Black Sabbath

Black Sabbath are an English rock ^{Rock music} band, formed in Birmingham in 1968 by Tony Iommi (guitar), Ozzy Osbourne (lead vocals ^{lead singer} ), Terry "Geezer" Butler (bass ^{bass guitar} ), and Bill Ward ^{Bill Ward (musician)} (drums ^{drum kit} and percussion ^{percussion instrument} ). The band has since experienced multiple lineup changes, with a total of twenty-two former members. Originally formed as a heavy blues-rock band named Earth, the band began incorporating occult- and horror-inspired lyrics with tuned-down guitars, changing their name to Black Sabbath and achieving multiple platinum records in the 1970s. Despite an association with occult and horror themes, Black Sabbath also composed songs dealing with social and political issues such as drugs and war.

As one of the first and most influential heavy metal ^{Heavy metal music} bands of all time, Rolling Stone has posited the band as 'the heavy-metal kings of the '70s'.

Vocalist Ozzy Osbourne's drinking led to his firing from the band in 1979. He was replaced by former Rainbow ^{Rainbow (band)} vocalist Ronnie James Dio. After a few albums with Dio's vocals and his songwriting collaborations, Black Sabbath endured a revolving lineup in the 1980s and 1990s that included vocalists Ian Gillan, Glenn Hughes, Ray Gillen and Tony Martin ^{Tony Martin (musician)} . In 1992, Iommi and Butler rejoined Dio and drummer Vinny Appice to record Dehumanizer. The original lineup reunited with Osbourne in 1997 and released a live album, Reunion. The early/mid 1980s line-up featuring Iommi, Butler, Dio, and Appice reformed in 2006 under the title, Heaven & Hell ^{Heaven & Hell (band)} .

 
Formation and early days (1968–1969)

Following the breakup of their previous band Mythology ^{Mythology (band)} in 1968, guitarist Tony Iommi and drummer Bill Ward sought to form a heavy blues band in Aston, Birmingham. The two 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". Although the album's only single "Am I Going Insane (Radio)" failed to chart, Sabotage features fan favourites such as "Hole in the Sky", and "Symptom of the Universe ^{Symptom of the Universe (song)} ".


Technical Ecstasy and Never Say Die! (1976–1979)

Black Sabbath began work for their next album at Criteria Studios in Miami, Florida, in June 1976. To expand their sound, the band added keyboard player Gerry Woodruffe, who also had appeared to a lesser extent on Sabotage. Technical Ecstasy, released on 25 September 1976, was met with mixed reviews. For the first time the reviews did not become more favorable as time passed, two decades after its release AllMusic gave the album two stars, and noted that the band was "unravelling at an alarming rate". The album included "Dirty Women", which remains a live staple, as well as Bill Ward's first lead vocal on the song "It's Alright".

Touring in support of Never Say Die! began in May 1978 with openers Van Halen. Reviewers called Black Sabbath's performance "tired and uninspired", a stark contrast to the "youthful" performance of Van Halen, who were touring the world for the first time. live album that contained only Black Sabbath songs, released five months earlier. The band entered The Manor Studios in Shipton-on-Cherwell, Oxfordshire, England, in June 1983 with a returned and newly sober Bill Ward ^{Bill Ward (musician)} on drums. However, even a decade after its release AllMusic's Eduardo Rivadavia called the album "dreadful", noting that "Gillan's bluesy style and humorous lyrics were completely incompatible with the lords of doom and gloom".

Although he performed on the album, drummer Bill Ward was unable to tour because of the pressures of the road, and quit the band in 1984. "I fell apart with the idea of touring," Ward later said. "I got so much fear behind touring, I didn’t talk about the fear, I drank behind the fear instead and that was a big mistake." Ward was replaced by former Electric Light Orchestra drummer Bev Bevan for the Born Again world tour ^{Born Again Tour 1983} ,

Following Butler's exit, sole remaining original member Tony Iommi put Black Sabbath on hiatus, and began work on a solo album with keyboardist Geoff Nicholls. While working on new material, the original Black Sabbath lineup were offered a spot at Bob Geldof's Live Aid benefit concert; the band agreed, performing at the Philadelphia ^{Live Aid#JFK Stadium} show, on 13 July 1985. Returning to his solo work, Iommi enlisted bassist Dave Spitz and drummer Eric Singer, and initially intended to use multiple singers, including Rob Halford of Judas Priest, ex-Deep Purple and Trapeze ^{Trapeze (band)} vocalist Glenn Hughes, and ex-Black Sabbath vocalist Ronnie James Dio.

