Black Sabbath

Black Sabbath were an English heavy metal band formed in Birmingham in 1968 by guitarist Tony Iommi, drummer Bill Ward, bassist Geezer Butler and vocalist Ozzy Osbourne. After adopting the Black Sabbath name in 1969 (the band were previously named Polka Tulk Blues Band and then Earth), they distinguished themselves through occult themes with horror-inspired lyrics and down-tuned guitars. Their first three albums, Black Sabbath, Paranoid (both 1970), and Master of Reality (1971), were commercially successful, and are cited as pioneering albums in the development of heavy metal. Subsequent albums Vol. 4 (1972), Sabbath Bloody Sabbath (1973), Sabotage (1975), Technical Ecstasy (1976), and Never Say Die! (1978) saw the band explore more experimental and progressive styles.

Osbourne was fired from Black Sabbath in 1979 and replaced by former Rainbow vocalist Ronnie James Dio, who recorded three albums with the band, Heaven and Hell (1980), Mob Rules (1981), and their first authorised live album Live Evil (1983), the last two featuring drummer Vinny Appice replacing Ward. Following Dio and Appice's departures, Iommi and Butler recorded Born Again (1983) with Ward returning on drums, and Ian Gillan, then-formerly of Deep Purple, on vocals. By 1984, Butler, Ward, and Gillan had all departed, leaving Iommi to assemble a new version of Black Sabbath. For the next thirteen years, the band endured many personnel changes that included vocalists Glenn Hughes (another former Deep Purple member, who sang on Black Sabbath's 1986 album Seventh Star) and Tony Martin, as well as several bassists and drummers. Of the vocalists during these years, Martin's tenure was the longest, joining in 1987 and recording three albums – The Eternal Idol (1987), Headless Cross (1989), and Tyr (1990) – before his initial departure in 1991. That same year, Iommi reunited with Butler, Dio and Appice to record Dehumanizer (1992), though Dio and Appice both departed again by the end of 1992. Martin returned for two more studio albums, Cross Purposes (1994) and Forbidden (1995), and one live album, Cross Purposes Live (1995), before the band went on a one-year hiatus.

The original line-up of Iommi, Osbourne, Butler and Ward reunited in 1997, releasing a live album, Reunion (1998), and touring sporadically until 2005. The following year, the Mob Rules line-up (Iommi, Butler, Dio, Appice) reunited as Heaven & Hell, touring during the late 2000s and releasing one studio album, The Devil You Know (2009), before disbanding after Dio's death in 2010. The original line-up resumed again in 2011, though Ward departed prior to the recording of their final studio album 13 (2013). To conclude their farewell tour, Black Sabbath played its last concert for eight years in their home city in 2017. Occasional partial reunions have occurred, most notably when Osbourne and Iommi performed at the closing ceremony of the 2022 Commonwealth Games in Birmingham. The original line-up of Black Sabbath reunited for a final show for both the band and Osbourne as a solo artist, titled Back to the Beginning, at Villa Park on 5 July 2025; Osbourne died seventeen days after the performance.

Black Sabbath had sold over 70 million records as of 2013, making them one of the most commercially successful heavy metal bands. The band have been referred to as being part of the "unholy trinity of British hard rock and heavy metal in the early to mid-seventies", along with Deep Purple and Led Zeppelin. Black Sabbath were ranked by MTV as the "Greatest Metal Band of All Time" and placed second on VH1's "100 Greatest Artists of Hard Rock" list. Rolling Stone magazine ranked them 85 on its "100 Greatest Artists of All Time". They were inducted into the UK Music Hall of Fame in 2005 and Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2006. They have won two Grammy Awards for Best Metal Performance, and received a Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award.

