Into The Void: Black Sabbath Bio

I - January 1969 to September 1977

Ozzy Osbourne - Vocals
Tony Iommi - Guitar
Geezer Butler - Bass
Bill Ward - Drums

The magic that started it all! Black Sabbath Mk. I in 1992

Black Sabbath Mk I was originally called Polka Tolk, then Earth, and finally Black Sabbath. Keyboard duties were uncredited during this era. Before Sabbath, Bloody Sabbath it's generally unknown who played keyboards, although I've heard some stories that Tony Iommi played keyboards on Volume 4's Changes. Rick Wakeman played on Sabbath Bloody Sabbath, and Jeff Woodruffe played after that until the end of the Technical Ecstasy Tour. The trials and tribulations of the original lineup are well documented (so well that a lot of people mistakenly believe that Sabbath ended in 1979), so I won't repeat them here. However, I'll list some of the more notable things here.

Before the band recorded their first album, and after they had taken the moniker of Black Sabbath, Tony Iommi quit the band briefly to play with Jethro Tull. He only lasted 2 weeks, and came back to Sabbath. During his time in Tull, he did play live once, and a recording of this exists on the Archangel bootleg, and on the Rolling Stones "Rock & Roll Circus" video (it appears that it really wasn't Tony "playing", he was just miming). The musical contributions of the original lineup of Black Sabbath to the music world are legendary. The albums they produced during this time still hold up with today's music, and should be required listening for everyone who has a CD player. :)

Additionally, There were two demos recorded in 1969 that have yet to surface in the collector's circles. They are "A Song for Jim", and "The Rebel". Got 'em? I want to hear from you.

II - October 1977 to January 1978

[Sabbath with Dave Walker]

Dave Walker - Vocals
Tony Iommi - Guitar
Geezer Butler - Bass
Bill Ward - Drums
Don Airey - Keyboards (not listed as full member)

Ozzy left in 1977 after personal problems. During this time, ex Fleetwood Mac member Dave Walker replaced Ozzy. This version of the band never recorded, but work did begin on Never Say Die during this time. This lineup did play live once, that being in January 1978 on the BBC Midlands 'Look Here!' programme; a version of Junior's Eyes exists with this band (with very different lyrics from the final version).

Ia - January 1978 to Early 1979

Ozzy Osbourne - Vocals
Tony Iommi - Guitar
Geezer Butler - Bass
Bill Ward - Drums
Don Airey - Keyboards (not listed as full member)

Ozzy returned to finish the recording of Never Say Die, and sang on the subsequent tour. However, Ozzy's performance was sporadic. Geezer & Tony say (on the Sabbath Story Vol 2 Vid) that Ozzy would refuse to sing some of the material already in place for this album, and as such, there was an instrumental where there originally was not planned to be. In addition the final track on the album was sung by Bill Ward (because Ozzy refused).

The last date on the Never Say Die tour was December 11, 1978, and Ronnie Dio didn't come on board until around March 1979, so sometime in early 1979 is when Ozzy was "fired".

III - March 1979 to August 17, 1980

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Ronnie James Dio - Vocals
Tony Iommi - Guitar
Geezer Butler - Bass
Bill Ward - Drums
Geoff Nicholls - Keyboards (not listed as full member)

Depending on who you talk to, Ozzy was either fired, asked to leave, or just quit. There's too many conflicting stories about his departure. Also, for a brief time before Dio joined the band, Geezer left. During that time, Geoff Nicholls (ex-Quartz) was brought in to play bass, but when Geezer returned, Geoff moved over to keyboards, and has been there ever since. Also, at some point during Geezer's departure, Craig Gruber (ex-Rainbow) was "used" (source was an interview with Tony Iommi). How much input or what Craig did is unknown. There was also an unfounded rumour that Craig Gruber actually plays bass on the Heaven & Hell album, and it's not Geezer Butler.

