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Black Sabbath is undoubtedly one of the most important act in Heavy-Metal
history, the band formed in the late '60s in Aston a few miles away from
Birmingham, ENGLAND; the original line-up comprised vocalist Ozzy
Osbourne, guitarist Anthony 'Tony' Iommi,
bassist Terence 'Geezer' Butler and drummer William 'Bill' Ward.
They released their eponymous debut album in February 1970 breaking the
top 10 of the Official U.K. chart, not long after the record climbed the
U.S. Pop Albums chart reaching the #23 slot.
Before the year's end, the quartet released their second LP, "Paranoid",
the record shot to #3 in their homeland while the title-track climbed
into the top 5 of the U.K. Singles chart, the song also entered the Pop
chart at #61 on the other side of the Atlantic, where the album peaked
at #12 spot on The U.S. National Pop chart and eventually enjoyed a long
chart run selling over 4 million copies; in America the second single,
"Iron Man", reached the #52.
In July of 1971, Black Sabbath, issued another big hit, "Master Of
Reality", the record rose to #8 in U.S. Pop Albums chart and also
smashed into the top 5 in Britain.
The next album, "Black Sabbath, Vol. 4", which arrived over
a year later, was another platinum seller, reaching the #13 on The Pop
chart, stateside and made top 10 in England.
The group's line-up was expanded by the arrival of keysman Rick Wakeman
and in November 1973 appeared "Sabbath Bloody Sabbath", which
hit #4 in U.K. and #11 in the States.
The band resurfaced two years later, after Gerald Woodruffe replaced Wakeman
on keyboards, the revamped line-up recorded "Sabotage", which
broke the top 10 of the British chart, but reached the #28 in U.S. Pop
Albums chart with a significant drop in sales.
After the success of the double-LP greatest hits package, "We Sold
Our Soul For Rock 'N' Roll", the quintet released their seventh album
of new material, "Technical Ecstasy", in September 1976 but
the record missed the top 50 in the United States and reached the #13
in Britain.
Ozzy Osbourne left Black Sabbath
in October of 1977 after having some personal problems, Dave Walker replaced
him and appeared on BBC TV show in early 1978; that same year Osbourne
returned to the fold, in September, Black Sabbath issued "Never Say
Die!", the record hit #12 on the British chart spawning two Top 40
singles: the title-track and "A Hard Road"; in America the album
was a modest hit, peaking at #69 on The U.S. Pop Albums chart.
At the start of 1979 Osbourne was fired and replaced by Ronnie James Dio,
the group added a new keyboardist, Geoff Nicholls and in the spring of
the following year released "Heaven And Hell", this album climbed
into the top 10 in Britain on the strength of two hit singles: "Neon
Knights" and "Die Young"; on the other side of the Atlantic
sold over a million copies cracking the top 30 of the official Pop Albums
chart.
The line-up change again when Bill Ward left due to the heavy drinking
and his place was filled by drummer Vinny Appice, the group released "Mob
Rules" in autumn of 1981, it duplicated its predecessor's success
in the States where "Turn Up The Night" hit #24 on Mainstream
Rock chart and "Voodoo" enterd the top 50 of the same chart;
in the U.K. the album hit the top 20 following the success of the title-track.
Dio and Appice decided to leave Black Sabbath after the release of the
collection "Live Evil", which was issued in December 1982; by
this point original drummer Bill Ward returned to the fold and Ian Gillan
from Deep Purple joined as the new
vocalist, in August 1983 the renewed quintet released a new LP, aptly
titled "Born Again", cracking the top 5 in U.K. and the top
40 of the U.S. Top 200 LPs & Tapes chart.
The next year Gillan left the group that played at Live-Aid in July 1985
with Ozzy Osbourne but, in the following
months many members of the veteran heavy Rock band left; however Tony
Iommi put together a new line-up with another Deep
Purple singer, Glenn Hughes, Dave Spitz on bass, Eric Singer on drums
and reconfirmed Nicholls on keyboards, the result was "Seventh Star",
a disappointing album which made top 30 in England and scraped the bottom
of the American charts.
"The Eternal Idol" was issued in late 1987 after Hughes' departure;
Ray Gillen joined as lead vocalist, this album was recorded with Iommi,
Bob Daisley on bass, Nicholls and Eric Singer, the band's thirteenth full-length
disc reached the #168 on The Billboard Top 200 chart.
During the summer of the following year, after several changes, Black
Sabbath started to work on the next LP, "Headless Cross", Iommi
and Nicholls recruited Tony Martin on vocals, Laurence Cottle on bass
and Cozy Powell on drums, completing the album in the spring of 1989,
it debuted at #31 in the U.K. and reached #115 slot on Billboard's Top
200 chart.
Cottle was soon replaced by bass player Neil Murray and after a brief
tour the band headed back into the studio to record "TYR", an
album which cracked the top 40 in Britain but missed the charts entirely
in the States.
By the fall of 1991, Black Sabbath was back with its most celebrated line-up:
Dio, Iommi, Butler, Appice, and Nicholls;
they recorded "Dehumanizer" which was issued in mid-1992, the
record rose to #44 on The Billboard Top 200 list and to #28 in Britain;
the quintet supported the album with a European tour and in America Ozzy
Osbourne invited the band to perform on the same bill; Ronnie James
Dio refused to play and announced his departure, Judas
Priest's Rob Halford joined the band for two shows and then also Appice
left again.
After Iommi and Butler realized that the
Osbourne reunion rumors were breaking down replaced Dio and Appice by
bringing back Tony Martin and adding Bob Rondinelli on drums; in January
1994 the quintet released "Cross Purposes" but the record didn't
rise higher than #122 in U.S. Top 200 and missed the top 40 in the U.K.
charts.
One and a half year later Powell and Murray rejoined the band; Black Sabbath
released "Forbidden" which failed to chart in America and was
a minor hit in the U.K. where it peaked at #71.
The band, fronted by Osbourne, in late November 1997 announced two live
shows in their native Birmingham, Ozzy
Osbourne, Iommi, Butler and Ward played
togheter on December 4th and 5th; their performance was captured on the
platinum-certified double-CD set, aptly titled "Reunion", which
was issued one year later; the record was a big success in America where
peaked at #11 on The Billboard Top 200 and hit #5 in Canadian Albums charts;
the set included two previously unreleased studio-tracks, "Psycho
Man" and "Selling My Soul", both the songs were released
as a single reaching respectively the #3 and #17 spots on The Mainstream
Rock chart.
In early 2000 the Heavy-Metal band have taken the Grammy for Best Metal
Performance for their rendition of "Iron Man".
In late 2006 Dio, Iommi and Butler, joined by drummer Vinny Appice, reunited
to record three new songs for Rhino Records' era-spanning collection,
"The Dio Years"; the collection features a dozen classic studio
recordings, one live track and the three brand-new tracks including the
Hot Mainstream Rock top 40 hit "The Devil Cried".
Black Sabbath biography is an exclusive of 100xr.com
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