50 Fun Facts About Black Sabbath

In which Birmingham district did Black Sabbath form in 1968?

All four grew up within a short walk of each other.

What did the group call itself first, before Earth?

The name came either from a talcum powder brand or an Indian clothing shop; nobody is sure.

Which band did Tony Iommi briefly leave Earth to join in December 1968?

He appeared with them on The Rolling Stones Rock and Roll Circus before returning within the month.

The band took its name from a 1963 horror film starring whom?

Mario Bava's film was playing in a cinema across from their rehearsal room.

The song 'Black Sabbath' uses which musical interval, nicknamed 'the Devil's Interval'?

Rob Halford has called the track 'probably the most evil song ever written'.

Where did Black Sabbath play their first show under that name, on 30 August 1969?

They signed to Philips Records that November.

How many days of studio time did the band get to record their debut album?

They played live with Ozzy in a separate booth, and one of the days was for mixing.

On what date in February 1970 was the debut album released?

Lester Bangs panned it in Rolling Stone, but it went Platinum and is now called the first heavy metal album.

What was the band's first single, a cover of a song by the band Crow?

Released on Fontana in January 1970, it failed to chart.

What was the second album originally going to be called before Warner changed it?

The title track was written in the studio at the last minute in about 25 minutes.

Most songs on the second album were worked out during a club residency in which city?

The band played seven 45-minute sets a day for six weeks at the Hirschen Club.

What UK chart position did the single 'Paranoid' reach, making it the band's only top 10 hit?

Its success pushed the album to number one in the UK.

Which 1971 album contained the band's first acoustic songs and 'Children of the Grave'?

It went Gold in under two months despite a lukewarm Lester Bangs review.

What was Vol. 4 originally going to be titled, after a song about cocaine?

Bill Ward called the final title 'pretty stupid' since there was no Volume 1, 2 or 3.

Which Los Angeles studio hosted the sessions for Vol. 4 and Sabbath Bloody Sabbath?

On their return they found their old room replaced by a 'giant synthesiser'.

Where in the Forest of Dean did the band write Sabbath Bloody Sabbath after a dry spell in LA?

Iommi stumbled on the title riff while rehearsing in its dungeons.

Which Yes keyboardist played on 'Sabbra Cadabra'?

The 1973 album was the first to earn the band positive mainstream reviews.

Which 1974 festival drew 200,000 fans to see the band alongside Deep Purple and the Eagles?

Portions were shown on ABC, exposing the band to a wider American audience.

Which notorious manager, Sharon Osbourne's father, did the band sign with in 1974?

The switch triggered two years of litigation; Ozzy was handed a subpoena on stage.

Which band opened for Black Sabbath on the 1975 Sabotage tour?

The tour was cut short when Ozzy ruptured a back muscle in a motorcycle accident.

What was the 1975 compilation the record companies released without the band's input?

It charted throughout 1976 and went double Platinum in the US.

Technical Ecstasy was recorded in 1976 at Criteria Studios in which city?

Ozzy was admitted to Stafford County Asylum by the time it was finished.

Which Technical Ecstasy track features Bill Ward's first lead vocal?

The album was the band's second in a row to miss Platinum status.

Which ex-Fleetwood Mac singer briefly fronted the band when Ozzy quit in late 1977?

His only performance with them was a TV appearance before Ozzy changed his mind.

In which city did the band spend five months recording Never Say Die!?

The 1978 tour that followed had a young Van Halen as openers, who upstaged them nightly.

Which band opened the 1978 Never Say Die! tour and was judged far more 'youthful'?

Reviewers called Sabbath's own sets 'tired and uninspired'.

Which former Rainbow singer replaced Ozzy Osbourne in 1979?

His 1980 debut with the band was produced by Martin Birch and acclaimed.

Which drummer replaced Bill Ward for Mob Rules and Live Evil?

He returned for the 1992 reunion album and the late-2000s reunion.

Which Deep Purple singer fronted the band on Born Again (1983)?

He left in 1984 to rejoin a reforming Deep Purple.

The Born Again tour's oversized stage set, later parodied in This Is Spinal Tap, depicted what?

The band made a mistake ordering the set piece, so it was far too big for most stages.

Which former Move and ELO drummer played the Born Again tour?

He later returned to add percussion overdubs on The Eternal Idol.

At which 1985 benefit did the original line-up briefly reunite, playing the Philadelphia show?

Geezer Butler recalled that they were all drunk, but had 'got drunk separately'.

Which second ex-Deep Purple singer sang on the 1986 album Seventh Star?

The record sounded more like Sunset Strip hard rock than Sabbath.

Which vocalist had the longest tenure after Ozzy, joining in 1987 for The Eternal Idol?

He recorded five studio albums with the band across two stints.

What was the 1992 album that reunited the Mob Rules line-up?

Testament, Danzig and Sepultura were among the openers on its tour.

The 1998 live album Reunion was recorded at which Birmingham venue?

It spawned the single 'Iron Man', which won the band's first Grammy 30 years after its release.

Under what name did the Mob Rules line-up tour and record in the late 2000s?

They released The Devil You Know in 2009 and disbanded after Dio's death in 2010.

Who produced the band's final studio album, 13 (2013)?

Rage Against the Machine's Brad Wilk drummed after Bill Ward sat out.

Which song from 13 won the band a Grammy for Best Metal Performance in 2014?

It was their first Grammy since 'Iron Man' won in 2000.

What was the name of the band's 2016–17 farewell tour?

It finished at the Genting Arena in Birmingham on 4 February 2017.

Ozzy and Iommi surprised the crowd at the closing ceremony of which 2022 event?

It was held at Birmingham's Alexander Stadium.

At which stadium did the original line-up play their final show, Back to the Beginning, in 2025?

Ozzy sang from a throne and died seventeen days later.

Who served as musical director of the 2025 farewell concert?

He wanted it to be 'the greatest heavy metal show ever' and compared it to the Freddie Mercury tribute.

Roughly how much did the 2025 farewell concert raise for charity?

That made it the third highest-grossing benefit concert of all time.

One week before the 2025 show, the four original members received what civic honour?

A mural of the band was also painted outside New Street station.

Tony Iommi lost the tips of two fingers at 17 in an accident at what kind of workplace?

His foreman played him Django Reinhardt to persuade him to keep playing.

Iommi made his first homemade fingertip thimbles by melting down what?

He covered them with leather cut from an old jacket.

Ozzy called which institution's 1999 nomination 'meaningless'; the band was inducted in 2006?

The band finally went in after eleven years of eligibility.

MTV ranked Black Sabbath number one on which list?

VH1 placed them second among the 100 Greatest Artists of Hard Rock.

Which two bands join Black Sabbath in the so-called 'unholy trinity' of early-70s British hard rock?

By 2013 the band had sold more than 70m records.