IV - August 31, 1980 to October 1982

Ronnie James Dio - Vocals
Tony Iommi - Guitar
Geezer Butler - Bass
Vinny Appice - Drums
Geoff Nicholls - Keyboards (not listed as full member)

Bill Ward left the tour in August, right before a Hawaii gig, for a couple of reasons. His drinking and depression are his publically stated claims (source was the Sabbath Story Vol 2 video). Bill had also lost both his parents in a short period of time not long before this. The tour was postponed until a replacement could be brought in. Bill's replacement was ex-Axis drummer Vinny Appice. Vinny finishes the Heaven & Hell tour, and records the following album Mob Rules, as well as plays the entire tour for that, which was recorded for the Dec 92 release, Live Evil. Ronnie & Vinny leave to form Dio at the end of 1982. Again, depending on who you talk to, it's a different story as to why they left. Seems it boils down to personalities. There is also the publically stated claim of Ronnie "sneaking into the studio to mix up the vocals, and the bass and drums down". Around the time of the Dehumanizer album, the guys say that this claim was "never exactly true".

V - December 1982 to Spring 1983

Ian Gillan - Vocals
Tony Iommi - Guitar
Geezer Butler - Bass
Bill Ward - Drums
Geoff Nicholls - Keyboards (not listed as full member)

After a short search, Ian Gillan of Deep Purple is brought in for vocals, and Bill Ward is also brought back to play drums. Some years later, Ian Gillan states the only reason he did Sabbath was money, and unfortunately, Sabbath seems to have forgotten this era, which is a shame, as Born Again was an excellent album. The only post Born Again tour to have any material from Born Again was the Seventh Star tour, when they played a few bars from Zero the Hero.

VI - Spring 1983 to February 1984

Ian Gillan - Vocals
Tony Iommi - Guitar
Geezer Butler - Bass
Bev Bevan - Drums
Geoff Nicholls - Keyboards (not listed as full member)

Bev Bevan is brought in to replace Bill Ward for the Born Again Tour. Bill's general health and well being was still not up to par, and he was not able to tour with the band. Bev is also from Birmingham, and grew up around Sabbath. This is the tour that featured the Spinal-Tap spoofed Stonehenge stage. This lineup lasted the entire tour, but not long after it. On tour, Black Sabbath was playing the Purple staple Smoke on the Water as the first encore song. There was a rumour that Sabbath was going to play ELO's Evil Woman on tour, but to my knowledge, it never happened.

VII - Spring 1984

Dave "Donut" Donato - Vocals
Tony Iommi - Guitar
Geezer Butler - Bass
Bill Ward - Drums
Geoff Nicholls - Keyboards (not listed as full member)

At the end of the Born Again tour, Ian Gillan leaves to go reform Deep Purple. Ian's stated reason at the end of the Born Again tour was "vocal problems", but the fact that he immediately did the Purple gig tends to discount that. Bev also splits, to go work on the ELO II project. During this time, Bill Ward comes back yet again, and the search is on again for a new singer. For a brief time, Dave Donato is brought in on vocals. Dave apparantly gives a very horrible interview in Kerrang, and is fired because of it. There is also an uncofirmed rumour that LA Metal frontman Ron Keel was a vocalist. After this time, feeling disgusted, Geezer Butler leaves to work on a solo project. Geezer did play some gigs around the UK for awhile under the moniker of "The Geezer Butler Band". This solo project never recorded, but some live tapes do exist. This is not to be confused with the G//Z/R project of Geezer's from 1995. At this time Bill Ward left as well, but not much is known about what he did during this time. Sabbath is more or less put on ice at this time until Iommi is forced by record company pressure to make his 86 solo album a Sabbath album (see Lineup #8 for more info on this.)

Summer 1984 to January 1985 (Band Inactive)

After the mid 84 attempt to bring another singer into the band (Donato, Keel, etc..) the band more or less "breaks up". There was never an official announcement of a disbanding or a breakup, but this is the opinion that some fans have. Geezer Butler has said in interviews that he was "sick of it all" and left. Bill Ward was still having some problems getting himself straightened out, and spent most of this time of his life musically inactive. An article in a 1986 Kerrang said something like (I'm paraphrasing from memory) "Iommi didn't want the Black Sabbath name to die, and bought up the rights to it". This led us to what happened in 1985/1986...

