It’s official: Black Sabbath confirm they’ve broken up
Metal legends into the void after 49 years together
On Saturday, February 4th, Black Sabbath returned to their hometown of Birmingham, England for what they’d promised would be their last ever show. On Tuesday, the metal icons made their breakup official by posting a visual obituary on Facebook with the hashtag #TheEnd.
That note puts the final nail in the coffin of a 49-year long career. Crazed frontman Ozzy Osbourne, guitarist Tony Iommi, bassist Geezer Butler, and drummer Bill Ward launched their legendary career with their self-titled debut in 1970. They went through numerous lineup changes until 2006, when they disbanded for the first time. The original quartet got back together in 2011, but Ward pulled out of the reunion tour and was replaced by Tommy Clufetos.
Over the span of their time together, Black Sabbath released 19 studio albums, including Paranoid, Master of Reality, and Vol 4. Songs from many of their records were highlighted on their final End of the Road Tour, and they fittingly closed out their career with a performance of “Paranoid”. Watch Black Sabbath’s last-ever live appearance below.
READ MORE: Tony Iommi: ‘We used to get witches at Black Sabbath shows’
The heavy metal guitarist on setting friends on fire, auditioning Michael Bolton and why he is playing his final tour
I’m OK at the moment, dare I say it. It’s stage three lymphoma, so it could come back at any time. That’s one of the reasons why we’re stopping touring (2). It’s not the playing – it’s the long flights and arriving at a hotel at 4am. That’s not good for me because it affects the blood cells. But I love playing with the band, and it’s sad to think this is the last tour.
Is it strange thinking it’s the last time you’ll play these countries?
It particularly hit me in Australia. I thought: “Blimey. This is it. We’re never going back.” It’s very emotional. But it doesn’t mean we won’t play together any more, we’re just stopping touring. Well, I’m not doing any more. They [Ozzy Osbourne and Geezer Butler] might be (laughs).
Have you found yourself thinking back to how an accident in a sheet metal factory led to you inventing heavy metal?
It was my last day at work. I was about to join this professional band and go to Germany. I came home for lunch and didn’t want to go back. My mum said: “Go finish the job properly.” The machine came down on my fingers and took the ends off. But it made me determined. I melted a Fairy Liquid bottle and made new tips for my fingers, then detuned the strings to make them easier to play. I found my sound because of Fairy Liquid.
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