After 49 years – mostly together – announced their official retirement in 2017.
In February of that year, the band announced to their hometown of Birmingham, England, that they were playing their last gig ever, per Billboard.Black Sabbath
On March 7, 2017, the band took to their official Facebook account and shared a photo of their logo with “1968-2017” written beneath it.
The post was simply captioned: “#TheEnd.”
In November 1977, original lead singer, Ozzy Osbourne, briefly quit the band, breaking up the original crew for the first time.
He returned months later but was once again replaced in 1979 after the remaining members decided to move on without him.
Another original member, Bill Ward, quit the following year.
The original lineup reunited for the first time since Ozzy’s departure in 1985, but the band continued to see a number of member changes throughout the remainder of the 80s and 90s.
In 1997, the four founding members came together once again, playing together through the 2000s.
Who are the members of Black Sabbath?
Throughout their tenure, Black Sabbath saw a number of member shakeups.
The original four members of the band include Ozzy Osbourne, Bill Ward, Tony Iommi, and Geezer Butler.
Members that came and went include Dave Walker, Ronnie James Dio, Vinny Appice, Ian Gillan, Bev Bevan, David Donato, Glenn Hughes, Dave Spitz, Eric Singer, Geoff Nicholls, Ray Gillen, Bob Daisley, Tony Martin, Cozy Powell, Laurence Cottle, Neil Murray, and Bobby Rondinelli.
When did Black Sabbath first become a band?
At the start of their careers, the original four members of Black Sabbath knew each other from school and playing in various local bands throughout Birmingham.
Tony Iommi and Bill Ward were together in a band called Mythology, while Ozzy and Geezer were in Rare Breed.
In 1968, the four musicians came together to form a group known as the Polka Tulk Blues Band.
Their name was soon after changed to Earth.
They originally played heavy blues music, but found themselves leaning into darker subject matters and eventually developed a stronger sound – “creating heavy metal,” per their website.
After getting confused with another band named Earth, the crew once more retitled themselves.
In the summer of 1969, Black Sabbath was born.
A horror film by the same name was reportedly playing across from their recording studio at the time, inspiring their new moniker.