Ozzy Osbourne's story of success with Black Sabbath before axe and solo stardom

The Black Sabbath story started when four boys from Birmingham got together to form a band in 1968, releasing a self-titled debut album in 1970.

But it was their second album, Paranoid, released in September that year, that really put them on the map – the title track became their most famous anthem and is heralded as one of the greatest heavy metal songs of all time.

By 1976, Black Sabbath were international starswith seven albums and hundreds of sold-out gigs under their belts.And these shots showing the band gleefully posing with gold discs (for record sales of more than 500,000) were starting to become a regular feature for the foursome.

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Ozzy recalled: “We started off as four guys from Aston who had a dream, and it became true beyond our wildest dreams.

“And with the success came all the trappings and we tried every one of them. The drugs, the travel, the women. Our lives were forever changed!”

Lead guitarist Tony Iommi said their success came because they ignored the critics’ damning verdicts on their music in the early years.

He said: “We believed in what we did, and that was the way life went for us, right from the beginning. We had to get over a lot of fences, but we just forged ahead. You can’t just fall apart because of what other people say. You’ve got to believe in what you do. And we certainly did.”

Bassist and lyricist Terry ‘Geezer’ Butler recalled: “The early years were a whirlwind for us. In the 70s you were lucky to have five or six albums out and lots of bands disappeared before that. But we built up a strong following around the world.”

Drummer Bill Ward added: “We were a pretty tough band then. We had tours under our belts, we’d travelled all over the world and we had millions of fans behind us. We had a lot going for us.”

However,Ozzy’s erratic behaviourdue to alcohol and drugs led to the band firing him in 1979.

But he bounced back and scored solo chart success with the likes of Blizzard Of Ozz, Diary of a Madman and Bark at the Moon and enjoyed sell-out tours. And he made global headlines in 1982 for biting the head off a live bat during a stage performance

Ozzfest, a festival in the US and Europe created with wife Sharon to showcase new metal bands, was a huge hit, running from 1996 to 2018.

By 2024, it was claimed Sabbath had sold more than 75,000,000 albums over their career. The Paranoid album has now sold some 12 million copies and last year the single Paranoid joined Spotify’s exclusive “Billions Club” – meaning the track had surpassed one billion streams.

* The article is extracted from the new Black Sabbath - End Of An Era magazine, which is available to buy now.

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