January 1985 to May 1985 (Disputed Lineup)

Jeff Fenholt - Vocals
Tony Iommi - Guitar
Gordon Copley - Bass
Eric Singer - Drums
Geoff Nicholls - Keyboards (not listed as full member)

Jeff's part in the history of Black Sabbath is in dispute. The Black Sabbath camp has said that Fenholt merely "tried out" for the part. Jeff says that he was in the band for about 7 months, worked on the Seventh Star album, and is uncredited for co-writing some of the stuff on the album, including No Stranger to Love. I have requested that the Fenholt camp release a picture of him with the band so that we can have some proof, but as of yet, I have not received a response to this specific request. The general conensus is that Fenholt wasn't really part of the band, but is making this up to "push his cause". If I get an answer or a resolution from either side on this, I will update this section with that info. However, I'm not holding my breath, I don't suggest you do, either. :-)

However, other info about this time is more secure. Tony Iommi was briefly engaged to be married to Lita Ford during this time, and because of this (I would assume) when Iommi started working on a solo project (what became The Seventh Star) he used Eric Singer and Gordon Copley from Lita's band. When Lita went to go back out on the road in the fall of 1985, Gordon left the band to go with her, while Eric stayed. Gordon does appear on the final version of Seventh Star on the track No Stranger To Love.

This part of the band's history is also kinda weird insofar as Sabbath didn't officially exist as "Black Sabbath". During this time, the album being worked on was officially going to be a solo album. From this point of view, it could be construed that Fenholt (assuming he was invovled in the first place) was not officially part of Black Sabbath, since this time is generally regarded as Iommi Solo project time, and that Sabbath proper wasn't reborn until later on in the project when record company pressure forced Iommi to call this a Black Sabbath album, and not a Tony Iommi solo album.

Please note that I do not consider Jeff Fenholt a member of Black Sabbath. I've gotten several messages asking why I even bother to put him here. The main reason is that when I didn't have him here, and I got a lot more messages asking about him. I figure I'll put the sum of my Fenholt knowledge here so people don't have to ask me all the time.

Ib - July 13, 1985 (Live Aid)

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Ozzy Osbourne - Vocals
Tony Iommi - Guitar
Geezer Butler - Bass
Bill Ward - Drums

The orginal Black Sabbath reunites for one day in July 1985 for the Live Aid Festival to fight hunger in Africa. Black Sabbath played in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania at the JFK Memorial Stadium. They came on around 10AM or so, and played three tracks. There was some talk of an original Black Sabbath Reunion immediately after this, but it fell apart very quickly.

I was living in Philadelphia at the time, I wish I had the honour of saying I was there. I was not, I had to work. :(

VIII - Summer 1985 to March 23, 1986

Seventh Star Band

Glenn Hughes - Vocals
Tony Iommi - Guitar
Dave Spitz - Bass
Eric Singer - Drums
Geoff Nicholls - Keyboards (not listed as full member)

At some point during the summer of 1985, Tony Iommi began work on a solo album, and bought in Glenn Hughes to handle vocals, and Dave Spitz replaced Gordon Copley (assuming he was ever really a member in the first place), who went out on the road with Lita Ford. Eric Singer also came over from the Lita Ford band, but Eric stayed with Tony & Sabbath. This album was originally intended to be an Iommi solo album, but record company pressure forced it to come out under the Black Sabbath banner, but the band was officially called Black Sabbath Featuring Tony Iommi. This is another album that was excellent, but very much underrated. The only time other than the Seventh Star tour (and a one shot charity benefit appearance in 1988) that any material from this album was played was on the Tyr tour in 1990, when they played one verse of Heart Like a Wheel.

IX - March 25, 1986 to March 1987

Ray Gillen - Vocals
Tony Iommi - Guitar
Dave Spitz - Bass
Eric Singer - Drums
Geoff Nicholls - Keyboards (not listed as full member)

After about 5 or 6 dates into the Seventh Star tour, Ray Gillen replaced Glenn Hughes. Again, depending on whom you talk to, there are conflicting reports as to why Glenn was fired. Stories range from drug and alchohol abuse, to the publically stated claim of "inability to properly sing Sabbath classics live". This is partially backed up by the bootleg I have of Glenn in Detroit where he completely butchers War Pigs. Ray was a friend of Dave Spitz's, and literally went from a New Jersey bar band to Black Sabbath. Ray finishes the tour, and is around for the recording of the next album, The Eternal Idol, but leaves the band before it's finished.

