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Anthony Frank Iommi Jr.9781908538857, Coda Books Ltd. . ISBN 9781908538857 (; born 19 February 1948) is an English musician. He co-founded the pioneering heavy metal band Black Sabbath in 1968, and was the guitarist, leader, main Songwriter, and only constant member during the band's existence for over fifty years, playing guitar on all of their releases. He is considered one of the creators of heavy metal music and has been referred to as the "Godfather of Heavy Metal".
As a teen, Iommi lost the tips of his right-hand ring and middle fingers in a work accident at a sheet metal factory, which influenced his distinct playing style. He down-tuned his guitar and used more (partly to make playing easier), and made much use of the tritone (or 'devil's interval'), resulting in a 'heavier' and 'darker' sound that became a hallmark of heavy metal. As well as Black Sabbath, he was briefly live guitarist for Jethro Tull in 1968. Iommi intended Seventh Star (1986) to be his first solo album, but the record label decided to release it under the Black Sabbath name. In 2000, he released his first official solo album Iommi, followed in 2005 by Fused, which featured former bandmate Glenn Hughes. In 2006 Iommi formed Heaven & Hell with former Black Sabbath bandmates. They released The Devil You Know (2009), before disbanding after the death of singer Ronnie James Dio in 2010.
Iommi is widely regarded as one of the greatest and most influential rock guitarists of all time. He has won many awards, including three Grammy Awards and a Lifetime Achievement Award from the National Guitar Museum, and is honoured on the Birmingham Walk of Stars. In 2011, Iommi published his autobiography, entitled Iron Man: My Journey Through Heaven and Hell with Black Sabbath.
Born and raised in Handsworth, Birmingham, Iommi attended Birchfield Road School, where future bandmate Ozzy Osbourne was also a pupil one year behind him. At age eight or nine, while being chased by another boy, Iommi fell and cut his upper lip. As a result, he gained the nickname "Scarface", which made him self-conscious, so he eventually grew his trademark moustache as a means of covering the scar.
At about age 10, Iommi began working out and learned judo, karate, and later boxing as a means of protecting himself from the local gangs which congregated in his neighbourhood. He envisioned a future as a bouncer in a nightclub. Iommi initially wanted to play the drums, but due to the excessive noise he chose the guitar instead as a teenager, after being inspired by the likes of Hank Marvin and the Shadows. After completing school, Iommi worked briefly as a plumber and later in a factory manufacturing rings. He stated that at one point he worked in a music store, but quit after being falsely accused of stealing.
Inspired by Reinhardt's two-fingered guitar playing, Iommi decided to try playing guitar again, though the injury made it quite painful to do so. Although it was an option, Iommi never seriously considered switching hands and learning to play right-handed. In an interview with Guitar World magazine, he was asked if he was "ever tempted to switch to right-handed playing". Iommi responded:
To play left-handed, he fitted homemade thimbles to his injured fingers to extend and protect them; the thimbles were made from an old Fairy Liquid bottle – "melted it down, got a hot soldering iron and shaped it like a finger" – and cut sections from a leather jacket to cover his new homemade prosthetic, which created two technical problems. First, the thimbles prevented him from feeling the strings, causing a tendency to press down very hard on them. Second, he had difficulty bending strings, leading him to seek light-gauge guitar strings to make it easier to do so. (2026). 9780634046193, Hal Leonard. ISBN 9780634046193 However, Iommi recalls that such strings were not manufactured at the time, so he used banjo strings instead, until around 1970–71 when Picato Strings began making light-gauge guitar strings. Furthermore, he used the injured fingers predominantly for fretting chords rather than single-note solos. In 1974, Iommi told Guitar Player that the thimbles "helped with his technique" because he had to use his little finger more than he had before the accident.Michael Molenda, ed. (2011). Guitar Player Presents Guitar Heroes of the 70s. Milwaukee, Wisconsin: Backbeat Books. p. 131. Later, he also began tuning his guitar to lower pitches, sometimes as far as three below standard guitar tuning (e.g., on "Children of the Grave", "Lord of this World", and "Into the Void", all on the album Master of Reality). Although Iommi states that the main purpose of doing so was to create a "bigger, heavier sound", slackening the strings makes it easier to bend them.
Iommi reflected in 2016 saying that his greatest regret is losing his fingertips:
From January until July 1968, Iommi was guitarist in Mythology, with Ward joining a month later in mid-February. In May 1968 police raided the group's practice flat and found cannabis resin, which resulted in fines for the band members. Most significantly, the incident made it quite difficult for the band to secure future bookings as most club owners avoided bands they viewed as drug users. Mythology subsequently split up after a gig in Silloth on 13 July 1968.