The band spent the remainder of the year in the studio, recording what would become Seventh Star. Warner Bros. refused to release the album as a Tony Iommi solo release, instead insisting on using the name Black Sabbath. "It opened up a whole can of worms really," Iommi explained, "because I think if we could have done it as a solo album, it would have been accepted a lot more." Seventh Star, which sounded little like a Black Sabbath album, incorporated more hard rock elements popularised by the 1980s Sunset Strip hard rock scene, and was panned by the critics of the era, although later reviewers such as AllMusic gave the album favourable reviews, calling the album "often misunderstood and underrated".

The new lineup rehearsed for six weeks, preparing for a full world tour, although the band were again forced to use the Black Sabbath name. "I was into the 'Tony Iommi project', but I wasn't into the Black Sabbath moniker," Hughes said. "The idea of being in Black Sabbath didn't appeal to me whatsoever. Glenn Hughes singing in Black Sabbath is like James Brown singing in Metallica. It wasn't gonna work". Just four days before the start of the tour, vocalist Glenn Hughes got into a bar fight with the band's production manager John Downing which splintered the singer's orbital bone. The injury interfered with Hughes' ability to sing, and the band brought in vocalist Ray Gillen to continue the tour with W.A.S.P. and Anthrax ^{Anthrax (band)} , although nearly half of the US dates would eventually be cancelled because of poor ticket sales.

One vocalist whose status is disputed, both inside and outside Black Sabbath, is Christian evangelist Jeff Fenholt. He has insisted that he was a singer in Black Sabbath between January and May 1985.


The Eternal Idol, Headless Cross, and Tyr (1986–1990)

Black Sabbath began work on new material in October 1986 at Air Studios in Montserrat with producer Jeff Glixman. The recording was wrought with problems from the beginning, as Glixman left after the initial sessions, and was replaced by producer Vic Coppersmith-Heaven. Bassist Dave Spitz quit over "personal issues", and ex-Rainbow ^{Rainbow (band)} bassist Bob Daisley was brought in. Daisley re-recorded all of the bass tracks, and wrote the album's lyrics, but before the album was complete, he left to join Gary Moore's backing band, taking drummer Eric Singer with him. Drummer Bev Bevan refused to play the shows, and was replaced by Terry Chimes, formerly of The Clash. Blender gave the album two stars, claiming the album was "Black Sabbath in name only". The album would stall at #66 in the UK, while peaking at 168 in the US. Bassist Dave Spitz left the band shortly before the tour, and was replaced by Jo Burt, formerly of Virginia Wolf.

Following the poor commercial performance of Eternal Idol, Black Sabbath were dropped by Vertigo Records and Warner Bros. Records, and signed with I.R.S. Records. Iommi enlisted ex-Rainbow ^{Rainbow (band)} drummer Cozy Powell, long-time keyboardist Nicholls and session bassist Laurence Cottle, and rented a "very cheap studio in England". Anchored by the number 62 charting single "Headless Cross", the album reached number 31 on the UK charts, and number 115 in the US. while Blender gave the album just one star, claiming that "Iommi continues to besmirch the Sabbath name with this unremarkable collection". The band toured in support of Tyr with Circus of Power in Europe, but the final seven UK dates were cancelled because of poor ticket sales. For the first time in their career, the band's touring cycle did not include US dates.


Dehumanizer (1990–1993)


While on his own Lock Up The Wolves US tour in August 1990, former Black Sabbath vocalist Ronnie James Dio was joined on stage at the Minneapolis Forum by former Black Sabbath bassist Geezer Butler to perform "Neon Knights". Following the show, the two expressed interest in rejoining Black Sabbath. Butler convinced Iommi, who in turn broke up the current lineup, dismissing vocalist Tony Martin and bassist Neil Murray. "I do regret that in a lot of ways", Iommi said. "We were at a good point then. We decided to [reunite with Dio] and I don't even know why, really. There's the financial aspect, but that wasn't it. I seemed to think maybe we could recapture something we had". Unable to complete work on the album, Powell was replaced by former drummer Vinny Appice, reuniting the Mob Rules era lineup, and the band entered the studio with producer Reinhold Mack. The year-long recording process was plagued with problems, primarily stemming from writing tension between Iommi and Dio, and some songs were re-written multiple times. "Dehumanizer took a long time, it was just hard work", Iommi said. "We took too long on it, that album cost us a million dollars, which is bloody ridiculous".

