An Eddie Van Halen mention from Metal Underground:
Tony Iommi, best known as the guitarist of Black Sabbath and Heaven & Hell, has revealed in a recent interview that he will soon be undergoing some important surgery on his hand. Some excerpts from the interview read as follows:
Q: Do you know what you’re doing after this US run?
A: “After this US run, yes, we’re going to have some time off. I’ve got to have an operation on my hand, and that’s sort of a major thing I need to get done and I’ve been putting it off now. So we’re going to have some time off while I get that done. That’ll be a bit of a break, I think. Not for everybody, but it’ll be some time off from touring for me for sure.”
Q: What happened to your hand?
A: “The cartilage is gone from the thumb in my fingering hand. It’s been like that now, to be honest, for a year and I’ve been taking anti-inflammatories and all sorts of stuff to try and calm it down, but it’s inevitable I’ve got to have the operation because the bone is rubbing on the bone. Funny enough, I talked to Eddie Van Halen this morning, because he’s had the same sort of problem, so I’m seeing him to have a chat about what happened to him. He thinks it’s very successful, so we’ll see.”