Black Sabbath guitarist writes Armenia Eurovision song

The guitarist of British rock band Black Sabbath, Tony Iommi, has composed the music for Armenia's entry to this year's Eurovision song contest, the performers said Thursday.

"Iommi's rock ballad 'Lonely Planet' will be performed by Armenian rock singer Gor Sujyan and his band, Dorians," the group's spokeswoman Diana Hovannisyan told AFP.

"The manager of the Dorians asked Tony Iommi to write a song for the Armenian participants of Eurovision and he kindly accepted the request," she said.

The Dorians "are a good band, the singer has a really good voice and the lyrics they've written are in English," the founding member of Black Sabbath wrote on his website.

Iommi has been involved in charitable activities in Armenia since 1988, when a devastating earthquake hit the small Caucasus country, killing up to 45,000 people and leaving another 500,000 homeless.

The Eurovision Song Contest, which is broadcast across Europe but also in dozens of other countries, takes place in the southwestern Swedish city of Malmo on May 18.

Ranked number 25 in Rolling Stone magazine's list of the "100 Greatest Guitarists of All Time," Iommi is best known as the founder and member of pioneering heavy metal band Black Sabbath from Birmingham.

According to his official biography, Iommi continues writing for Black Sabbath, despite undergoing chemo- and radiotherapy after being diagnosed with lymphoma in 2012.

Armenia withdrew from last year's Eurovision contest in neighbouring Azerbaijan, its bitter foe, citing security concerns. It has been relatively successful in the contest, coming fourth in 2008.