The resulting album, Dehumanizer was released on 22 June 1992. In the US, the album was released on 30 June 1992 by Reprise Records, as Ronnie James Dio and his namesake band ^{Dio (band)} were still under contract with the label at the time. While the album received mixed it was the band's biggest commercial success in a decade. Iommi and Butler also joined Osbourne and former drummer Bill Ward ^{Bill Ward (musician)} on stage for the first time since 1985's Live Aid concert, performing a brief set of Black Sabbath songs.


Cross Purposes and Forbidden (1993–1996)

Drummer Vinny Appice left the band following the reunion show to join Ronnie James Dio's solo band, later appearing on Dio's Strange Highways and Angry Machines. Iommi and Butler enlisted former Rainbow ^{Rainbow (band)} drummer Bobby Rondinelli, and reinstated former vocalist Tony Martin ^{Tony Martin (rock singer)} . The band returned to the studio to work on new material, again not originally intended to be released under the Black Sabbath name. As Geezer Butler explains:

Iommi commented on the difficulty getting all of the band members together to work on material:



in 2007
While Ozzy Osbourne was working on new solo album ^{Black Rain (Ozzy Osbourne album)} material in 2006, Rhino Records released The Dio Years, a compilation of songs culled from the four Black Sabbath releases featuring Ronnie James Dio. For the release, Iommi, Butler, Dio and Appice reunited to write and record three new songs. The Dio Years was released on 3 April 2007, reaching number 54 on the Billboard 200, while the single "The Devil Cried" reached number 37 on the Mainstream Rock Tracks chart. He was replaced by former drummer Vinny Appice, effectively reuniting the lineup that had featured on the Mob Rules and Dehumanizer albums.

Heaven and Hell toured the US with openers Megadeth and Lamb Of God, and recorded a live album and DVD in New York on 30 March 2007, entitled Live from Radio City Music Hall. In November 2007, Dio confirmed that the band have plans to record a new studio album, which was recorded in the following year. In April 2008 the band announced the upcoming release of a new box set and their participation in The Metal Masters Tour, alongside Judas Priest, Motörhead and Testament ^{Testament (band)} . The box set, The Rules of Hell, featuring remastered versions of all the Dio fronted Black Sabbath albums, was supported by the Metal Masters Tour. In 2009, the band announced the name of their debut studio album, The Devil You Know ^{The Devil You Know (Heaven & Hell album)} , released on April 28.

On May 26, 2009 Osbourne filed suit in a federal court in New York against Iommi alleging that he illegally claimed the band name. Iommi noted that he has been the only band member for the full forty one years of the band, and that his bandmates relinquished their rights to the name in the 1980s, therefore claiming more rights to the name of the band. Although, in the suit, Osbourne is seeking 50% ownership of the trademark, he has said that he hopes the proceedings will lead to equal ownership among the four original members.

In recent interviews while promoting his biography "I Am Ozzy", Osbourne has stated that although he is not ruling out a reunion, he is doubtful there will be a reunion with all original members. Ozzy states "I'm not gonna say I've written it (reunion) out forever, but right now I don't think there is any chance. But who knows what the future holds for me? If it's my destiny, fine." Osbourne compares it going back to an ex-girlfriend, "I had girlfriends when I was younger and I would go, 'Oh, I would really like to go back with Shirley,' and then you do and you go to yourself, 'What the *** was I thinking?'Although Black Sabbath have gone through many lineups and stylistic changes, their original sound focused on ominous lyrics and doomy music,