X - Spring/Summer 1987 #1

Tony Martin - Vocals
Tony Iommi - Guitar
Dave Spitz - Bass
Terry Chimes - Drums
Geoff Nicholls - Keyboards (not listed as full member)

Somewhere in 1987, the "revolving door" personnel changes begin. I thought I had a handle on all the permeations of the group, but in late November 1997, I found this picture on the web. This is the band as it appeared in the Sun City show they did during 1987. My goal is to sit down with either Tony Iommi or Geoff Nichols, and straighten this mess out once and for all. 1987 is the most confusing year in the band history, and I want to portray an accurate lineup listing. This picture really threw me for a loop. I'm still going to go with what I've been able to piece together over the years. :)

I was originally under the impression that Terry Chimes didn't come into the picture until after the recording of the Eternal Idol album finished, but that may not be true. I'm confused!. Seriously, I believe the Sun City lineup to be a one off.

During production for the Eternal Idol album, Ray Gillen leaves the band, because he felt Sabbath wasn't going anywhere, as well as his feeling that the band didn't really have any future. (Foolish opinion, if you ask me) Of course, with an album not completed, and the lead vocalist gone, the vocals had to be redone, hence the appearance of Tony Martin. Actually, Tony Martin was considered for the position in 1986, but he was already in a band at the time (The Misha Calvin Band). Tony Martin has said that one small bit of Ray's vocals was left on the released version of Eternal Idol, that being some laughter on the track "Nightmare".

XI - Spring/Summer 1987 #2

Tony Martin - Vocals
Tony Iommi - Guitar
Bob Daisley - Bass
Eric Singer - Drums
Geoff Nicholls - Keyboards (not listed as full member)

Later during production of Eternal Idol, Dave Spitz leaves the band. Some sources say that Dave Spitz was fired from the band over a money issue, but I cannot confirm this. To finish out the album, Bob Daisley is brought in. Bob should be well known to Sabbath fans, as he was Ozzy's original bassist, appearing on several Ozzy albums, and is generally accepted to have written a bulk of the lyrics for Ozzy's solo albums.

XII - Spring/Summer 1987 #3

Tony Martin - Vocals
Tony Iommi - Guitar
Bob Daisley - Bass
Bev Bevan - Drums
Geoff Nicholls - Keyboards (not listed as full member)

Towards the end of the production of The Eternal Idol, Eric Singer leaves Black Sabbath to form Badlands with the already departed Ray Gillen. As a side note, during this time, Ray had tried out for Blue Murder, and was fired, with the excuse of "He couldn't sing!" To finish out the drum bits on the album, Bev Bevan is brought in, although he's officially credited as "percussion" on the album. There is a version of The Eternal Idol with Ray Gillen that is in the collector's circles, but who plays what on that version is generally unknown.

Eric Singer was asked at a KISS convention about the Eternal Idol album, and he said that Bev doesn't actually play anything on the album, and that he's the only drummer. That's possible, as Bev is only listed as percussion. I had also read something around the time of the release of this album that Bev was brought in only to "clean up" a few things on the final recording after Eric had already left.

XIII - November 1987 to December 1987

Eternal Idol Tour Band

Tony Martin - Vocals
Tony Iommi - Guitar
Jo Burt - Bass
Terry Chimes - Drums
Geoff Nicholls - Keyboards (not listed as full member)

This version of Black Sabbath was only together for the (short) Eternal Idol tour. The final date of the tour was to be December 28, 1987 at the Hammersmith, but it was cancelled; Sabbath never played the UK or the US for this album. Burt stepped in only for the Eternal Idol tour that ended in late December. Terry Chimes stuck around for a bit longer, (see next entry) but this version of the band was never intended to continue beyond the Eternal Idol tour.

BACK ROW: Geoff Nicholls, Tony Iommi

FRONT ROW: Terry Chimes, Tony Martin, Jo Burt.

Now, my guess is that the Sun City thing could have been in between the finishing of the recording of Eternal Idol, and the short European tour, and that Bob Daisley didn't want to go there, hence the one off (re)appearance of Dave Spitz, but this is pure speculation on my part. I'd really love to get all of this Spring/Summer/Fall 1987 Black Sabbath history ironed out. I do know that a few people who were there at the time have seen my site, and this page. If you are any of them (Tony Martin - Dave Spitz - Bob Daisley), PLEASE Email me so I can get this all straightened out!

