Black Sabbath

Black Sabbath were an English rock band formed in Birmingham in 1968 by guitarist Tony Iommi, singer Ozzy Osbourne, bassist Geezer Butler, and drummer Bill Ward. Originally a blues-rock outfit called Earth, they renamed themselves after a 1963 Boris Karloff horror film and began writing dark, doom-laden riffs. Their self-titled 1970 debut and Paranoid, released the same year, are widely credited with inventing heavy metal as a distinct genre. Through the 1970s the band released era-defining albums — Master of Reality, Vol. 4, Sabbath Bloody Sabbath, Sabotage, Technical Ecstasy, and Never Say Die! Osbourne's departure in 1979 opened the band's second major era, with Ronnie James Dio joining for Heaven and Hell (1980) and Mob Rules (1981). Iommi remained the band's sole constant through a turbulent 1980s, including a one-off album with Ian Gillan (Born Again, 1983) and a brief Dio reunion for Dehumanizer (1992). From 1987 to 1995, singer Tony Martin fronted the band across five albums. The classic lineup reunited for tours and released one further studio album, 13, in 2013, which topped charts worldwide and won a Grammy. The four original members reunited one final time for "Back to the Beginning," a benefit concert in Birmingham on July 5, 2025, marking Osbourne's last performance before his death later that month. Widely regarded as the founders of heavy metal, Black Sabbath influenced virtually every subsequent metal and hard rock band and were inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.