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

Following Dio and Appice's departures, Iommi and Butler recorded Born Again (1983) with then-former Deep Purple vocalist Ian Gillan and Ward returning on drums, while the latter was replaced by then-Electric Light Orchestra drummer Bev Bevan on the subsequent tour.

For the next twelve years, the band endured many personnel changes that included vocalists Glenn Hughes (who appeared on 1986's Seventh Star),[3] Ray Gillen and Tony Martin, as well as several drummers (including Cozy Powell) and bassists; of the vocalists during these years, Martin's tenure was the longest, joining the band in 1987 and recording three studio albums before his initial departure in 1991: The Eternal Idol (1987),[4] Headless Cross (1989),[5] and Tyr (1990).

The band went on another hiatus in 2006 when the Mob Rules line-up reunited as Heaven & Hell, touring during the late 2000s and releasing its sole studio album, The Devil You Know, in 2009 before disbanding after Dio's death in the following year.

[11] The original line-up of Black Sabbath will reunite for what is planned to be a final show for both the band and Osbourne as a solo musician, titled Back to the Beginning, at Villa Park on 5 July 2025.

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.

[36] Inspired by the new sound, the band changed their name to Black Sabbath in August 1969,[37] and made the decision to focus on writing similar material in an attempt to create the musical equivalent of horror films.

Lester Bangs dismissed it in a Rolling Stone review as "discordant jams with bass and guitar reeling like velocitised speedfreaks all over each other's musical perimeters, yet never quite finding synch".

[50] Paranoid's chart success allowed the band to tour the U.S. for the first time – their first U.S. show was at a club called Ungano's at 210 West 70th Street in New York City[51] – and spawned the release of the album's second single, "Iron Man".

[74][75] On 8 January 1978, Walker made his only live performance with Black Sabbath, on vocals, when they played an early version of the song "Junior's Eyes" on the BBC Television programme Look!

According to the Associated Press: "The crowd of mostly adolescent males first became rowdy in a performance by the Blue Oyster Cult" and then grew restless while waiting an hour for Black Sabbath to begin playing.

[89] Black Sabbath's second studio album that was produced by Martin Birch and featured Ronnie James Dio as vocalist, Mob Rules, was released in October 1981 and was well received by fans, but less so by critics.

[117] The band enlisted heavy metal vocalist Tony Martin to re-record Gillen's tracks, and former Electric Light Orchestra drummer Bev Bevan to complete a few percussion overdubs.

[122] Iommi enlisted former Rainbow drummer Cozy Powell, long-time keyboardist Nicholls and session bassist Laurence Cottle, and rented a "very cheap studio in England".

[127] While on his Lock Up the Wolves U.S. tour in August 1990, former Sabbath vocalist Ronnie James Dio was joined onstage at the Roy Wilkins Auditorium by Geezer Butler to perform "Neon Knights".

[128] Unable to complete the album, Powell was replaced by former drummer Vinny Appice, reuniting the Mob Rules line-up, and the band entered the studio with producer Reinhold Mack.

"[138] After completing Asian dates in December 1995, Tony Iommi put the band on hiatus, and began work on a solo album with former Black Sabbath vocalist Glenn Hughes, and former Judas Priest drummer Dave Holland.

The album reached number eleven on the Billboard 200,[41] went platinum in the U.S.[45] and spawned the single "Iron Man", which won Sabbath their first Grammy Award in 2000 for Best Metal Performance, 30 years after the song was originally released.

Sabbath returned to the studio to work on new material with all four original members and producer Rick Rubin in the spring of 2001,[75] but the sessions were halted when Osbourne was called away to finish tracks for his solo album in the summer.

[184] 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.

[195] On 4 March 2016, Iommi discussed future re-releases of the Tony Martin-era catalogue: "We've held back on the reissues of those albums because of the current Sabbath thing with Ozzy Osbourne, but they will certainly be happening...

[217] Ward stated in an interview with Eddie Trunk that he no longer had the ability or chops to perform with Black Sabbath in concert, but expressed that he would love to make another album with Osbourne, Butler and Iommi.

[229] According to Iommi, the band were offered, but turned down, a reunion at Power Trip in October 2023,[230] where Osbourne was initially scheduled to headline the festival's second date; he eventually cancelled his appearance and was replaced by Judas Priest, due to health issues.

"[239] In addition to a solo performance by Osbourne, the supporting acts for the show will be Metallica, Guns N' Roses, Tool, Slayer, Pantera, Gojira, Alice in Chains, Halestorm, Lamb of God, Anthrax, Mastodon and Rival Sons, and it will include "additional performances from" Morello, Billy Corgan, Slash, David Draiman, Sammy Hagar, Fred Durst, former Judas Priest guitarist K. K. Downing, and three former members of Osbourne's solo band (Rudy Sarzo, Jake E. Lee and Mike Bordin).

[246] Early on, Black Sabbath were influenced by Cream, The Beatles, Fleetwood Mac, Jimi Hendrix, John Mayall & the Bluesbreakers, Blue Cheer, Led Zeppelin, Jethro Tull, and Iron Butterfly.

The group took the blues-rock sound of late '60s acts like Cream, 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.

"[262] Black Sabbath have influenced many acts including Judas Priest,[263] Iron Maiden,[264] Diamond Head,[265] Slayer,[21] Metallica,[21] Korn,[21] Black Flag,[266] Mayhem,[21] Venom,[21] Guns N' Roses,[263] Body Count,[267] Alice in Chains,[268] Anthrax,[269] Disturbed,[270] Death,[21] Opeth,[271] Pantera,[21] Megadeth,[272] Sepultura,[273] the Smashing Pumpkins,[274] Slipknot,[275] Foo Fighters,[276] Testament,[277] Fear Factory,[278] Candlemass,[279] Godsmack,[280] Corrosion of Conformity,[281] and Van Halen.

[282] 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, Primus, System of a Down, and Monster Magnet.

[289] King Diamond guitarist Andy LaRocque affirmed that the clean guitar part of "Sleepless Nights" from Conspiracy (1989) is inspired by Tony Iommi's playing on Never Say Die!.

Contemporary music and arts publication Trebuchet Magazine has put this to practice by asking all new writers to write a short piece (500 words) on Black Sabbath as a means of proving their creativity and voice on a well documented subject.