Black Sabbath are a legendary band that helped define the genre of heavy metal, but in a career that has spanned more than 50 years they have had their fare share of scandal.
Black Sabbath is one of the biggest bands in heavy metal history. Front manned by the iconic but temperamental Ozzy Osbourne it’s fair to see the band is no stranger to scandals. The band lived and breathed the rock ‘n’ roll lifestyle often taking it to the extreme.
But after more than 50 years playing for fans, the Birmingham-born band will be hanging up their guitars for good with one last farewell performance at a jam-packed Villa Park Stadium on Saturday (July 5).
But with more than five decades touring the world, the band’s history is full of controversy, rolling the clock back, here are some of the biggest scandals to hit Black Sabbath.
Rockstars or Satanists?
First forming in 1968 in an era of flower power, Black Sabbath stood from something all around very different. They didn’t pretend to be of the Woodstock era and instead embraced the grungy darkness.
However, different things often scare people, and Black Sabbath soon fell into that category. The band’s dark imagery played a part and their self-titled song also featured some lyrics that perhaps didn’t help their cause.
“Big black shape with eyes of fire. Tellin’ people their desire. Satan’s sittin’ there, he’s smilin’. ‘Watches those flames get higher and higher. Oh, no, no, please, God, help me,” the band sing.
For many this just proved they dabbled in the satanic, but the song’s lyrics, written by Geezer Butler were misunderstood. They came from a night when he was lying in bed with upside-down crosses hanging on the wall when he claimed to have seen a ghost. “It frightened the p**sing life out of me,” he said.
So he wrote the song about the dangers of messing with the paranormal. Meanwhile, Ozzy was an atheist and instead just enjoyed the dark. Talking about the controversy, drummer Bill Ward is paraphrased as boiling it down to being just a bunch of blokes from Birmingham.
Drugs battles
It’s no secret that Black Sabbath and particularly frontman Ozzy Osbourne indulged in the white stuff in their heyday. Cocaine in particular became an almost constant companion on the road. In an interview on The Madhouse Chronicles Podcast, Osbourne talked about his history with addiction.
He said: “In Sabbath, when we discovered cocaine, it was like the meaning of life… We had a dealer on the road with us.
“We had this guy, he was a bit strange, And he’d have these f*****g bags with these big f*****g chunks of coke. Big bags of coke. ”
There are even reports that during the recording of their album Vol. 4, many sessions had to be cut short because of drug use. This continued to escalate tensions throughout the 70’s which in 1979 eventually led to Ozzy’s firing from the band for his erratic behaviour.
Bill Ward’s battle
While Ozzy opted for cocaine, Bill Ward, Black Sabbath’s drummer, has spoken out about his struggles with alcohol particularly during their heyday. His drinking began to spiral to the point where he was heavily drinking during gigs. By the late 70’s the lifestyle caught up with Bill, whose mental health took a hit which led to his departure in 1980 after their album Heaven and Hill.
The drummer left very abruptly, shocking the band at the time. He famously told new singer Ronnie James Dio: “I’m off then, Ron,” before disappearing with the band not seeing him for months.
Managerial Mayhem
Beyond their internal struggles, the band found themselves embroiled in complicated legal battles with their management throughout the 1970s. The issues began with the first main manager Patrick Meehan who the band claims ripped them off as they were “clueless about finances” according to Butler.
They eventually switched to infamous and brash music manager Don Arden, the father of Sharon Osbourne, and although he secured a better deal for the band, the relationship was often tested. When Sharon took over the solo management of Ozzy it even led to some family friction with her becoming estranged from her dad for 20 years after the split.
Ozzy’s bat biting antics
During performances in the 80s Ozzy began a strange ritual where he would pummel the crowd of his shoes with raw meat and they in turn would throw back whatever strange objects they managed to sneak in. But in 1982 during a show in Des Moines, one fan threw a live bat onto the stage – creating the now infamous moment.
Speaking to Rolling Stone Ozzy said: “I thought it was a rubber bat, I picked it up, put it in my mouth, crunched down, bit into it, being the clown that I am. ”
“Bats are the biggest carriers of rabies in the world, and I had to go to the hospital afterwards and they started giving me rabies shots. I had one one each rear and I had to have that every night. ”
He caught the attention of animal rights activists yet again in lockdown where he revealed he would pass the time by shooting birds and cats with an air rifle after setting up a makeshift firing range outside his Los Angeles home.
