Black Sabbath

Black Sabbath, British band whose bludgeoning brand of rock defined heavy metal in the 1970s. The principal members were Ozzy Osbourne, Terry (“Geezer”) Butler, Tony Iommi, and Bill Ward. Osbourne later pursued a successful solo career, styled himself as “the Prince of Darkness,” and became one of rock’s most enduring icons. He and Black Sabbath remained influential into the 21st century.

(Read “10 Defining Moments of Ozzy Osbourne’s Career.”)

Formation and music style

Osbourne, Butler, Iommi, and Ward, schoolmates in Birmingham in the late 1960s, formed the blues bands Polka Tulk and Earth. These evolved into Black Sabbath, which was named after a Butler song inspired by a Boris Karloff movie. The band cultivated a dark and foreboding image with ominous guitar riffs, slow-churn tempos, and Osbourne’s sullen vocals.

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Rock Music and Rock ’n’ Roll

Success

Black Sabbath’s lyrics, soaked in occult imagery, and coarse musicianship were reviled by critics and shunned by radio programmers, but constant touring turned them into stars, and songs such as “Paranoid,” “Iron Man,” and “War Pigs” became metal classics. By the end of the 1970s they had sold millions of records and had become the standard by which virtually every heavy metal band had to measure itself.

Breakup and reunions

Osbourne left the band in the late 1970s, and Ward and Butler later followed him out. Iommi kept the Black Sabbath name alive throughout the 1980s with a variety of musicians, and Osbourne forged a solo career marked by outrageous drug-fueled antics, best-selling albums, and the hugely popular MTV reality show The Osbournes (2002–05), which followed Osbourne and his family. In the 1990s the band’s original lineup reunited on several occasions and released the live album Reunion (1998). It featured the single “Iron Man,” which earned the group its first Grammy Award, for best metal performance. Black Sabbath was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2006.

In 2013 the Rick Rubin-produced 13—the first Black Sabbath studio recording in 25 years on which Osbourne, Butler, and Iommi played together—topped charts around the world. The band won its second Grammy for the single “God Is Dead?” Black Sabbath embarked upon a farewell tour in 2016, with a final performance the following year; a live album and film, The End: Live in Birmingham, commemorated the show. The band received a Grammy Award for lifetime achievement in 2019.

Final show

Black Sabbath reunited on July 5, 2025, for one last show in Birmingham. Osbourne opened the 10-hour-long concert, performing his solo hits while seated onstage on a black throne. (Parkinson disease and other health issues had rendered him unable to walk.) Several other metal and rock acts appeared to pay tribute to the band, including Metallica, Slipknot, Tool, and Guns N’ Roses. The event closed with a performance by the original Black Sabbath lineup.

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Osbourne died of a heart attack on July 22, 2025, at age 76.