Black Sabbath Biography

Black Sabbath are an English heavy metal band from Birmingham, England. The original band line up of Ozzy Osbourne (vocals), Tony Iommi (guitar), Terence "Geezer" Butler (bass), and Bill Ward (drums) is the same as the current line up (2006) although there have been shifts of personnel in between.

Black Sabbath remains a dominant influence in the genre they helped create.[1] VH1's 100 Greatest Artists of Hard Rock ranks them second, behind Led Zeppelin. [2]

In 1985, the original members of Black Sabbath (Iommi/Butler/Osbourne/Ward) reunited for the Live Aid benefit concert. They played only three songs ("Children Of The Grave", "Iron Man" and "Paranoid").

For most of their career, Black Sabbath rarely received any critical praise ("blundering bozos" was one description). But the late 1980s and early 1990s saw a fairly radical reappraisal of the group: not only of their instrumental skills (which were better than they were generally given credit for) but also because they had become widely acknowledged as some of the most influential pioneers in the heavy metal field. Osbourne himself received an NME award for "godlike genius" in 2004.

Heavy metal sub-genres Doom metal, Stoner metal, and Sludge metal reflect a direct influence from Black Sabbath, especially the slower, heavier style on the band's earlier albums.

Some of the incidents and characters in the spoof rock documentary This Is Spinal Tap are based on Black Sabbath. For example the Stonehenge stage set idea in the film was taken from a real stage used by Black Sabbath for their Born Again Tour. In contrast to the set in the film, in which Stonehenge was made too small to be very imposing on stage, the Black Sabbath version of Stonehenge was in fact too large to fit in many of the arenas the band played in. The eventual fate of the set is not clear, although Iommi has said it was probably abandoned on a loading dock somewhere.

Some grunge and alternative rock groups such as Alice in Chains, Soundgarden and Silverchair are influenced by the Sabbath sound. Hardcore band Black Flag have claimed Black Sabbath as one of their major influences. Black Flag vocalist Henry Rollins wrote the liner notes for Black Box: The Complete Original Black Sabbath (1970-1978) released in 2004. "Sweet Leaf's" main riff was played by the Red Hot Chili Peppers at the end of their own number "Give It Away." Soundgarden, alongside bands such as Corrosion of Conformity, Soulfly, Therapy?, White Zombie, Megadeth, Godspeed, Ugly Kid Joe, Godsmack and others including Iron Maiden vocalist Bruce Dickinson appeared on the "Nativity in Black: Tribute to Black Sabbath" series, proving that the legendary band continues to be an inspiration.

Black Sabbath has also inspired bands outside of the heavy metal or hard rock genres. The Cardigans, for instance, have occasionally covered their songs on their own albums. Shooter Jennings included a riff from "Sweet Leaf" in his 2005 song, "Busted in Baylor County."

In 1987, Anthrax covered "Sabbath Bloody Sabbath" on their EP single "I'm The Man."

The comedy Rock band Tenacious D wrote that Black Sabbath were one of their influences on their short-lived television show.

Also in 1987, Butthole Surfers covered "Sweet Leaf" as "Sweat Loaf" on their album "Locust Abortion Technician."

In 1989, Faith No More covered "War Pigs" on The Real Thing.

In 1993, the American death metal band Cannibal Corpse covered "Zero the Hero" on the single EP Hammer Smashed Face.

In 1994, the heavy metal band Pantera released a cover of "Planet Caravan" on their album Far Beyond Driven. Pantera also covered Hole In The Sky on their greatest hits album Far Beyond the Great Southern Cowboys' Vulgar Hits.

Also in 1994, Danzig guitarist John Christ has told Guitar School that the song "Her Black Wings", which appears on their second album Danzig II: Lucifuge, compares the riff of "Zero the Hero". [12] Danzig has also released a song cover of "Hand of Doom" on their 1996 album Blackacidevil.

In 1997, the stoner metal band Kyuss covered "Into the Void" on their split EP with Queens of the Stone Age Kyuss/Queens of the Stone Age.

In 2002, heavy metal band Grave Digger released a cover of "Children of the Grave" on a re-release of Knights of the Cross in the Middleage Trilogy Box Set.

In 2002, former Hole and Smashing Pumpkins bass player Melissa Auf der Maur led a Black Sabbath tribute band called Hand of Doom. They recorded one album, the live Live in Los Angeles featuring a guest appearance by Nick Oliveri. Sotiri Papafylis, formerly of Montreal thrash metal band Eudoxis joined Black Led (a Black Sabbath and Led Zeppelin tribute band) in 2006.

In 2006, the Canadian post-hardcore group Alexisonfire covered Black Sabbath's "Sweet Leaf" for the Trailer Park Boys Movie Soundtrack.

Black Sabbath have also heavily influenced Alternative Metal band System of a Down. SOAD have covered many Black Sabbath songs, including "Snowblind", "Iron Man", and "Children of the Grave".

After repeatedly being passed over by the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame since becoming eligible in 1997, Ozzy Osbourne famously demanded that Black Sabbath be removed from consideration for the institution. In 1999, Osbourne said after Black Sabbath was passed over their second year of eligibility, "Just take our name off the list. Save the ink." His basis for this position was that because the fans did not select the members, it was "totally irrelevant". The Rock & Roll Hall of Fame ignored this request and Black Sabbath was finally inducted by Metallica members James Hetfield and Lars Ulrich on March 13, 2006.