[3] On his last day of work in a sheet metal factory, as a teenager, Iommi lost the tips of the middle and ring fingers of his right hand in an accident, an event which crucially impacted his playing style.

[7] Born and raised in Handsworth, Birmingham, Iommi attended Birchfield Road School, where future bandmate Ozzy Osbourne was also a pupil one year behind him.

[10] 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.

[12] 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.

"[17] After the injury, Iommi's factory foreman played him a recording of famous jazz guitarist Django Reinhardt, which encouraged him to continue as a musician.

[31] Requiring a bassist, Osbourne mentioned his former Rare Breed bandmate Geezer Butler, who was subsequently hired along with slide guitarist Jimmy Phillips and saxophonist Alan "Aker" Clarke.

His factory accident affected the Black Sabbath sound; Iommi had tuned down his guitar by 1971's Master of Reality album, lowering string tension and easing the pain to his fingertips.

Iommi combined blues-like guitar solos and dark, minor-key riffing with a revolutionary high-gain, heavily distorted tone with his use of power chords, a modified treble-boosting effect-pedal and a Gibson SG.

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.

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.

In the following year Iommi teamed up with fellow Black Country band Diamond Head and co-wrote the song "Starcrossed (Lovers in the Night)" for their 1993 Death and Progress album.

Iommi was also involved in the opening ceremony on 28 July 2022, where he played guitar on a song called "Hear My Voice" performed by British saxophonist and rapper Soweto Kinch.

The album featured several guest vocalists including Ian Astbury, Skin, Henry Rollins, Serj Tankian, Dave Grohl, Billy Corgan, Phil Anselmo, Peter Steele, and Osbourne.

[39] 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 3 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".

He featured on two songs from the Ozzy Osbourne album Patient Number 9 – "No Escape from Now" and "Degradation Rules", the latter winning the Best Metal Performance Grammy in February 2023.

A Sky Arts documentary, Greatest Guitar Riffs, aired in November 2023, featured Tony and many close friends including Brian May discussing his work.

[42] In October 2006 it was reported that Iommi would tour with Ronnie James Dio, Geezer Butler and Bill Ward again, but under the name Heaven & Hell.

[27] In January 2017, a choral work by Iommi entitled "How Good It Is" – with lyrics inspired by Psalm 133 – received its debut performance at Birmingham Cathedral.

In 2005, Metal Hammer magazine ranked him number 1 on the poll of the "Riff Lords", praising his "highly distinctive style of fretsmanship that's economical yet crushingly effective".

[82][83] Ian Anderson of Jethro Tull has 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".

[88] 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".

[89] Michael Amott of Carcass and Arch Enemy considers Iommi his "guitar hero"[90] and the world's greatest guitarist "because he invented the heavy tone and evil riff".

"[92] He has been credited as the forerunner of other styles: Martin Popoff defines him "the godfather of stoner rock";[93] Jeff Kitts and Brad Tolinski of Guitar World assert that "grunge, goth, thrash, industrial, death, doom... whatever.

[94] 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".

[95] Many notable musicians count Iommi as a major influence on their own playing; some of them include Jeff Hanneman (Slayer), Dimebag Darrell (Pantera),[96] Slash (Guns N' Roses, Velvet Revolver),[97] Scott Ian (Anthrax),[98] Zakk Wylde (Ozzy Osbourne, Black Label Society),[99] Tom Morello (Rage Against the Machine),[100] Billy Corgan (The Smashing Pumpkins),[101] Kim Thayil (Soundgarden),[102] and Nick Oliveri (Kyuss, Queens of the Stone Age).

[104] 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!.

The guitar became Iommi's main instrument after his white Stratocaster's neck pick-up failed during the recording of Black Sabbath's self-titled album.

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.