Fact #117488
When:
Short story:
Tony Iommi of Black Sabbath marries wealthy socialite Susan Snowdon.Full article:
Tony Iommi : John Bonham and I used to see each other in the days before Sabbath. Bill and me were in another local band called The Rest, and we used to play gigs at this place in Birmingham, once a month, and alternate weeks they’d have these other bands – and John used to be in two of three of them. He’d be in one band, then they’d fire him because he was too loud, and then the next week he’d turn up in another band. John used to have this bass drum case where he had the names of the band he was with – and all these names would be crossed out as he got the sack because he was too bloody loud.
When John was my best man, I think it worried everybody. My wife was fine about it. To be honest, she didn’t know many of my friends. John and me would go out clubbing, just the two of us, and of course the night before my wedding we went out for my stag night. We had a driver. We went to two or three clubs around Birmingham. And the last club we went to, a little upstairs place, it was getting on for two o’clock, and we go in there and John goes up to the bar and orders twelve bottles of champagne. He said, ‘Open them all.’ I thought, oh, that’s nice – he’s going to treat everybody in the club. And he turned to me and said, ‘Go on, then, drink it.’ I said, ‘What?’ He said, ‘That’s yours!’ I said, ‘I can’t drink that – you’re joking.’ He said, ‘Drink it, you’re getting married tomorrow.’ I said, ‘I fucking won’t be getting married if I drink all that!’ Anyway, he went along the bar and drank twelve glasses, one from each bottle. And within thirty minutes he was gone – absolutely gone. And I’m trying to get him out of the club. The club was closing. I said, ‘We’ve got to get him home.’ The owner of the club came up, John got him round the neck, and the poor bloke fell down the stairs. It was terrible. Anyway, we got John the in the car and took him home. I went back with him and his wife Pat wouldn’t let him in. He rang the buzzer at the gate and she answered: ‘He’s not coming in.’ I said, ‘Pat, please, you’ve got to let him in. Look, I’m getting married in the morning, I can’t take him home.’ So she said, ‘Okay, but he’s not coming upstairs.’ She opened the gates, opened the door of the house, and I put him in the hallway, up against a radiator. I said: ‘You’re not going to turn up tomorrow, are you?’ And he just slurred and stuck his thumb up. I left him there and that was it. I went home and thought, he’s not gonna bloody turn up. But he turned up alright. It was so early – about eight in the morning. He’d got his suit on, his top hat and tails. I’d literally just got out of bed when he arrived. I said, ‘I’m not ready.’ I was still pissed. He said, ‘Here you are – have one of these. This’ll liven you up.’ Of course he had some coke with him. I said, ‘Oh no, I can’t – I don’t want to be doing that today.’ He said, ‘Just have a bit, then.’ And that’s how the day went…
The embarrassing thing for me was when we were in the church. My wife’s family were quite well to do. And on my side there was our band and other musicians. And they’re all nipping out of the church, three or four of them at a time. My wife’s mother said, ‘What’s the matter with your friends, all coming and going all the time?’ I said, ‘Oh, are they?’ And of course, inside I’m thinking, oh no! And there they were behind the church doing coke. I thought, this is gonna be just disastrous.
We’d done this song called Fluff, and it was played in the church as my wife was walking up the aisle, but the fucking tape kept stopping, and everybody was laughing. Then we went back to the house for drinks, and because my wife’s family didn’t drink at all, I was really concerned. Imagine John (Bonham) and Ozzy and everybody else all sloshed – they’d have been throwing things at each other. We had a glass of champagne to toast, and John of course wanted a refill, and they filled him up with apple juice. He drank it, spat it out and shouted: ‘Fucking apple juice?’ It was so loud, everybody was staring at him., I’m going, oh my God… And my mum said, ‘Come on John, I’ll take you home.’ She took him to her house just across the way. He had his drinks over there. It was horrible. I couldn’t wait for it all to be over.
(Source : interview by Paul Elliott for Classic Rock, 2014)
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When John was my best man, I think it worried everybody. My wife was fine about it. To be honest, she didn’t know many of my friends. John and me would go out clubbing, just the two of us, and of course the night before my wedding we went out for my stag night. We had a driver. We went to two or three clubs around Birmingham. And the last club we went to, a little upstairs place, it was getting on for two o’clock, and we go in there and John goes up to the bar and orders twelve bottles of champagne. He said, ‘Open them all.’ I thought, oh, that’s nice – he’s going to treat everybody in the club. And he turned to me and said, ‘Go on, then, drink it.’ I said, ‘What?’ He said, ‘That’s yours!’ I said, ‘I can’t drink that – you’re joking.’ He said, ‘Drink it, you’re getting married tomorrow.’ I said, ‘I fucking won’t be getting married if I drink all that!’ Anyway, he went along the bar and drank twelve glasses, one from each bottle. And within thirty minutes he was gone – absolutely gone. And I’m trying to get him out of the club. The club was closing. I said, ‘We’ve got to get him home.’ The owner of the club came up, John got him round the neck, and the poor bloke fell down the stairs. It was terrible. Anyway, we got John the in the car and took him home. I went back with him and his wife Pat wouldn’t let him in. He rang the buzzer at the gate and she answered: ‘He’s not coming in.’ I said, ‘Pat, please, you’ve got to let him in. Look, I’m getting married in the morning, I can’t take him home.’ So she said, ‘Okay, but he’s not coming upstairs.’ She opened the gates, opened the door of the house, and I put him in the hallway, up against a radiator. I said: ‘You’re not going to turn up tomorrow, are you?’ And he just slurred and stuck his thumb up. I left him there and that was it. I went home and thought, he’s not gonna bloody turn up. But he turned up alright. It was so early – about eight in the morning. He’d got his suit on, his top hat and tails. I’d literally just got out of bed when he arrived. I said, ‘I’m not ready.’ I was still pissed. He said, ‘Here you are – have one of these. This’ll liven you up.’ Of course he had some coke with him. I said, ‘Oh no, I can’t – I don’t want to be doing that today.’ He said, ‘Just have a bit, then.’ And that’s how the day went…
The embarrassing thing for me was when we were in the church. My wife’s family were quite well to do. And on my side there was our band and other musicians. And they’re all nipping out of the church, three or four of them at a time. My wife’s mother said, ‘What’s the matter with your friends, all coming and going all the time?’ I said, ‘Oh, are they?’ And of course, inside I’m thinking, oh no! And there they were behind the church doing coke. I thought, this is gonna be just disastrous.
We’d done this song called Fluff, and it was played in the church as my wife was walking up the aisle, but the fucking tape kept stopping, and everybody was laughing. Then we went back to the house for drinks, and because my wife’s family didn’t drink at all, I was really concerned. Imagine John (Bonham) and Ozzy and everybody else all sloshed – they’d have been throwing things at each other. We had a glass of champagne to toast, and John of course wanted a refill, and they filled him up with apple juice. He drank it, spat it out and shouted: ‘Fucking apple juice?’ It was so loud, everybody was staring at him., I’m going, oh my God… And my mum said, ‘Come on John, I’ll take you home.’ She took him to her house just across the way. He had his drinks over there. It was horrible. I couldn’t wait for it all to be over.
(Source : interview by Paul Elliott for Classic Rock, 2014)