Anthony Frank Iommi Jr. was born on February 19, 1948, in Birmingham, England, to Sylvia Maria and Anthony Frank Iommi. 1)
At age 17, Iommi suffered a devastating industrial accident at a sheet metal factory, severing the tips of the middle and ring fingers on his right hand. 2)
Following his factory accident, Iommi was deeply inspired to continue playing guitar after hearing jazz musician Django Reinhardt, who had lost the use of two fingers in a fire. 3)
To play guitar despite his severed fingertips, Iommi melted plastic bottles to create custom thimbles and covered them with leather caps for grip. 4)
Iommi began down-tuning his guitar to C# and using lighter-gauge strings to reduce string tension on his injured fingers, accidentally inventing the heavy, doomy tone of metal. 5)
Before adopting the name Black Sabbath, Iommi and his bandmates played under the names Polka Tulk Blues Band and Earth in the late 1960s. 6)
In 1968, Iommi briefly left his band to join Jethro Tull, performing with them in The Rolling Stones Rock and Roll Circus before returning to Black Sabbath. 7)
The song “Black Sabbath” used the “Devil's Interval” (tritone), a dissonant three-note progression historically discouraged by religious institutions, establishing heavy metal's dark signature sound. 8)
Black Sabbath's groundbreaking debut album was recorded in just eight hours on an eight-track machine at Regent Sound in London in 1969. 9)
The coughing sound at the beginning of “Sweet Leaf” on the 1971 album Master of Reality was recorded when Iommi nearly choked after taking a hit from a joint given by Ozzy Osbourne. 10)
Much of Black Sabbath's legendary early catalog was recorded using Iommi's heavily modified 1964 Gibson SG Special guitar, affectionately nicknamed “Monkey.” 11)
While developing material for their 1970 album Paranoid, the band tightened their playing by performing seven 45-minute sets daily at a club in Switzerland. 12)
The hit title track “Paranoid” was composed by Iommi in just a few minutes as a quick three-minute filler song for the second album. 13)
Black Sabbath's second album was originally titled War Pigs, but record executives insisted on changing the album title to Paranoid. 14)
During the recording of Master of Reality, drummer Bill Ward struggled so much with “Into the Void” that the band tried recording it across several different studios before completing it. 15)
Facing writer's block and exhaustion during their fifth album, the band was rejuvenated after Iommi created the heavy opening riff for “Sabbath Bloody Sabbath.” 16)
Iommi worked as a gas welder in a West Midlands factory, an industrial environment that heavily shaped the dark, metallic sound of Black Sabbath. 17)
Across Black Sabbath's 50-year career, Iommi remained the band's leader, primary songwriter, and only constant member on every album release. 18)
In 1989, Iommi helped organize the Rock Aid Armenia effort, re-recording “Smoke on the Water” alongside rock legends to raise relief funds for earthquake victims. 19)
In recognition of his humanitarian efforts for earthquake relief, Iommi was awarded the Order of Honor by the Prime Minister of Armenia in 2009. 20)
Iommi wrote the song “Lonely Planet,” performed by Armenian rock group Dorians, which represented Armenia at the 2013 Eurovision Song Contest in Malmö. 21)
Iommi released his self-titled debut solo album Iommi in 2000, featuring guest vocalists such as Dave Grohl, Henry Rollins, and Phil Anselmo. 22)
In 2005, Iommi collaborated with former Deep Purple vocalist/bassist Glenn Hughes and drummer Kenny Aronoff to release the solo album Fused. 23)
In 2006, Iommi reunited with Ronnie James Dio, Geezer Butler, and Vinny Appice under the name Heaven & Hell, releasing the album The Devil You Know in 2009. 24)
As a founding member of Black Sabbath, Iommi was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2006. 25)
In January 2012, shortly after Black Sabbath announced their reunion, Iommi revealed he had been diagnosed with early-stage lymphoma. 26)
Iommi composed the heavy riffs for Black Sabbath's 2013 reunion album 13 while undergoing active radiation and chemotherapy treatments for cancer. 27)
Black Sabbath won a Grammy Award in 2014 for Best Metal Performance for the single “God Is Dead?”, featured on their album 13. 28)
In 2014, Iommi accepted a visiting professor appointment at Coventry University to share songwriting expertise with music students. 29)
In January 2017, Iommi successfully underwent a surgical procedure to remove a noncancerous throat lump. 30)
Black Sabbath concluded their 49-year career on February 4, 2017, with a farewell performance at the Genting Arena in their hometown of Birmingham. 31)
In 2019, Iommi and his Black Sabbath bandmates were honored with a Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award. 32)
In August 2022, Iommi surprised fans by performing “Paranoid” alongside Ozzy Osbourne at the closing ceremony of the Commonwealth Games in Birmingham. 33)
Iommi collaborated with Italian luxury perfume house Xerjoff to launch two signature fragrance and instrumental track releases, “Scent of Dark” and “Deified.” 34)
Iommi partnered with Carlos Acosta and the Birmingham Royal Ballet to create Black Sabbath – The Ballet, blending heavy metal compositions with classical dance. 35)
In November 2025, Iommi returned to the University of Birmingham to mark the 55th anniversary of Black Sabbath's first-ever performance on the Edgbaston campus in 1970. 36)
Iommi organized a major guitar raffle that raised £53,000 to purchase equipment and beds for the cancer unit at Birmingham's Heartlands Hospital. 37)
Iommi played a guest guitar solo on “Rocket,” the lead single from Robbie Williams's album Britpop. 38)
Iommi collaborated with Queen guitarist Brian May on the song “Death Wake” for his solo album From The Dark. 39)
In July 2025, Iommi reunited with Black Sabbath for their historic Back to the Beginning farewell performance at Villa Park in Birmingham. 40)
Following Ozzy Osbourne's death in July 2025, Iommi paid emotional tribute to his longtime friend, reflecting on their journey as “four kids from Aston.” 41)
Speaking on BBC Radio 4 following Ozzy Osbourne's death, Iommi noted he had no idea their Villa Park reunion show would be their final performance together. 42)
Iommi discussed writing and recording material with Judas Priest vocalist Rob Halford, who previously filled in on vocals for Black Sabbath in 1992 and 2004. 43)
A proud native of Birmingham, Iommi revealed that his favorite meal is an extra-hot vindaloo curry accompanied by a large table naan. 44)
Iommi announced his third solo album, titled From The Dark, featuring Norwegian vocalist Jørn Lande. 45)