Black Sabbath Might Reunite For One Last Show — But Should They?
Recently, Ozzy Osbourne got some press when he floated the idea that Black Sabbath might reunite for one show, featuring the original lineup. Unlike their final tour, and their final album, he says that this show should feature the band’s founding drummer, Bill Ward, joining Ozzy, guitarist Tony Iommi and bassist Geezer Butler. Now that , it seems like it can happen. But should it? It’s been over seven years since Black Sabbath has performed; it’s been over a decade since Bill Ward has played with them.
A quick recap: Tommy Clufetos, the drummer in Ozzy’s solo band, played on the final Sabbath tour, while Rage Against The Machine’s Brad Wilk played on 2013’s 13. 13 was the band’s Rick Rubin-produced reunion with Ozzy, and also served as their swan song.
Iommi, Butler, Osbourne, and Ward released their debut album, Black Sabbath, in the U.S. in June of 1970, which many fans see as the birth of heavy metal. They went on to release a series of classic albums, including 1970’s Paranoid, 1971’s Master of Reality, and 1972’s Vol. 4. Ozzy and the band parted ways in 1979, leading to Ozzy’s incredibly successful solo career. He was replaced by Ronnie James Dio. Ward soon left and was replaced by Vinnie Appice. Ronnie James Dio and Vinnie Appice left in 1982 to form the band Dio, leading to years of a revolving door membership in Black Sabbath.
Through the ‘80s and ‘90s, Iommi was the band’s only consistent member. This era of the band is covered, for those interested, on the newly released box set Anno Domini 1989-1995. That era of the band has its fans; but that version of the band had little in common with the version of Black Sabbath that created a subculture and changed the course of rock music in the 1970s.
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