Back Sabbath as pioneers of metal reunite

LOCK up your daughters – again. Heavy metal legends Black Sabbath are reuniting and are to record their first new album with the original line-up for 33 years.

A reformed Black Sabbath, including 63-year-old lead singer Ozzy Osbourne, have also been announced as the second headliners for next year’s Download Festival in their native Midlands.

Osbourne said “the time was right” for a reunion. “This time, for some magical reason, we have written about seven or eight songs,” he added.

The quartet, which also includes guitarist Tony Iommi, 63; bassist Geezer Butler, 62; and drummer Bill Ward, 63, have sold in excess of 70 million records worldwide and pioneered the heavy metal genre with hits such as Paranoid, War Pigs and Iron Man.

Rumours of a reunion began circulating earlier this year after reports of secret rehearsals. Band members, all wearing black outfits and red Remembrance Day poppies, made their announcement to a large, ecstatic crowd of black T-shirt-wearing fans at Hollywood’s legendary rock venue Whisky A Go Go.

They also revealed they would be embarking on a worldwide tour after the festival at Donington Park on 8-10 June, 2012.

The last album of all-original material they released together was 1978’s Never Say Die!

Iommi was quoted on the band’s official Twitter page, saying: “It’s like putting on an old glove. It’s fantastic.”

The band last played together at Donington in 2005 as part of the Ozzfest touring festival.

Andy Copping, of festival organisers Live Nation, said: “The reunion of the original line-up of Black Sabbath has been one of the most talked-about stories of the year.

“I am thrilled that the band will return to Donington Park next year to help us mark ten years of the Download Festival.

However, last night Pete Irvine, director of Edinburgh-based Unique Events music promoters, gave the reunion a more muted welcome.

“Just when you thought there can’t be anyone else to reform apart from The Smiths, along comes a band that hardly anyone can remember any of the music from, or what they look like.

“The Stones going on tour is a completely different thing because they had great music. I think with Black Sabbath the wildness was just part of their hype and not very interesting. I don’t think a bunch of old geezers can be anything but sad and they should stick to their garden sheds.”

But James McMahon, editor of Kerrang! magazine, said the reunion was not simply a bunch of “old timers” cashing in on their legendary status.

“Metal fans can be the most cynical people in the world. But the return of Black Sabbath – I don’t think anyone thinks that’s a bad thing.

“It’s different because they announced they’re making a record and that’s really exciting. It doesn’t feel weary in the way a lot of reunions of classic bands does.

“They are the Beatles of heavy metal. It all starts with Black Sabbath.”

During their 41-year history the band have had several incarnations.

Osbourne was lead singer until 1979, when he was fired. He was replaced by former Rainbow vocalist Ronnie James Dio, who performed with the band until 1982.

There was a series of line-ups until Osbourne rejoined in 1997, when Black Sabbath took part in his Ozzfest festival tour alongside the singer’s solo band. Osbourne stayed with the group until 2006.

Black Sabbath continued performing under the name Heaven & Hell with singer Dio, who died from stomach cancer in May last year.

Since his Black Sabbath days Osbourne has had several heavy metal acts, but it was in the reality TV show The Osbournes, which examined his family life along with wife Sharon, daughter Kelly and son Jack, that he returned to prominence and gained a new generation of fans.

In December 2005 he was badly injured in a quad bike accident. While he was in hospital, he had his first ever number-one UK single: Black Sabbath song Changes, performed in a duet with Kelly.

Osbourne also writes a weekly “agony uncle” column, answering readers’ problems as “Dr Ozzy” in a Sunday newspaper.

Iommi spent the 1980s and 1990s rebuilding the band and he has also written material with other artists. His first solo album, Iommi, was released in 2000.

Butler quit Black Sabbath in mid-1984 and formed the Geezer Butler Band. He rejoined his old band in 1991, leaving again three years later. In 2006, he joined Black Sabbath again in its Heaven & Hell reincarnation.

Ward has left and rejoined the band a number of times since the mid 1980s, once due to a heart attack. He also broadcasts a monthly radio show “Rock 50” on radio station WPMP from California.