Black Sabbath were formed
in 1967 in Birmingham, UK, after the dissolution of three local bands brought
Tony Iommi, Geezer Butler, Ozzy Osbourne and, shortly
afterwards, Bill Ward together. Tony Iommi left the band to play
with JETHRO TULL but soon returned with an idea to get the mood and feel
of a Horror film into music. At this point such songs as Black
Sabbath / The Wizard and Wicked World
were penned. They named themselves after the '30s Karloff movie BLACK
SABBATH. The first LP, Black
Sabbath was released in 1970. The second LP Paranoid
soon followed in and was a huge success. Due to their dark musical overtones
a religious group called `the Church Of Satan` embraced their music, parents
and conservative organizations and there off-stage life-style of drugs and
alcohol made them the scourge of millions of parents around the world.
The 1971 LP Master
Of Reality contained a pro-marijuana song Sweet Leaf.
The bands life-style began to make a mark on their music and the LP Vol
4 began to talk about the madness of cocaine addiction in
Snowblind. The LP was not a huge hit as the others before. The LP
did show off the bands maturing song-writing skills with the much more melodic
selections including the instrumental Tomorrow's Dream / Laguna
Sunrise. The band returned with a hugely powerful LP
Sabbath
Bloody Sabbath in 1973. Following 1975's Sabotage
and 1976's Technical
Ecstasy, which proved the band as the leader in this type of innovative
and provocative music, internal tensions came to breaking point during the
writing of material for their 8th Lp Never Say
Die and Ozzy briefly left the band and was replaced by Dave Walker.
Ozzy returned to release the Never Say Die LP but left the band.
» The Ozzy
Osbourne Years Discography »
Following Ozzy`s departure the band released yje live album Live
At Last and recruited ex-Rainbow singer Ronnie James Dio who
made his own unique impression on the band, releasing two promising Lp`s
in the shape of Heaven And Hell and
Mob Rules. Vinnie Appice replaced
Bill Ward on the Mob Rules Lp. Dio and Appice left in `82 after releasing
the live LP Live
Evil. The singers position was, from then on, never permanently filled.
With Ian Gillan, Glen Hughes and Tony Martin all filling the slot.
1983's Born Again saw Bill Ward returning
to the Band joined with Ex-Deep Purple frontman Ian Gillan. Bev Bevan from
E.L.O. was bought in during the US and UK shows to replace Bill Ward, who
was having health problems. After the touring was finished both Bevan and
Gillan left the Band. Bill Ward returned to the band and singer Dave Donato
was bought in on vocals. This line up never recorded and Donato was sacked
for a very egotistical magazine interview he gave. The band tried once more
with Ron Keel and, when Geezer Butler left, the band broke up. 1986's Seventh
Star LP saw Iommi as the only surviving member of the original line
up. Under the banner "Black Sabbath featuring Tony Iommi" and featuring
another Deep Purple vocalist Glen Hughes. Hughes left the band 10
dates into the US tour and was replaced by Ray Gillen. Ray Gillen
stayed on to record the 1987 release The Eternal
Idol along with Iommi, Dave Spitz, Bob Daisley, Bev Bevan and
Eric Singer but left shortly before its release and the vocals were re-recorded
with Tony Martin and then the LP released.
1989's release Headless
Cross was recorded with Iommi, Tony Martin (Vocals), Cozy Powell
(Drums) and Laurence Cottle (Bass). Tyr
released in 1990 saw Cottle being replaced by Neil Murray. Tyr saw
a surge of interest in Sabbath once again as a promise of things to come.
1992 saw the historic reunion of Sabbath with Ronnie James Dio, Geezer Butler,
Vinnie Appice and Tony Iommi. The LP Dehumanizer
was a huge hit and a track, Time Machine was featured in the film "Wayne`s
World". After refusing to open the final show of Ozzy Osbournes "No
More Tours" show, Ronnie Dio was sacked from the Band and the show went
ahead with Rob Halford of Judas Priest. Tony Martin was once again
in the fold with the release of the 94 LP Cross
Purposes along with Iommi, Butler and Bobby Rondinelli
on Drums. The bands line-up for their 95 release, Forbidden
was Martin, Iommi, Neil Murray on bass and Cozy Powell. Powell left the
band after the US leg of the tour and was replaced by Rondinelli. In 1997
on Ozzy's "Ozzfest" tour, Iommi, Butler and Ozzy reunited with Faith
No More`s Mike Bordin on drums. Later that year Bill Ward joined
them in Birmingham, England for The first full Black Sabbath show in 20
years. Reunion was released and a world Tour followed. The last ever Black
Sabbath show was at their hometown of Birmingham, England when they played
2 concerts on December 21 and 22, 1999. As of 2000 the 4 original members
of Black Sabbath were working on their own individual solo projects. This
is where this page leaves off the story but check out the bands individual
pages for latest news. |