History

1968–1969: Formation and early days

Following the break-up of their previous band, Mythology, in 1968, guitarist Tony Iommi and drummer Bill Ward sought to form a heavy blues rock band in Aston, Birmingham. They enlisted bassist Geezer Butler and vocalist Ozzy Osbourne, who had played together in a band called Rare Breed; Osbourne having placed an advertisement in a local music shop: "OZZY ZIG Needs Gig – has own PA". The new group was initially named the Polka Tulk Blues Band, the name taken either from a brand of talcum powder or an Indian/Pakistani clothing shop; the exact origin is confused. The Polka Tulk Blues Band included slide guitarist Jimmy Phillips, a childhood friend of Osbourne's, and saxophonist Alan "Aker" Clarke. After shortening the name to Polka Tulk, the band again changed their name to Earth. Iommi became concerned that Phillips and Clarke lacked the necessary dedication and were not taking the band seriously. Rather than asking them to leave, they instead decided to break up and then quietly reformed the band as a four-piece. While the band was performing under the Earth moniker, they recorded several demos written by Norman Haines such as "The Rebel", "When I Came Down" and "Song for Jim", the latter of which being a reference to Jim Simpson, who was a manager for the bands Bakerloo Blues Line and Tea & Symphony, as well as the trumpet player for the group Locomotive. Simpson had recently started a new club named Henry's Blueshouse at The Crown Hotel in Birmingham and offered to let Earth play there after they agreed to waive the usual support band fee in return for free T-shirts. The audience response was positive and Simpson agreed to manage Earth.

In December 1968, Iommi abruptly left Earth to join Jethro Tull. Although his stint with the band would be short-lived, Iommi made an appearance with Jethro Tull on The Rolling Stones Rock and Roll Circus TV show. Unsatisfied with the direction of Jethro Tull, Iommi returned to Earth by the end of the month. "It just wasn't right, so I left", Iommi said. "At first I thought Tull were great, but I didn't much go for having a leader in the band, which was Ian Anderson's way. When I came back from Tull, I came back with a new attitude altogether. They taught me that to get on, you got to work for it."

While playing shows in England in 1969, the band discovered they were being mistaken for another English group named Earth, so they decided to change their name again (this name change would give rise to the well-known debate about the alleged aesthetic influence of Coven, which the British band always denied). A cinema across the street from the band's rehearsal room was showing the 1963 Italian horror film Black Sabbath, starring Boris Karloff and directed by Mario Bava. While watching people line up to see the film, Butler noted that it was "strange that people spend so much money to see scary movies". Following that, Osbourne and Butler wrote the lyrics for a song called "Black Sabbath", which was inspired by the work of horror and adventure-story writer Dennis Wheatley, along with a vision that Butler had of a black silhouetted figure standing at the foot of his bed. Making use of the musical tritone, also known as "the Devil's Interval", the song's ominous sound and dark lyrics pushed the band in a darker direction, a stark contrast to the popular music of the late 1960s, which was dominated by flower power, folk music and hippie culture. Judas Priest frontman Rob Halford has called the track "probably the most evil song ever written". Inspired by the new sound, the band changed their name to Black Sabbath in August 1969, and made the decision to focus on writing similar material in an attempt to create the musical equivalent of horror films.

1969–1971: Black Sabbath and Paranoid

The band's first show as Black Sabbath took place on 30 August 1969 in Workington, England. They signed to Philips Records in November 1969.

They recorded their first single, "Evil Woman" (a cover of a song by the band Crow), at Trident Studios. "Evil Woman" was released on 9 January 1970 through Philips subsidiary Fontana Records. Later releases were handled by Philips' newly formed progressive rock label, Vertigo Records. "Evil Woman" failed to chart. The band were afforded two days of studio time in November 1969 to record their debut album with producer Rodger Bain. Iommi recalls recording live: "We thought, 'We have two days to do it, and one of the days is mixing.' So we played live. Ozzy was singing at the same time; we just put him in a separate booth and off we went. We never had a second run of most of the stuff". On 11 November 1969 Black Sabbath recorded a four-song session for John Peel's Top Gear radio show broadcast on BBC Radio 1. The four songs were "Black Sabbath", "N.I.B.", "Behind the Wall of Sleep" and "Sleeping Village". Broadcast on 29 November 1969, this gave them their first exposure to a UK wide audience.