January 1988 to Summer 1988 (Band Inactive)

Not a whole lot is known about what was happening during Early 1988. This is generally considered downtime for the band. Again, Sabbath never disbanded, it was just "on ice". At some point during this time, Tony Iommi signs a new record deal with IRS Records, and Sabbath leaves Warner Bros for the first time since 1970.

XIV - May 29, 1988

Tony Martin - Vocals
Tony Iommi - Guitar
Geoff Nicholls - Bass
Terry Chimes - Drums

This is the only exception to the last entry. This variant of Black Sabbath played one time. They did a 20 minute charity show appearance in the UK in May of '88. This was Tony Martin's first appearance in the UK while singing for Black Sabbath. This show is notable for two reasons, one being the appearance of Geoff Nicholls on bass, and the other being the only time a track from Seventh Star (Heart Like a Wheel) is played in full other than on the Seventh Star tour itself. Sabbath only played three songs, those being Heart like a Wheel, Neon Knights, & Paranoid.

Also around this time, Tony Martin goes off and works with John Sykes in Blue Murder, but does not join (Martin is credited as co-author of the Blue Murder song Valley of the Kings).

XV - Summer 1988 to April 1989

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Tony Martin - Vocals
Tony Iommi - Guitar
Laurence Cottle - Bass
Cozy Powell - Drums
Geoff Nicholls - Keyboards (not listed as full member)

During the summer of 1988, the two Tonys hook up with Cozy Powell and start writing for what will become Headless Cross. The album was actually recorded from August to November of 1988. During this time, Sabbath is told by Gloria Butler that Geezer was going to join the band again. Laurence Cottle was really only around for the recording of the album, he wasn't here the whole time. Sabbath waits until April 89 for Geezer, but since Geezer went and joined Ozzy's band, Neil Murray is brought in on the eve of the album's release. The release of Headless Cross also marked the first time since 1970 that Black Sabbath changed record labels.

The picture to your right here was a promo shot taken during the recording of the album Headless Cross, both after Laurence Cottle had done his part, and before Neil Murray came onboard.

XVI - May 1989 to November 1990

Tyr Band

Tony Martin - Vocals
Tony Iommi - Guitar
Neil Murray - Bass
Cozy Powell - Drums
Geoff Nicholls - Keyboards (not listed as full member)

This version of Black Sabbath toured for the entire Headless Cross album, and then recorded Tyr. The band toured for Tyr, but the tour was never completed. The tour had a few surprises, that being that Ian Gillan, Geezer Butler, & Brian May made appearances during a few gigs. There was a planned US Tour, but it was cancelled. I was annoyed about that, I wanted to see them. Towards the end of the tour, there are rumours that Geezer Butler and Ronnie James Dio might be rejoining the band.

XVII - December 1990 to January 1991

Tony Martin - Vocals
Tony Iommi - Guitar
Geezer Butler - Bass
Cozy Powell - Drums
Geoff Nicholls - Keyboards (not listed as full member)

Geezer Butler rejoins the band after the end of the Tyr tour. This version of Black Sabbath never toured or recorded. Before the reunion for Dehumanizer, Geezer Butler was going to put something back together with Tony Iommi and since Cozy was the last drummer of record, he was still hanging around. Source for this was an interview with Geezer Butler and Tony Iommi in Kerrang in mid 1991 when they talked about having to "get rid of" Tony Martin.

XVIII - January 1991 to October 1991

Ronnie James Dio - Vocals
Tony Iommi - Guitar
Geezer Butler - Bass
Cozy Powell - Drums
Geoff Nicholls - Keyboards (not listed as full member)

Ronnie James Dio decides to rejoin Black Sabbath after the infamous "Geezer visit to a Dio gig in Minneapolis" on August 28, 1990. This version of Sabbath never recorded or toured either. The band was going to progress in this form, Dio didn't just join for "The Dehumanizer Reunion". The band spent most of this time working on new material. Rumous abounded that Dio & Cozy couldn't get along. Around September, Cozy has his infamous "horse riding accident" that prevented him from working. There was another rumour that Cozy Powell wanted too much money from what became Dehumanizer, and as such the "horse riding" story was quickly invented for his departure from the band. Rumour has it that Ronnie tried to get Simon Wright (played drums on Dio's 1990 LP) into the band, but it was shot down due to him being too "AC/DC'ish" for Black Sabbath. According to the same interview mentioned in the last entry, Sabbath was gonna wait for Cozy, but record company pressure forced them into doing something, so it lead to....

