How did Tony Iommi Lose His Fingers?

Tony Iommi is the co-founder and leader of the most successful heavy metal band Black Sabbath. When he was 17 years old, he always dreamed about being a guitar player. Because of the bad ongoing British economy, his friend worked in a factory-like Tony Iommi. Despite the issues, he accomplishes creating a band named Bird and Bees. Even Tony Iommi planned to go across Europe with his band. However, on his last shift, he encounters an accident. Tony Iommi lost his index finger.

What happened to Tony Iommi’s fingers?

When the accident occurred, the time was in the middle of the 1960s. Tony Iommi worked as a factory worker industrial town in central England. He had been working as a welder. However, his boss told him to work on a massive metal flattening machine for the first time. Normally this work is for his co-worker. Tony had to push the metal into the machine. However, it caught him off guard was the intense force of the press.

Tony Iommi said: As I’m pushing the metal through into this machine, it just came down on my index finger, bang. I pulled my arm back, and as I pulled it back, I pulled the ends off the fingers.

That accident gave him too much pain and, because of that, he could not stand on his feet. His friend took him to the hospital. Despite his efforts, Tony received devastating news. The doctors told him they could not cure his fingers, and because of that, the Doctor needed to cut off his fingers. He assumed his guitar-playing days were now over. However, this situation did not stop him from playing guitar.

What are Tony Iommi’s fingertips made of?

To turn back-stages, had put his too much effort. Tony invited his solution to play guitar again. Tony Iommi explained this situation in an interview, “I made my own [finger]tips,” “I got a washing-up bottle — a plastic bottle — and melted it down into a ball. Then I got a hot soldering iron, would drill a hole out in it, and fit it over my fingers, so there was this big ball in my finger. I’d sit there for days just rubbing it down to make a shape of a finger.”

Pursuing his career goal, Tony Iommi needed to re-learn the guitar from scratch. Because of the weakness of his finger, he needed to learn every chord again. With these changes, this situation affects his guitar song. It became different. This difference makes him a guitar legend.

With difference, Tony has re-invented guitar playing. Tony Iommi created something new, something fresh, something good. Some people say that this is a tragedy. However, Tony Iommi does not think the same. With this awful situation, Tony‘s life changes completely. If he did not lose his finger, he would not find to chance to join Black Sabbath.

He gave an interview to Icons about this situation. You can watch a video about the story of his life.