Black Sabbath's Tony Iommi Reveals Heavy Metal’s Origins in New Animated Video
Black Sabbath's Anthony Frank "Tony" Iommi was born 67 years ago today in Birmingham, England.
As part of our ongoing celebration of Iommi's life and influential career, check out this just-posted animated video, part of VH1.com’s new animated series, The Complete History of Heavy Metal.
As scores of Guitar World have known since we started publishing in 1980, Iommi lost the tops of two fingers on his fretting hand due to a tragic industrial accident in the distant, black-and-white past.
In the video below, you'll find out how the guitarist made “a good thing off a bad thing.” This inaugural episode is titled "Fingers Bloody Fingers." Nice! That's Iommi narrating, of course. Get to it!
Get More:
Tony Iommi, TV Shows, Full Episode Video, Reality TV Shows
Get The Pick Newsletter
All the latest guitar news, interviews, lessons, reviews, deals and more, direct to your inbox!
Since 1980, Guitar World has been the ultimate resource for guitarists. Whether you want to learn the techniques employed by your guitar heroes, read about their latest projects or simply need to know which guitar is the right one to buy, Guitar World is the place to look.

“Walk Like an Egyptian was so silly. But solid players have asked, ‘What are you playing at the end?’” Vicki Peterson sees herself as “a bit of a hack player,” but she still made guitar-pop history with the Bangles – and guested with Tom Petty

“We had 15 minutes left, and it was time to go… I just started playing that riff. Then Lenny goes, ‘Whoa, what’s that?’” Lenny Kravitz guitarist Craig Ross reveals the serendipitous roots of a Kravitz classic