In August 1968 at the same time as the break-up of Mythology, another Birmingham band called Rare Breed also broke up. Vocalist Ozzy Osbourne joined with Iommi and Ward after the duo responded to an advert in a local music shop proclaiming "Ozzy Zig Requires Gig – has own PA". Requiring a bassist, Osbourne mentioned his former Rare Breed bandmate Geezer Butler, who was subsequently hired along with Jimmy Phillips and saxophonist Alan "Aker" Clarke. The six-piece band were named the Polka Tulk Blues Band. After just two gigs (the last of which was at the Banklands Youth Club in Workington), Phillips and Clarke were dismissed from the band, which soon after shortened its name to Polka Tulk.
Iommi, Butler, Ward, and Osbourne renamed the band Earth in September 1968. The same month Iommi briefly departed to join Jethro Tull, but only gave two performances with them (an appearance on The Rolling Stones Rock and Roll Circus in which the band mimed "A Song for Jeffrey" while Ian Anderson sang live, and a live appearance at the BBC). Iommi rejoined Earth in November 1968.
Concerning his brief working relationship with Jethro Tull vocalist Ian Anderson, Iommi said:
By the late 1970s, Black Sabbath were experiencing problematic substance use, managerial problems, and touring exhaustion. In addition, the band's slow, blues-driven riffs were seen by some as outmoded against the rising generation of metal bands such as Judas Priest and Motörhead. After the albums Technical Ecstasy and Never Say Die! were not universally critically well received, Iommi and Butler decided that Sabbath needed a fresh start so, in the summer of 1979, they replaced Osbourne with Ronnie James Dio, the former vocalist for Rainbow. With Dio, Black Sabbath produced Heaven and Hell, an album that attempted to update Black Sabbath's sound for the 1980s and include the soaring vocals that characterised the NWOBHM (New wave of British heavy metal) scene. Halfway through the 1980 tour, Bill Ward dropped out due to alcohol problems and displeasure with the direction that Dio was taking the band. He was replaced by Vinny Appice. With Iommi and Geezer Butler the only original members, this line-up produced Mob Rules. Dio quit the following year to begin a solo career, so Sabbath went through a revolving door line-up for the next decade with a succession of frontmen: Ian Gillan, Glenn Hughes, Ray Gillen, and Tony Martin. After Ian Gillan (formerly of Deep Purple) departed the band in 1984, Geezer Butler left as well. With Sabbath in effective hiatus, Iommi recorded his first solo album, entitled Seventh Star. The album featured Glenn Hughes (also formerly of Deep Purple) on vocals, but due to label pressures, it was billed as a release by "Black Sabbath featuring Tony Iommi".
In 1992, Iommi appeared at The Freddie Mercury Tribute Concert, playing four songs with the remaining members of Queen and other guest artists. Geezer Butler also returned to Sabbath that year. In the following year Iommi teamed up with fellow Black Country band Diamond Head and Co-writer the song "Starcrossed (Lovers in the Night)" for their 1993 Death and Progress album. At Osbourne's "farewell" concert at Costa Mesa in 1992, Dio refused to perform and abruptly left the band. As a result, Rob Halford was recruited to perform as the vocalist for two gigs (Halford also sang at one of the dates on the 2004 Ozzfest tour, when Osbourne could not perform due to bronchitis). Following Osbourne's solo set, the show concluded with the other members of the original Black Sabbath line-up joining for a 4-song reunion.
Black Sabbath went on to record two further albums with Tony Martin before the original line-up reunited as a touring band in 1997. While Bill Ward played at the two initial reunion shows at Birmingham NEC in December 1997, he was not present for the following two reunion tours, his second absence due to a heart attack. Ward was replaced by Mike Bordin and then Vinny Appice.
On 11 November 2011, Black Sabbath announced that they would be reuniting with the original line-up and would be recording a new album. Bill Ward did not participate and was eventually replaced by Rage Against the Machine drummer Brad Wilk for drum sessions. The new album, 13, was released in June 2013. They disbanded at the conclusion of The End Tour in early 2017.
The band started an American tour in April 2007 with Megadeth and Down as opening acts. The tour finished in November in England with the prospect of an album to follow in 2008. During this period the band's show at the New York Radio City Music Hall was released as both a live DVD and CD with a vinyl release in the UK in 2008. During the summer of 2008 the band embarked on the Metal Masters Tour along with Judas Priest, Motörhead and Testament. The band's first and only studio album, The Devil You Know, was released on 28 April 2009.
Dio died of stomach cancer in May 2010, and on 14 June 2010, Iommi announced that Heaven & Hell would perform a one-off tribute to Ronnie James Dio at the High Voltage Festival, London on 24 July 2010. This was the band's last performance under the name.