Early Black Sabbath albums feature tuned-down ^{guitar tunings} guitars, which contributed to the dark feel of the music. Inspired by Reinhardt, Iommi created two thimbles made of plastic and leather to cap off his missing fingers. The guitarist began using lighter strings, and detuning his guitar, to better grip the strings with his prosthetics, a move which inadvertently gave the music a darker feel".Black Sabbath are arguably the most influential heavy metal band of all time. The band helped to create the genre with ground breaking releases such as Paranoid ^{Paranoid (album)} , an album that Rolling Stone magazine said "changed music forever", and called the band "the Beatles of heavy metal". Time Magazine called Paranoid "the birthplace of heavy metal", placing it in their Top 100 Albums of All Time. MTV placed Black Sabbath at number one on their Top Ten Heavy Metal Bands and VH1 placed them at number two on their list of the 100 Greatest Artists of Hard Rock. VH1 ranked Black Sabbath's "Iron Man" the number one song on their 40 Greatest Metal Songs countdown. Allmusic's William Ruhlmann said:

{{quote|Black Sabbath has been so influential in the development of heavy metal rock music as to be a defining force in the style. The group took the blues-rock sound of late '60s acts like Cream ^{Cream (band)} , Blue Cheer, and Vanilla Fudge to its logical conclusion, slowing the tempo, accentuating the bass, and emphasising screaming guitar solos and howled vocals full of lyrics expressing mental anguish and macabre fantasies. If their predecessors clearly came out of an electrified blues tradition, Black Sabbath took that tradition in a new direction, and in so doing helped give birth to a musical style that continued to attract millions of fans decades later., Slayer, Guns N' Roses, Anthrax ^{Anthrax (band)} , Disturbed, Opeth, Pantera The Smashing Pumpkins, Slipknot ^{Slipknot (band)} , the Foo Fighters, Fear Factory, Candlemass, and Godsmack. Two gold selling tribute albums have been released, Nativity in Black Volume 1 & 2, including covers by Sepultura, White Zombie, Type O Negative, Faith No More, Machine Head ^{Machine Head (band)} , System of a Down and Monster Magnet.

Metallica's Lars Ulrich, who, along with bandmate James Hetfield inducted Black Sabbath into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2006, said "Black Sabbath is and always will be synonymous with heavy metal", while Hetfield said "Sabbath got me started on all that evil-sounding shit, and it's stuck with me. Tony Iommi is the king of the heavy riff." Ex-Guns N' Roses guitarist Slash ^{Slash (musician)} said of the Paranoid album: "There's just something about that whole record that, when you're a kid and you're turned onto it, it's like a whole different world. It just opens up your mind to another dimension...Paranoid is the whole Sabbath experience; very indicative of what Sabbath meant at the time. Tony's playing style — doesn’t matter whether it's off 'Paranoid' or if it's off 'Heaven and Hell' — it's very distinctive."

In addition to being pioneers of heavy metal, they also have been credited for laying the foundations for heavy metal subgenres stoner rock, sludge metal, black metal, and doom metal. Sabbath were also one of the earliest to turn gothic music into a genre.;Current line-up
* Ozzy Osbourne – lead vocals, harmonica (1968–1979, 1985, 1994, 1997–2006)
* Tony Iommi – lead guitar, keyboards, flute (1968–2006)
* Geezer Butler – bass, synths (1968–1985, 1990–1994, 1997–2006)
* Bill Ward ^{Bill Ward (musician)} – drums, percussion (1968–1980, 1983–1985, 1994, 1997–2006)* Black Sabbath ^{Black Sabbath (album)} (1970)
* Paranoid ^{Paranoid (album)} (1970)
* Master of Reality (1971)
* Black Sabbath Vol. 4 (1972)
* Sabbath Bloody Sabbath (1973)
* Sabotage ^{Sabotage (Black Sabbath album)} (1975)
* Technical Ecstasy (1976)
* Never Say Die! (1978)
* Heaven and Hell ^{Heaven and Hell (Black Sabbath album)} (1980)

* Mob Rules ^{Mob Rules (album)} (1981)
* Born Again ^{Born Again (Black Sabbath album)} (1983)
* Seventh Star (1986)
* The Eternal Idol (1987)
* Headless Cross (1989)
* Tyr ^{Tyr (album)} (1990)
* Dehumanizer (1992)
* Cross Purposes (1994)
* Forbidden ^{Forbidden (Black Sabbath album)} (1995)