Tony Iommi has detailed an explosive incident with his Black Sabbath bandmate Bill Ward in his new book, revealing he once set the drummer on fire and left him with third-degree burns.
The rocker has opened up about his time in the legendary band in new tell-all book, Iron Man: My Journey Through Heaven and Hell With Black Sabbath.
He has admitted Ward was a target for his bandmates' practical jokes and the percussionist ended up in hospital on a number of occasions when the pranks got out of hand.
Iommi tells the New York Post, "(We were constantly) playing jokes on each other. Like pouring alcohol on a friend then setting him afire and burning it off. Like once I said, 'Bill, can I set fire to you?' He said, 'Busy... so not just yet.' Later he said, 'I'm going home now, so if you want you can set fire to me.' I threw a bucket over him, and he went on fire. It soaked third-degree burns into his legs.
"He could take it, so we always started with him."
Iommi also details another incident which saw Ward hospitalised in California after the rockers covered him in gold spray paint: "In Bel Air we got drunk, so (it) seemed a good idea to spray him head to toe with gold paint then lacquer him. His skin couldn't breathe. (We) thought he'd die.
"We called the hospital, who asked, 'What's wrong with him?' We said, 'He's naked and (covered) in gold paint.' So they gave him an injection. He's still with us. Once he asked, 'Is something wrong?' Why? 'You haven't done anything to me.'"