Tony Iommi before he was famous

The nobody years

1. 

   1963-1964 Factory work

   He worked as a plumber, then in a ring factory.

   After school he worked briefly as a plumber, then in a factory making rings. Source

2. 

   1965 Last factory shift

   At seventeen, a sheet-metal accident took two fingertips.

   At seventeen, on his last day at a sheet-metal factory, an accident took the tips of two fingers. Source

3. 

   1965 A Django record

   His foreman played him Django Reinhardt, who used two fretting fingers.

   His foreman played him Django Reinhardt, who played with two fretting fingers. Source

4. 

   1965 Homemade fingertips

   He made plastic fingertips from a bottle and kept playing.

   He melted a washing-up liquid bottle into homemade fingertips and kept playing. Source

5. 1948

   Was born in Birmingham, the only child of Italian immigrants. Source

6. 1950s

   His mother ran a shop from the family home; his father was a carpenter. Source

7. 1950s

   At about eight, a fall split his lip, and other boys called him Scarface. Source

8. 1950s

   Took up judo, karate and boxing to deal with the local gangs. Source

9. early 1960s

   He wanted to play drums, but chose guitar because it was quieter. Source

10. 1968

    Played two shows with Jethro Tull, then went back to his Birmingham band, Earth. Source

Reconstructions of documented moments, generated with AI. Not archive photographs, and not depictions of real people. © The Nobody Years