That's when Iommi got a different kind of creative, according to Patient Innovation. The Black Sabbath co-founder was about to go on tour for the first time when a factory accident changed everything. Maybe the doctors were right. Also, be sure to check out the Musician's Institute on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram. Tony, I wanted to thank you for a lifetime of guitar. With all industrial jobs, there's a risk of injury or, you know, dismemberment, especially when a worker is moved to fill in on equipment with which they aren't familiar. Because he wanted to keep playing guitar. Ozzy Osbourne speaks on why he didn't have a good time performing with Tony Iommi and Black Sabbath.Want YOUR band played on Rock Feed? In 2017, just before the Loudwire Music Awards, Iommi spoke to the Musician's Institute and described his previous working life: "I'd be on a line and they'd pass stuff down to me and I'd weld it, and then it'd go on to somewhere else" (found via Loudwire). Of course, there were no light strings in them days, they were all quite heavy really. Tony Iommi Fingers Accident - Tony Iommi's mangled fingers haven't stopped him from being one of the most celebrated guitarists in rock and roll. See Tony Iommi in the Top 66 Hard Rock + Metal Guitarists of All Time, Black Sabbath's Tony Iommi: My Cancer Is 'Probably Going to Come Back', Multiple Rockers Back Claims of Manson's Abuse, Oli Sykes Reacts to TikTok Star's BMTH Remix, Two May Collab Soon. Turning tragedy into victory by creating your own fingers — the ones Iommi used to become one of history's greatest guitar players. He was lead guitarist and one of the four founding members of heavy metal band Black Sabbath, and was the band's primary composer and sole continuous member for nearly five decades. It came down. During part one of the interview, Iommi talks about his early days as a musician, cutting off his fingers in an industrial accident and his road to forming Black Sabbath. Anthony Frank Iommi is a British guitarist, songwriter, and producer. “It worked, but then I had to persevere for a long, long time to get used to working with them… and it was painful.”. Iommi says the doctors removed the bone, leaving him with roughly two-thirds of each finger, and told him his … Back before Tony Iommi was of Black Sabbath fame, he was simply Tony Iommi, the regular guy who played some guitar and worked as an industrial welder. Keep rocking! Is there nothing he can't do? Tony Iommi is synonymous with heavy rock, his innovative, de-tuned, dark riffs are considered to be the blueprint for hundreds of bands that followed. He lost the tips of the middle and ring fingers on his right hand thanks to a horrible accident on his very last day in the job. “One day, the person that would be sending me the thing to weld never turned up, so they put me on this giant, huge press — a guillotine-type press. iommi already played lefty. The Ltd. Ed. The guitarist goes on to talk about the first bands he ever performed with. Those are both crazy feats when you consider he's missing a couple crucial body parts needed for that whole guitar playing thing. https://www.amazon.com/Iron-Man-Journey-through-Sabbath/dp/0306821451 After gluing various types of cloth to the plastic tips, to no avail, the future Black Sabbath legend had his eureka moment after cutting up an old leather jacket. He played alongside both Ozzy Osbourne and Ronnie James Dio as the only continuous member of the band. Coming out of the late '60s, Sabbath brought with them a unique sound and horror aesthetic that would inspire the bands that came after, and no small part of that was due to guitarist Tony Iommi. I have two bad fingers on my left hand, but switched to playing left handed. The only things the press left of Tony Iommi's two injured fingers after it came down were a couple of stubs and some visible bone. Tony Iommi, born in UK, in 1948, is a guitarist who lost the tips of the middle and ring finger of his right hand, while working at a factory, when he was 17. | iHeartRadio Like, when Loudwire cast his hand for the Hand of Doom trophy that they give out during their music awards. Check out part one of Tony Iommi’s conversation at the Musician’s Institute above and stay tuned for part two launching Dec. 26. And, with that fateful chop, the future metal guitar star lost the tips of his right-hand ring and middle fingers. While speaking with interviewer Ryan J. Downey, Iommi recalled the accident in gruesome detail. The guy even played a stint with Jethro Tull. FREE Shipping on orders over $25 shipped by Amazon. Iommi says the doctors removed the bone, leaving him with roughly two-thirds of each finger, and told him his guitar playing days were over. “We were all part of the band, but he was the most irreplaceable one [out of all of us],” he said during an appearance in producer Rick Rubin’s Broken Record podcast.