attempted to exercise his buyback option, Hard Rock Cafe representatives claimed no knowledge of any such arrangement.

The guitar remains in Hard Rock Cafe’s possession, despite Iommi’s attempts to reclaim this significant piece of heavy metal history.