Photo: wenn.com

With a name inspired by the dark and macabre world of Boris Karloff films and Dennis Wheatley novels, Black Sabbath emerged from working-class Birmingham in 1968 with one mission: to infuse the nightmarish gloom of the horror genre into rock and roll music.

It turned out they managed to do just a little more than that...

Four decades later and the brainchild of Ozzy Osbourne, Tony Iommi, Bill Ward and Geezer Butler has since ballooned into a Grammy-winning, platinum-selling symbol of metal. The band has been inducted into both the UK Music Hall of Fame and the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in America, and has spawned an entire generation of musicians in the process. Acclaimed artists like Metallica, Iron Maiden, System of a Down and Slipknot owe their very existence to Black Sabbath, who they all claim to have been the major influence in their musical inspiration. Labelled by many as “the Beatles of metal”, Black Sabbath aren’t simply the epitome of the metal genre – they are its creators.

Black Sabbath’s veteran drummer, Bill Ward, is honoured by the recognition that the band has achieved over the years, but he characterises their success not in the accolades but simply their ability to put on a good show. He sums up this view with an instance that took place on tour in the 1970s: “It was snowing and we were all tired. Geezer had been sick, Ozzy was under the weather and I didn’t feel particularly good either. We were just lying back on the couches in the dressing room feeling wiped out and exhausted. Our tour manager came in to tell us we had 30 minutes to go before we had to be on stage, and we all looked at each other thinking “fuck this.” Eventually we started to pull ourselves together, but by the time we finally hit the stage we were spot on. We did a bang-on show full of energy, life, passion and love, and it was a big hit both with the fans and for us. Then when we finished the set, we all collapsed back into the same chairs and couldn’t move again. That, to me, is what defined us as a good band - being able to grab that passion and take it back onto the stage just one more time, despite our physical undoing.”

Of course, this ‘physical undoing’ did eventually take its toll, and Black Sabbath encountered their fair share of obstacles as a result. According to Bill, the band suffered its biggest blow in 1979 after the decision was made to sack Ozzy for constant drug and alcohol abuse, replacing him with Ronnie James Dio, of Rainbow. Bill elaborates on the way he felt at the time: “It was scary, but I knew that it was the decision we had to make. It was me that let him know that we wanted him to leave the band, and that was really painful because he’s one of my best buds. Working without Oz turned out to be an absolute disaster for me, and everything changed into a new world that I didn’t know. I didn’t know which way the furniture went or how anything fitted, and so for me it just didn’t work.” 

Ozzy’s presence had always been a key part of Black Sabbath, according to Bill, who would often follow the iconic frontman around with a tape recorder waiting for flashes of inspiration. “Every ten minutes he would throw out a word or a statement that, more often than not, would end up in one of our songs. He has so much talent all the time – it was just a question of gathering that,” Bill explains. “Sometimes I would do the same for Tony as well. He would just be banging away and I’d pass through the room with my tape recorder on, and by the time I walked out other side there would be about five riffs on there that we could use. We always used to have one or two tape recorders running, which was great for whenever Tony would pluck one out of the bag- which he did all the time,” he adds.

With the chemistry between the band’s original foursome hugely important to Bill, it wasn’t long after Ozzy’s departure that he began to lose his passion and succumb to similar drink and drug problems. Bill describes this as the toughest period of his life, saying: “I thought it was the end of everything, and I certainly thought it was the end of Black Sabbath for me. Back then I was an alcoholic and an addict, and when I left the band it was like the end of the world to me.” 

But the once-troubled drummer has since bounced back, and has various solo projects underway. Currently working an EP with his own band, Bill still sees some possibility of Black Sabbath making a reunion to go back on tour. Whilst the band do exist officially with the original four members back in the line up, Black Sabbath have not toured for over three years, and it has been even longer since any new material has been produced. Bill describes how he would feel about Black Sabbath reuniting full-time again: “I have a total open mind to any touring and a complete open mind to anything that we might want to do in the studio. I have a deep love for Ozzy, Tony and Geezer, and I love being around the fellas. I’ve left that door wide open because my heart is and always will be with Black Sabbath.”