The Enemy star continues playing despite sliced finger

Clarke (left) soldiers on
Clarke (left) soldiers on

While he didn't exactly pull a Tony Iommi (slicing his fingertips off entirely), The Enemy's singer-guitarist Tom Clarke tore the top off one of his fingers while performing at the recent Lollapalooza music festival.

Although the band was forced to cancel one show in Montreal, Canada, Clarke soldiered on and played a show in Los Angeles last Thursday, ignoring doctor's orders to let his injured digit heal.

Recalling the incident at Lollapalooza, The Enemy star says, "I managed to slash the end off my finger playing guitar, there was fucking blood everywhere. The doctor looked at it after the set and said I'd have to miss a couple of gigs. I said I'd miss one but I'm not missing L.A."

Shrugging off his battle wounds, Clarke says, "I don't really care if my finger's pissing blood - it's not the end of the world, it's an occupational hazard."

Trivia: After experiencing similar injuries while playing the guitar, the late, great Stevie Ray Vaughan would famously apply Krazy Glue to his fingertips between sets. The suffering one does for art.

Joe Bosso

Joe is a freelance journalist who has, over the past few decades, interviewed hundreds of guitarists for Guitar WorldGuitar PlayerMusicRadar and Classic Rock. He is also a former editor of Guitar World, contributing writer for Guitar Aficionado and VP of A&R for Island Records. He’s an enthusiastic guitarist, but he’s nowhere near the likes of the people he interviews. Surprisingly, his skills are more suited to the drums. If you need a drummer for your Beatles tribute band, look him up.