In 2009, Iommi signed with Mike Fleiss's movie production company Next Films to film score a series of horror films entitled Black Sabbath.
Starting in 1989, Iommi was involved in the Rock Aid Armenia project. In October 2009 Iommi and his colleague Ian Gillan were awarded the Orders of Honor – Armenia's highest order, which were delivered to them by the Prime Minister of Armenia for their help after the Spitak earthquake. They formed the supergroup WhoCares and recorded a single called "Out of my Mind", which was released 6 May 2011 for the benefit of the music school to be built in Gyumri, Armenia. In January 2012, when Iommi was announced to have stage three lymphoma, the Armenian Prime Minister sent a letter of support: "We know your spirit is strong as ever, and we do believe the genius of your inspiration that guides you through the work on the new Black Sabbath album will transform into a boost of strength and energy that you need now, when things look tough". Iommi wrote the song "Lonely Planet" which was sung by Dorians for Armenia in the 2013 Eurovision Song Contest.
Iommi made an appearance in 2020 on the track "Astorolus—The Great Octopus" by Candlemass, which received a Grammy nomination.
November 2021 saw a completely different side to Iommi with the launch of a perfume in collaboration with Italian brand Xerjoff. As well as the scent, Iommi created a track and video, his first instrumental single – "Scent of Dark".
In July and August 2022, Iommi performed at both the opening and closing of the Commonwealth Games in Birmingham. At the opening ceremony, Iommi played guitar on a song called "Hear My Voice" performed by British saxophonist and rapper Soweto Kinch. Iommi reunited with Ozzy Osbourne to play at the closing ceremony. They were joined by 2017 Black Sabbath touring musicians Tommy Clufetos and Adam Wakeman for a medley of "Iron Man" and "Paranoid".
Iommi performed guitar on two songs for the 2022 Ozzy Osbourne album Patient Number 9, "No Escape from Now" and "Degradation Rules", the latter winning the Best Metal Performance Grammy in February 2023.
He collaborated with Birmingham's Royal Ballet on Black Sabbath – The Ballet, which proved to be a resounding success. His music from the first few Sabbath albums formed the bedrock that the complete music score was based on.
In 2024, Iommi released the instrumental track "Deified", revisiting his partnership with Xerjoff.
On 21 May 2025, Iommi was featured on English singer-songwriter Robbie Williams' single "Rocket".
Iommi married American model Melinda Diaz in 1980. They had a daughter, Toni-Marie Iommi, in 1983, who was the vocalist for the now-defunct band LunarMile. Iommi divorced Melinda in the mid-1980s. When Toni-Marie was 12 years old, Iommi won custody of her after she was placed in foster care. Toni-Marie has described her early childhood with a mentally unbalanced mother as difficult but says that her father finally "saved her". She has stated that with her father she was able to regain her trust in other people. Mikko "Linde" Lindström, guitarist with Finnish band HIM, became engaged to Toni-Marie in August 2010. In 2013, the couple were reported to have broken up.
In 1986–1987, Iommi met an English woman named Valery, and after a six-year relationship they married. She had a son from a previous relationship named Jay. They divorced in the late 1990s. Iommi confirmed in the same Guitar World interview referenced above (a co-interview with Metallica's James Hetfield) that he has a son. He told Hetfield regarding the band's so-called "Black Album", that "my son gave me a copy of your latest album...".
In 2005, Iommi married Maria Sjöholm, formerly vocalist for Swedish alternative metal band Drain STH. They met around 1998, when Tony was working on music for Drain STH. After a year of talking on the phone, in 1999, Maria relocated to England and moved into Tony's home. On 19 August 2005, without telling anyone, Maria and Tony married at the Sunset Marquis hotel. On page 312 of his book, Tony calls the low-key wedding the "Best thing I ever did!"
During the mid-1980s Iommi was briefly engaged to rock musician Lita Ford, formerly of the Runaways. Iommi co-produced her solo album The Bride Wore Black, which to date remains unreleased. Ford herself has said that her involvement with him during that period was strictly personal and that he had no involvement in the half-finished album. She said in a 1989 Kerrang! interview that "there's a certain amount of bad blood between Tony and I."
According to a report in Rolling Stone magazine from 9 December 2016, Iommi revealed that he was due to have an operation to remove a Neoplasm from his throat. In an early 2017 interview with the UK radio show Planet Rock, Iommi explained that the lump was not cancerous.
In his autobiography, Iommi writes that his parents were Catholics but were not regular churchgoers. He continues, "I hardly go to church either. I wouldn't know what to do there. I actually do believe in a God, but I don't feel that I have to press the point."