IVa - October 1991 to November 13, 1992

Ronnie James Dio - Vocals
Tony Iommi - Guitar
Geezer Butler - Bass
Vinny Appice - Drums
Geoff Nicholls - Keyboards (not listed as full member)

The Great Reunion of 1992 responsible for Dehumanizer. Probably the most important Black Sabbath record in years. This album proves they can still kick ass with the best of today's rock. Most underrated song on here is Computer God. The lyrics just rule beyond belief. Anyway, the band says (before they tour, during recording), that they were childish in the way they behaved in the early 80's, and that they promise to keep the egos out of the band.

XIX - November 14 & 15, 1992

Rob Halford - Vocals
Tony Iommi - Guitar
Geezer Butler - Bass
Vinny Appice - Drums
Geoff Nicholls - Keyboards (not listed as full member)

These two dates were at the end of the Dehumanizer tour. Ozzy was saying that his 92 tour was to be his last, and he wanted to play with Black Sabbath to "end his career". Ronnie James Dio stated that he didn't think Black Sabbath should have to open for anyone, not the least of which was their own former lead singer, Ozzy. Dio refuses to do these shows, so Rob Halford (Judas Priest, Fight), a friend of the band steps in for these two dates. Tony Martin was to perform at these two shows, but he was in Europe at the time, and could not get a work visa to come to the states and sing for Sabbath. The band (with Halford) does a Rockline interview on November 16, 1992, so Halford hung around for a bit more than just the two dates, but it was never intended to continue on with Halford as lead vocalist beyond these dates.

Ic - November 15, 1992

Ozzy Osbourne - Vocals
Tony Iommi - Guitar
Geezer Butler - Bass
Bill Ward - Drums

On the second night of Ozzy's two night stand in Costa Mesa, CA, the original Black Sabbath reuinited and played four tracks. One of these tracks (Black Sabbath) is commercially available on Ozzy's "Live & Loud" videotape. The other three are not (ahem) commercially available.

After this, there was to be an official Black Sabbath Mk I Reunion. According to all involved, it was really going to happen. Some time went by, and the Sabbath camp (Tony/Geezer) decided that they'd start working on a new album at this time because (in their words in an interview at the time) they knew what Ozzy was like, and they figured they might as well start working on a new album without him, since the reunion would fall through. Iommi has said in interviews that it was all a done deal, and the contracts were sent to Ozzy, and Ozzy just didn't sign them and send 'em back. Simple as that, as far as Sabbath's concerned. Ozzy paints a more distorted picture, but it seems to be the same story.

XX - February 1993 to June 1994

Cross Purposes Band

Tony Martin - Vocals
Tony Iommi - Guitar
Geezer Butler - Bass
Bobby Rondinelli - Drums
Geoff Nicholls - Keyboards

Immediately after the Costa Mesa gigs, Ronnie & Vinny leave Sabbath again to go (re)form Dio. After Iommi & Butler realize that the Ozzy Reunion talks were breaking down, Tony Martin rejoins the band, and Bobby Rondinelli joins to record Cross Purposes. The album was actually released in January of 1994, and would have been out sooner, but the album release was held up because of the delays in resolving the (almost) Ozzy reunion of 1993. This version of Black Sabbath lasts the entire tour, until the absolute end when Bobby Rondinelli leaves the band. Finally, after 14 years in the band, Geoff Nicholls is recognized as an official member of the band, but he's still pushed offstage on tours.

