Tony Iommi Mourns the Death of His Longtime Guitar Tech Mike Clement
Longtime Black Sabbath guitarist Tony Iommi is mourning the death of one of his closest associates, guitar tech Mike Clement. Clement died Monday morning (Nov. 28).
"It’s a very sad day for me today," wrote Iommi on social media. "Mike Clement my dear old friend and my guitar tech for the last 33yrs passed away this morning. Mike was a really lovely man very loyal and I could depend on him 100%. My deepest condolences go out to his family and his many friends. RIP - Tony."
Earlier this year, it was Iommi that shared the news that Clement had been placed in a medically induced coma earlier this year after taking a fall at his workplace back in April. That said, an official cause of death was not revealed.
Clement had a storied career in the music business, working with Iommi since 1990. Prior to that, the guitar tech had worked with Motorhead for three-and-a-half years.
The guitar tech was interviewed by Thomann's Guitars and Basses in 2021 (as seen below), going into detail about the setup he used to work with Iommi. "He never thrashes," Clement said at the time, as transcribed by Guitar World. "It kind of goes with his personality and also because we think very carefully about the rig - the rig does all the hard work." The tech also revealed that Iommi had not broken a string onstage in 25 years. Revisit that interview below.
Loudwire sends our condolences to Clement's family and his extended musical family including Iommi.