Black Sabbath (band)

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The original 1968-1977 line-up

THIS PAGE IS IN THE MIDDLE OF A MAJOR REWORKING.

Black Sabbath were an English rock band, formed in Birmingham, England in 1968 by Ozzy Osbourne (lead vocals), Tony Iommi (guitar), Geezer Butler (bass), and Bill Ward (drums and percussion).

Previous to Black Sabbath, Ozzy Osbourne and Geezer Butler played together in the band Rare Breed. Previous to Black Sabbath, Tony Iommi and Bill Ward played together in the band Mythology.

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 the Polka Tulk Blues Band, then shorting their name to Polka Tulk, then changing their name to Earth, the band began incorporating occult- and horror-inspired lyrics with tuned-down guitars, changing their name to Black Sabbath and releasing multiple gold and platinum records in the 1970s.

They have sold over fifteen million records in the United States alone.

As one of the first and most influential heavy metal bands of all time, Black Sabbath helped define the genre with releases such as 1970's quadruple-platinum Paranoid. They were ranked by MTV as the Greatest Metal Bands of all time.

Ozzy Osbourne quit and was briefly replaced by Dave Walker.

Ozzy Osbourne was fired from the band in 1979, and while initially replaced by former Rainbow vocalist Ronnie James Dio, Black Sabbath would see a revolving lineup in the 1980s and 1990s that included vocalists Ian Gillan, Glenn Hughes, Ray Gillen, and Tony Martin. The original lineup reunited with Osbourne in 1997 and released a live album, Reunion, which spawned the Grammy Award-winning single "Iron Man" in 2000, thirty years after the song's initial release on the album Paranoid.

The early 1980s line-up featuring Dio, Iommi, Butler, and Vinny Appice reformed in 2006 under the moniker Heaven and Hell, a title taken from the 1980 Black Sabbath song and album of the same name. In February 2009, Heaven and Hell announced that they are recording a new album, The Devil You Know, with a release date of April 28, 2009.

The band's now back together, but only consists of Osbourne, Iommi, and Butler with Brad Wilk on drums and percussion for 13 due to Bill Ward's contractual issues and some fighting going on between him and Ozzy.

The band embarked a worldwide final tour titled The End that would start in 2016 and end in early 2017, originally going to be their final tour but not the end of the band, until they decided to disband.

(Section: Cancelled Black Sabbath Album)

After the 13 album was released, the band was planning on doing a more blues-oriented release ala their self-titled album, this sadly didn't happen as they decided to disband after The End Tour.

Discography

Studio Albums

• Black Sabbath (1970)
• Paranoid (1970)
• Master of Reality (1971)
• Vol. 4 (1972)
• Sabbath Bloody Sabbath (1973)
• Sabotage (1975)
• Technical Ecstasy (1976)
• Never Say Die! (1978)
• Heaven and Hell (1980)
• Mob Rules (1981)
• Born Again (1983)
• Seventh Star (1986)
• The Eternal Idol (1987)
• Headless Cross (1989)
• Tyr (1990)
• Dehumanizer (1992)
• Cross Purposes (1994)
• Forbidden (1995)
• 13 (2013)

Live Albums

• Live at Last (1980)
• Live Evil (1982)
• Cross Purposes Live (1995)
• Reunion (1998)
• Past Lives (2002)
• Live at Hammersmith Odeon (2007)
• Live... Gathered in Their Masses (2013)
• The End: Live in Birmingham (2017)

Compilation Albums

• We Sold Our Soul for Rock 'n' Roll (1975/1976)
• The Collection (1992)
• The Sabbath Stones (1996)
• The Dio Years (2007)

EPs

• The End (2016)

Singles

• Evil Woman (1970)
• The Wizard (1970)
• Paranoid (1970)
• Iron Man (1971)
• Wicked World (1971)
• Children of the Grave (1971)
• Tomorrow's Dream (1972)
• Sabbath Bloody Sabbath (1973)
• Am I Going Insane (Radio) (1975)
• It's Alright (1976)
• Gypsy (1976)
• Never Say Die! (1978)
• Hard Road (1978)
• Neon Knights (1980)
• Die Young (1980)
• Lady Evil (1980)
• The Mob Rules (1981)
• Turn Up the Night (1981)
• Voodoo (1981)
• Trashed (1983)
• No Stranger To Love (1986)
• The Shining (1987)
• Headless Cross (1989)
• Devil & Daughter (1989)
• Call of the Wild (1989)
• Feels Good to Me (1990)
• TV Crimes (1992)
• Master of Insanity (1992)
• Psycho Man (1998)
• Selling My Soul (1999)
• The Devil Cried (2007)
• God Is Dead? (2013)
• End of the Beginning (2013)

Box Sets

• Cross Purposes Live (1995)
• Black Box: The Complete Original Black Sabbath (1970-1978) (2004)

Videography

• Never Say Die (1978)
• The Black Sabbath Story, Vol. 1 (1991)
• The Black Sabbath Story, Vol. 2 (1992)

Tourography

• Black Sabbath Tour (1969-1970)
• Paranoid Tour (1970-1971)
• Master of Reality Tour (1971-1972)
• Vol. 4 Tour (1972-1973)
• Sabbath Bloody Sabbath Tour (1973-1974)
• Sabotage Tour (1975-1976)
• Technical Ecstasy Tour (1976-1977)
• Never Say Die! Tour (1978)
• Heaven & Hell Tour (1980-1981)
• Mob Rules Tour (1981-1982)
• Born Again Tour (1983-1984)
• Seventh Star Tour (1986)
• Eternal Idol Tour (1987)
• Headless Cross Tour (1989)
• Tyr Tour (1990)
• Dehumanizer Tour (1992)
• Cross Purposes Tour (1994)
• Forbidden Tour (1995)
• Reunion Tour (1997-1999)
• 13 Tour (2013-2014)
• The End Tour (2016-2017)