{"id":879,"count":3,"description":"Considered by many to be the first heavy metal band, Black Sabbath was formed in 1968 by Tony Iommi, Ozzy Osbourne, Geezer Butler and Bill Ward in Birmingham, UK.\r\nThe band's original name was the <strong>Polka Tulk Blues Band<\/strong> (later shortened to Polka Tulk) and later on changed to <strong>Earth (12)<\/strong> before becoming <strong>Black Sabbath<\/strong> inspired by an Italian horror movie of the same name.\r\n\r\nThe original line-up lasted until 1979, after which Osbourne was fired and replaced by Ronnie James Dio. The line-up changes would continue, with no line-up remaining intact for consecutive studio releases. Throughout the changes, only Tony Iommi and keyboardist Geoff Nicholls, who also joined the band in 1979, would remain with Black Sabbath, although Nicholls would not always be credited as a full member. In 1997, Iommi, Butler, Ward, and Osbourne reunited, touring and releasing a live album in 1998, although a long-rumored studio release did not appear (the group attempted to record a new album in 2001 with producer Rick Rubin but the sessions were scrapped). After that, the group periodically reunited to tour with Ozzy's \"Ozzfest\" tour. In 2004, longtime keyboardist Geoff Nicholls was replaced by Adam Wakeman for an Ozzfest tour. No reason was given for the replacement. In 2006, the original line-up was inducted into the Rock 'n' Roll Hall Of Fame.\r\n\r\nIn 2007, Tony Iommi, Geezer Butler, Ronnie James Dio, and drummer Vinny Appice (who were featured on 1981's \"Mob Rules\" and 1992's \"Dehumanizer\") announced that they would tour together as Heaven &amp; Hell (2) (with Iommi, who owns the Black Sabbath name, deciding to keep the Black Sabbath name solely for the original line-up in light of their Rock 'n' Roll HOF induction) to support a Dio-era greatest hits release, which also featured 3 new Dio\/Iommi compositions. A brand new live album was released under the Heaven &amp; Hell name that same year, followed by a studio album in 2009.\r\n\r\nIn 2009, Osbourne sued Iommi over control of the Black Sabbath name.  The lawsuit was settled the following year.  In late 2011, it was announced that the original line-up would be recording and touring.  Shortly, afterward, Bill Ward dropped out, stating he had been given a contract that was \"unsignable\".  The three remaining members opted to continue without him.  In 2013, the band released \"13\", their first studio album with Osbourne in 34 years.  The band group continue to tour until 2017.\r\n\r\nThe original members of the band reunited to play their final live show in Birmingham, UK, on July 5, 2025.  \r\n\r\nJohn 'Ozzy' Osbourne passed away on 22 July 2025, aged 76.\r\n\r\nLine-Ups:\r\nGuitar:\r\nTony Iommi - 1968-2017, 2025\r\n\r\nVocals:\r\nOzzy Osbourne - 1968-1977, 1978-1979, 1997-2017, 2025\r\nDave Walker (6) - 1977-1978 (rehearsals and a TV appearance only)\r\nRonnie James Dio - 1979-1982, 1991-1992\r\nIan Gillan - 1983-1984\r\nGlenn Hughes - 1985-1986\r\nRay Gillen - 1986-1987 (live only)\r\nTony Martin - 1987-1991, 1993-1996\r\nRob Halford - (live only) - replaced Ronnie James Dio in 1992 (November 14 and 15)  and filling in for a sick Ozzy Osbourne in 2004 (August 26), hit by a bronchitis crisis during [l3432481]\r\n\r\nBass:\r\nGeezer Butler - 1968-1984, 1991-1994, 1997-2017, 2025\r\nCraig Gruber - 1979 (rehearsals only while Butler contemplated leaving the band, the extent of his participation has been disputed)\r\nGordon Copley -1985 (rehearsals and one studio track only)\r\nDave Spitz \"The Beast\"  - 1985-1986, 1987 (live appearances only in 1987)\r\nBob Daisley - 1987 (studio only)\r\nJo Burt - 1987 (live only)\r\nLaurence Cottle - 1988 (studio only)\r\nNeil Murray - 1989-1992, 1995-1996\r\n\r\nDrums:\r\nBill Ward - 1968-1980, 1983 (studio only in 1983), 1994 (live appearances), 1997-2011, 2025\r\nVinny Appice - 1981-1982, 1991-1992, 1998 (live only in 1998, filling in for a sick Bill Ward)\r\nBev Bevan - 1983-1984, 1987 (live only)\r\nEric Singer - 1985-1987\r\nTerry Chimes - 1987-1988 (live only)\r\nCozy Powell - 1988-1991, 1994-1995\r\nBobby Rondinelli - 1993-1994, 1995 (live appearances only in 1995)\r\nMike Bordin - 1997 (live only, not a full member)\r\nBrad Wilk - 2013 (studio only, not a full member)\r\nTommy Clufetos - 2012-2017 (live only, not a full member)\r\n\r\nKeyboards:\r\nRick Wakeman - 1973 (studio only, not a full member)\r\nJezz Woodroffe - ?-1977 (not a full member)\r\nDon Airey - 1978 (not a full member)\r\nGeoff Nicholls - 1979-2004\r\nAdam Wakeman - 2004-2017 (live only, not a full member)","link":"https:\/\/egiarecords.com\/eu\/artista\/black-sabbath\/","name":"Black Sabbath","slug":"black-sabbath","taxonomy":"artista","meta":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/egiarecords.com\/eu\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/artista\/879","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/egiarecords.com\/eu\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/artista"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/egiarecords.com\/eu\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/taxonomies\/artista"}],"wp:post_type":[{"href":"https:\/\/egiarecords.com\/eu\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/product?artista=879"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}