Come on guys, Geoff was onstage for the Seventh Star tour, put him back! :)

XXI - June 1994

Sao Paulo 94 with Bill Ward

Tony Martin - Vocals
Tony Iommi - Guitar
Geezer Butler - Bass
Bill Ward - Drums
Geoff Nicholls - Keyboards

Black Sabbath plays a music festival, and because of Bobby's departure, a drummer is needed. Bill Ward is brought out of somewhat retirement from music to play. Bill apparently was going to continue on in the band, but decided not to do it before the band actually got to recording a new album. Geezer leaves to go work with Ozzy on his 95 release, Ozzmosis, as well as his own G//Z/R project. Geezer quite publically slams Sabbath & Iommi after leaving, stating that he had no intention on ever playing with Black Sabbath again.

XVIa - Fall 1994 to July 1995

Tony Martin - Vocals
Tony Iommi - Guitar
Neil Murray - Bass
Cozy Powell - Drums
Geoff Nicholls - Keyboards

Sabbath's other reunion of the 90's, but it received much less attention. After the end of the Cross Purposes tour, the lineup responsible for Tyr and the tour for Headless Cross reuinites to make 1995's Forbidden. This album featured for the first time ever a guest vocalist. This was Ice-T of the band Body Count on the track The Illusion of Power. Body Count's guitarist, Ernie C, produced Forbidden. The band went out on tour to support Forbidden, but crappy (read non-existant) support from IRS caused the Forbidden tour to be hardly promoted (if at all), and it was not very well received ticket sales wise. This is too bad, as I was lucky to see this tour live in the US, and the band was very tight.

XXII - July 1995 to December 1995

Tony Martin - Vocals
Tony Iommi - Guitar
Neil Murray - Bass
Bobby Rondinelli - Drums
Geoff Nicholls - Keyboards

At the end of the US tour for Forbidden, Cozy Powell leaves, claiming exhaustion for a few non stop years of recording and touring (Brian May Band and Black Sabbath). The split is on friendly terms. Bobby Rondinelli is brought back for the rest of the Forbidden tour. Vinny Appice did NOT play for Black Sabbath during this time. There was a rumour that started at Cozy's last US gig about this, because Tony Martin announced that Vinny was in the audience. The rumour started when some people translated this into Vinny was replacing Cozy.

The rest of the tour came off smoothly, with the exception of some cancelled dates in Australia. Sabbath also brought back Changes to the set list for at least one show in Japan.

January 1996 to March 1997 (Band Inactive)

The tour for Forbidden ended in December 1995, and the band has more or less been on ice since. In April of 1996, IRS Records released a compilation CD called "The Sabbath Stones", which is a Greatest Hits of the bands records on IRS (plus a track from Born Again, Seventh Star, & Eternal Idol). This is the swan song of Sabbath on IRS, and during 1996 all that really happened with Sabbath was behind the scenes. They lost their record contract, and were in search of a new one (as of the writing of this page (May 97) they still don't have one), and there were rampant rumours of ex Judas Priest singer Rob Halford joining the band. The story goes like this: Iommi had stated that there were to be several vocalists on his solo album, and that he and Halford were to get together for a month or two in the Summer of 1996 to collaborate on material for a project. That happened, but nothing became of the material, so that all was scrapped, and Iommi spent the rest of 1996 working on a solo album that's supposed to be released in 1997. According to Glenn Hughes (who was working with Iommi on material and is playing bass on it), it's very "different".

In October of 1996, an announcement was made that Tony Martin had left Black Sabbath. Turns out that was a rumour. In December of 1996, both Tony Martin (via a letter to Sam Naugler) and Iommi (via an interview with Pete Scott) both confirm that Martin is not "out" of Sabbath. Neil Murray was working with Cozy Powell in Peter Green's "Splinter Group" (founder of Fleetwood Mac). Bobby Rondinelli was heard of working in some capacity with the Sun Red Sun group he was in with Ray Gillen when Ray died.

XXII - March 1997 to July 1997

[Ozzy + Tony from OzzFest '97] In March 1997, several rumours surfaced saying that Black Sabbath was to "reunite" and play some gigs at Ozzy's OzzFest 1997 Festival tours. The rumours first said it was an original Mk. I reunion, and then it changed to Sabbath with Iommi / Butler / Osbourne / Mike Bordin (from Faith No More). Bill Ward was not asked to play. It goes so far as having Ozzy's wife Sharon (Ozzy's manager) say to Bill, "Your Services are not required".

