38 Facts About Black Sabbath

Black Sabbath were an English rock band formed in Birmingham in 1968 by guitarist Tony Iommi, drummer Bill Ward, bassist Geezer Butler and vocalist Ozzy Osbourne.

Black Sabbath was replaced by former Rainbow vocalist Ronnie James Dio.

Black Sabbath have sold over 70 million records worldwide as of 2013, making them one of the most commercially successful heavy metal bands.

Black Sabbath were inducted into the UK Music Hall of Fame in 2005 and the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2006.

Band's first show as Black Sabbath took place on 30 August 1969 in Workington, England.

Related searches

Black Sabbath was released on Friday the 13th, February 1970, and reached number eight in the UK Albums Chart.

In February 1971, after a one-off performance at the Myponga Pop Festival in Australia, Black Sabbath returned to the studio to begin work on their third album.

In November 1973, Black Sabbath began to receive positive reviews in the mainstream press after the release of Sabbath Bloody Sabbath, with Gordon Fletcher of Rolling Stone calling the album "an extraordinarily gripping affair" and "nothing less than a complete success".

Black Sabbath began work on their sixth album in February 1975, again in England at Morgan Studios in Willesden, this time with a decisive vision to differ the sound from Sabbath, Bloody Sabbath.

Black Sabbath toured in support of Sabotage with openers Kiss, but were forced to cut the tour short in November 1975, following a motorcycle accident in which Osbourne ruptured a muscle in his back.

Black Sabbath began work for their next album at Criteria Studios in Miami, Florida, in June 1976.

Over a decade after its release, AllMusic said the album was "one of Black Sabbath's finest records, the band sounds reborn and re-energised throughout".

Black Sabbath toured the U S throughout 1980 with Blue Oyster Cult on the "Black and Blue" tour, with a show at Nassau Coliseum in Uniondale, New York, filmed and released theatrically in 1981 as Black and Blue.

Black Sabbath came up with the idea of having the stage set be Stonehenge.

Black Sabbath wrote the dimensions down and gave it to our tour manager.

Black Sabbath wrote it down in metres but he meant to write it down in feet.

One vocalist whose status is disputed, both inside and outside Black Sabbath, is Christian evangelist and former Joshua frontman Jeff Fenholt.

Black Sabbath began work on new material in October 1986 at Air Studios in Montserrat with producer Jeff Glixman.

Black Sabbath released Headless Cross in April 1989, and it was ignored by contemporary reviewers, although AllMusic contributor Eduardo Rivadavia gave the album four stars and called it "the finest non-Ozzy or Dio Black Sabbath album".

Black Sabbath was one of the first bands to tour Russia, after Mikhail Gorbachev opened the country to western acts for the first time in 1989.

Black Sabbath began touring in support of Dehumanizer in July 1992 with Testament, Danzig, Prong, and Exodus.

Dio quit Black Sabbath following a show in Oakland, California on 13 November 1992, one night before the band were set to appear at Osbourne's retirement show.

Black Sabbath embarked on a world tour in July 1995 with openers Motorhead and Tiamat, but two months into the tour, drummer Cozy Powell left the band, citing health issues, and was replaced by former drummer Bobby Rondinelli.

Black Sabbath returned to the studio to work on new material with all four original members and producer Rick Rubin in the spring of 2001, but the sessions were halted when Osbourne was called away to finish tracks for his solo album in the summer.

In November 2005, Black Sabbath were inducted into the UK Music Hall of Fame, and in March 2006, after eleven years of eligibility—Osbourne famously refused the Hall's "meaningless" initial nomination in 1999—the band were inducted into the U S Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.

Related searches

Black Sabbath was replaced by former drummer Vinny Appice, effectively reuniting the line-up that had featured on the Mob Rules and Dehumanizer albums.

In March 2010, Black Sabbath announced that along with Metallica they would be releasing a limited edition single together to celebrate Record Store Day.

In June 2010, the legal battle between Ozzy Osbourne and Tony Iommi over the trademarking of the Black Sabbath name ended, but the terms of the settlement have not been disclosed.

On 21 May 2012, at the O2 Academy in Birmingham, Black Sabbath played their first concert since 2005, with Tommy Clufetos playing the drums.

In July 2013, Black Sabbath embarked on a North American Tour, followed by a Latin American tour in October 2013.

On 29 September 2014, Osbourne told Metal Hammer that Black Sabbath would begin work on their twentieth studio album in early 2015 with producer Rick Rubin, followed by a final tour in 2016.

On 3 September 2015, it was announced that Black Sabbath would embark on their final tour, titled The End, from January 2016 to February 2017.

On 7 March 2017, Black Sabbath announced their disbandment through posts made on their official social media accounts.

In September 2022, Osbourne reiterated that he was unwilling to continue Black Sabbath, stating that if another Black Sabbath album is released, he won't sing on it.

Black Sabbath has sold over 70 million records worldwide, including a RIAA-certified 15 million in the U S They are one of the most influential heavy metal bands of all time.

Black Sabbath has been so influential in the development of heavy metal rock music as to be a defining force in the style.

Black Sabbath found that there was only one size of strings available, so after years with Sabbath he had strings custom made.

Culturally, Black Sabbath have exerted a huge influence in both television and literature and have in many cases become synonymous with heavy metal.