Black Sabbath guitarist and heavy metal pioneer Tony Iommi was born 76 years ago today. Known for the density of his tone and his renowned capacity for composition of guitar phrases, Iommi had been cited as a profound influence by essentially every rock guitarist to arrive in his wake. He has been called “the master of the metal riff” by Ozzy Osbourne, and “the true father of heavy metal” by Queen guitarist Brian May.
Iommi is widely credited with developing the dark, weighty sound that would come to define the hard rock and heavy metal genres. However, this conceptualization would arise as a matter of necessity rather than a matter of design.
In his late teens, Iommi suffered a work-related accident in a sheet metal factory, which cost him the tips of his right-hand middle and ring fingers. As a left-handed guitarist, this posed a significant threat to his ability to properly fret the strings to continue playing. Iommi has said that, following the incident, he was told that he would never play guitar again.
Inspired by the work of legendary jazz guitarist Django Reinhardt – who had similarly suffered an injury which affected the use of his fretting hand – Iommi resolved to press on. As a means of diminishing the intense pain brought about when fretting with the injured fingers, Iommi crafted crude, prosthetic fingertips for himself by melting down a plastic soap bottle, which he then coated in leather.
While effectively allowing him to resume playing, the use of the prosthetics presented two key issues. Firstly, they hindered Iommi’s ability to properly bend the strings. Secondly, the lack of feeling in the fingertips created intonation issues, as – unable to accurately assess how much pressure he was applying – the guitarist would inadvertently press down on the strings with more force than was necessary.
To combat these issues, Iommi would seek out lighter gauge strings, to increase the ease with which he could manipulate them and decrease the amount of force necessary to achieve bends. He also took to tuning his guitar to lower pitches to give the strings even further elasticity. This technique was crucial to the development of Black Sabbath’s sound, as they were one of the very first bands to detune their instruments.
Aside from causing the band to stand out from their contemporaries, the technique created a deep, resonant tone which had gone unexplored prior. This sound would become a hallmark of the heavy metal genre, and detuning has since become common practice among rock and metal acts.
Along with the establishment of heavy metal as a genre, Black Sabbath were responsible for countless significant contributions to the canon in the form of their own songs, such as “Paranoid,” “Iron Man,” “War Pig,” and “Children of the Grave.” The band, of course, is also responsible for introducing the world to Ozzy Osbourne, who has since become widely regarded as the godfather of heavy metal.
Innumerable innovations and developments – not only in the rock and metal genres, but in music as a whole – have their origins with Tony Iommi. As the guiding force and sole constant member of Black Sabbath – a band irrefutably acknowledged as one of the most important musical acts of all time – Iommi’s influence can be felt all over.
From acts like Iron Maiden to Post Malone, the guitarist’s sinister attack on the six-string has reverberated through generations, and will continue to do so for decades to come. So here’s wishing a happy 73rd birthday to one of the most important artistic minds of our time, Tony Iommi.