This "reunion" of three of the original Mk I members started in late May 1997, and ran until July 1st, 1997. They played only the United States on this tour. Black Sabbath played a short (about one hour) set at the end of the day at OzzFest, after Ozzy himself did a solo set.

July 1997 to November 1997 (Band Inactive)

After the Ozzfest shows ended in July of 1997, everyone "went back home". Ozzy went to work finishing and preparing his "Ozzman Cometh" Greatest Hits package for release in November, and Geezer Butler went out and toured the clubs in support of his new Black Science CD. Tony Iommi went back to work on his solo album, which is rumoured to appear in the early part of 1998.

The rumous continue that a reuinted Black Sabbath will get back together and play the UK in December. After speaking with Bill Ward's production manager in early October, I can say that Bill was called by Sharon Osbourne to come to England and rehearse for the now announced Black Sabbath gigs on December 4th & 5th, 1997. Bill was careful to tell me that he was not actually contracted to play the two gigs in December, he was only invited over to "rehearse" with them in November. This is curious, as the tickets for these gigs say "Original Black Sabbath" on them, and yet Bill has not been signed on yet to do them. It's a fairly good guess that he will, however.

The other talk is that these two gigs are being recorded for a live album and video to be released in 1998, possibly if they want to make *THAT* the 30th anniversary of Black Sabbath (the original 4 got together in 1968, but I don't believe the name Black Sabbath was used until 1969) package. We'll see soon enough. :)

XXIII (or Id) - November 11th, 1997 to May 20, 1998

Ozzy Osbourne - Vocals
Tony Iommi - Guitar
Geezer Butler - Bass
Bill Ward - Drums
Geoff Nicholls - Keyboards

On November 11th, Bill Ward goes to England to rehearse with Tony Iommi, Geezer Butler, and Ozzy Osbourne for the December gigs in the UK. During this time, MTV Europe announced that Bill had hurt his hand, but was going to play the gigs anyway. This was totally false. On November 24th, it was officially announced that Bill Ward will play with Ozzy Osbourne, Geezer Butler, and Tony Iommi as Black Sabbath for two shows on December 4th & 5th. They were recorded (both video & audio) for release later in 1998.

This is being billed as the "Original Black Sabbath", and it is really. The only reason I even bring this point up, is that this, by the letter of the law, is not technically an original lineup. The reason I say that is the Geoff Nicholls played keyboards. Geoff wasn't an original member, but has been in the band since very early in 1980 (possibly even late 1979). Anyway, I'm not trying to pretend this is not an original Black Sabbath reunion, it is, but this lineup can be interpreted as either Lineup Number 23, or 1d (the third time that Lineup #1 got back together). That's all. :-)

After the two December gigs, everyone went home. In March of 1998, it was announced the the double live album will be released around Halloween of 1998, and the band will play a series of European dates in June of 1998. There's also talk of a US tour in the fall/winter to coincide with the release of the double live album (which will feature two newly recorded studio tracks by the band)

XXIV - May 21, 1998 to current

Ozzy Osbourne - Vocals
Tony Iommi - Guitars
Geezer Butler - Bass
Vinny Appice - Drums
Geoff Nicholls - Keyboards

The European Black Sabbath Tour of 1998 started rehearsals about May 14th or so. The band was together, and was getting ready for an early June start to the tour, when something very unfortunate happened. Bill Ward suffered a mild heart attack, and was taken to the hospital. His doctors told him he was not allowed to fly for 6 weeks, and this forced him off the Black Sabbath European tour 1998. Vinny Appice was flown in from the states to take his place.

At the time this happened, Bill hopes to return behind the drumkit for the forthcoming US shows later this year.

Comments by Deeger

And this is where we stand. Is this enough lineup changes for you? :>) If you discount the two live albums put out by Black Sabbath (1982's Live Evil and 1995's Cross Purposes Live), there has not been two consecutive albums put out by the same lineup since 1976's Technical Ecstasy and 1978's Never Say Die.

This page is the one I'm the most proud of out of all the stuff I've done for the site. Please let me know what you think of it.

Whether or not you agree with the politics of OzzFest 97, and no matter what you feel about Black Sabbath, there is still music to come from this well, so remember..