Ian Anderson of Jethro Tull said: "Tony managed to turn his physical impairment around into something that makes him one of the guitar legends – if not for his dexterity of playing but at least for the fact that his contribution to rock music is a unique one". Gene Simmons of Kiss regarded him as "the man who came up with the riffs that launched an army of guitar players";Interview taken from the TV program Gene Simmons' Rock School, 2005 Ozzy Osbourne called him "the master of the metal riff" and Ronnie James Dio called him "the ultimate riff master".Ian Christe, Sound of the Beast, HarperCollins, 2010, p.342
Furthermore, Iommi is recognised by many as the main creator of heavy metal music. Brian May of Queen considers him "the true father of heavy metal", Eddie Van Halen stated that "without Tony, heavy metal wouldn't exist. He is the creator of heavy!" and James Hetfield of Metallica, who was profoundly influenced by Iommi, defined him "the king of the heavy riff". Rob Halford, vocalist for Judas Priest, when filling in for Ozzy Osbourne during an August 2004 concert in Philadelphia, introduced Iommi to the audience as "the man who invented the heavy metal riff". Michael Amott of Carcass and Arch Enemy considers Iommi his "guitar hero" and the world's greatest guitarist "because he invented the heavy tone and evil riff". According to Lamb of God singer Randy Blythe, "Iommi is the reason heavy metal exists". HP Newquist of the National Guitar Museum stated that "his guitar playing has defined the sound of heavy metal for more than four decades, and he has influenced countless thousands– if not millions– of players."
He has been credited as the forerunner of other styles: Martin Popoff defined him "the godfather of stoner rock"; CMJ New Music Monthly, April 2001, Num. 92, p.85 Jeff Kitts and Brad Tolinski of Guitar World assert that "grunge, gothic rock, thrash metal, industrial metal, death metal, doom metal... whatever. None of it would exist without Tony Iommi".Jeff Kitts, Brad Tolinski, Guitar World Presents the 100 Greatest Guitarists of All Time!, Hal Leonard Corporation, 2002, p.8 According to Hawaii Public Radio: "it is hard to imagine Nirvana, Soundgarden, Pearl Jam or Alice in Chains without Black Sabbath, and without Tony Iommi. Judas Priest, Iron Maiden, Scorpions, Metallica, Slayer, Pantera and essentially every metal band can be traced to the musical framework found in Iommi compositions".
Many notable musicians count Iommi as a major influence on their own playing; some of them include Jeff Hanneman (Slayer), Dimebag Darrell (Pantera),Bob Gulla, Guitar Gods: The 25 Players who Made Rock History, ABC-CLIO, 2009, p.8 Slash (Guns N' Roses, Velvet Revolver), Scott Ian (Anthrax), Zakk Wylde (Ozzy Osbourne, Black Label Society), Tom Morello (Rage Against the Machine),Jon Wiederhorn, Katherine Turman, Louder Than Hell: The Definitive Oral History of Metal, HarperCollins, 2013 Billy Corgan (the Smashing Pumpkins), Kim Thayil (Soundgarden), and Nick Oliveri (Kyuss, Queens of the Stone Age). Jerry Cantrell of Alice in Chains was strongly influenced by Iommi's dark bendings, which he uses often. Andy LaRocque of King Diamond said that the clean guitar part of "Sleepless Nights" from the Conspiracy album is inspired by Iommi's playing on Never Say Die!.
On 19 November 2013, Iommi received an Honorary Doctorate of Arts degree from Coventry University. The honorary degree came "in recognition of his contribution to the world of popular music", and recognised "his role as one of the founding fathers of heavy metal music and his status as one of the industry's most influential figures", the university said. Iommi is also a visiting professor of music at Coventry University.
One week before their farewell "Back to the Beginning" concert, Iommi and the other original members of Black Sabbath were each made Freemen of the City of Birmingham.
On 11 August 2010, Iommi announced on his website that this guitar was stolen from the RJD tribute show that Heaven & Hell performed at High Voltage on 24 July 2010. He is asking that anyone with information or leads let them know. He is offering a reward for its safe return.
A stock Epiphone SG signature model in black finish fitted with P-94 pick-ups which is a version of the Gibson P-90 pick-up designed to fit into existing humbucker housings.Iommi played a Fender Stratocaster that was spraypainted white by Iommi and his father during the early days with Black Sabbath. However, the neck pick-up malfunctioned during the recording of their first album, so Iommi quickly turned to his backup Gibson SG to finish the record. Currently Iommi owns two Stratocasters, one of which has been modified with his signature pick-up in the bridge position. Custom built for Iommi by St. Moritz guitars, this is a replica of Iommi's Gibson SG "Monkey". It was used on the 13 album and for the tour.
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