Where Are Black Sabbath & Ozzy Osbourne Now?
With a pioneering sound that essentially created the genre of heavy metal, it’s no overstatement to call Black Sabbath one of the most important rock bands of all time.
In 1967, bassist and lyricist Geezer Butler formed Rare Breed, one of the bands that would become Black Sabbath. The next year Butler, along with Rare Breed vocalist Ozzy Osbourne, joined up with drummer Bill Ward and guitarist Tony Iommi, who had just left their previous band, Mythology.
Black Sabbath, 1970: Bill Ward, Tony Iommi, Ozzy Osbourne, Geezer Butler (Photo by Chris Walter/WireImage)
Together, the group called themselves the Polka Tulk Blues Band — hardly a name that would strike fear in the heart of the record-buying public. But after a few revisions, the group settled on Black Sabbath. Their name, lyrics and image, along with Osbourne’s eerie vocals and the unique “down-tuned” guitar sound that Iommi created after a hand injury, essentially invented the genre of heavy metal.
The decades following the release of their self-titled debut album in 1970 saw the band achieve massive fame, as well as repeatedly splinter and reform. But where are the Birmingham, U.K., doomsters today?
Ozzy Osbourne (76)
Though every member of Black Sabbath could be called famous, none achieved the visibility of original vocalist Osbourne. After leaving the band in 1979, the “Prince of Darkness” embarked on a wildly successful solo career, beginning with 1980’s Blizzard of Ozz. With his heavier sound and outstanding heavy-metal credentials, he stood head and shoulders above most of his ’80s metal peers — though make no mistake, his hair was big:
From 1981’s Diary of a Madman through 2001’s Down to Earth, every solo album released by Osbourne reached the Billboard Top 20.
After ’80s metal died out, Osbourne reinvented himself as the godfather of a new generation of metal bands. In this new role, he created the Ozzfest national tour in 1996, which showcased up-and-coming metal bands. It ran as an annual traveling festival until 2010 and has been periodically revived as a one-day event since then, most recently in 2018.
In 1997, Osbourne rejoined Black Sabbath.
In 2002, Osbourne’s public image took an unexpected pivot when his family became the subjects of one of the first reality shows, The Osbournes. The show depicted Osbourne (who had been scorned by scared parents as a terrifying Satan-worshipper throughout the ’80s) as a harmless, loving dad and family man. The show was a runaway success and aired until 2005.
Everett Collection
In 2012, Osbourne re-teamed with Black Sabbath for a world tour, and in 2013, they released the album 13 — his first studio album with the band since 1978, and Black Sabbath’s final album to date. In 2016, the band announced their final tour, which wrapped in 2017.
In 2019, Osbourne appeared on the Post Malone song “Take What You Want,” which became the first Top 10 single to feature Osbourne in 30 years. His most recent album, Patient Number 9, was released in 2022.
In recent years, Osbourne has struggled with a number of health issues. He had a serious fall in 2019, which aggravated a spinal problem from a 2003 accident. In 2020, Osbourne publicly revealed that he had been diagnosed with Parkinson’s disease. Though he canceled tours in 2023 and stated that he might be retiring from touring, later on in that year, he noted that he had plans to release another album in the near future and hit the road again.
He was inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame as a solo artist in 2024; he was inducted as a member of Black Sabbath in 2006.
Tony Iommi (76)
Jeff Spicer/Getty Images
Guitarist Tony Iommi created one of the sounds that defined heavy metal. And he did it not just with the intention of thrilling listeners or scaring those who thought good music ended with the Andrews Sisters — he also did it so he could continue playing guitar after suffering a workplace accident. In his late teens, Iommi lost the tips of several of his fingers while working at a factory; he dropped the tuning on several guitar strings to make them easier to hold down, creating a “heavy” guitar sound in the process.
Though Iommi left the band briefly in 1968 to join Jethro Tull, he is considered the only consistent member of Black Sabbath and is the only one who has been present through all of the bands various reformations. He played in the band alongside singers Ronnie James Dio and Ian Gillen, and welcomed Osbourne back for reunion shows and tours in the ’90s and 2010s.
As a solo artist
Andrew H. Walker/Getty Images
Iommi has released three albums, most recently 2005’s Fused. He collaborated with Dio and Geezer Butler on the band Heaven & Hell in the 2000s, up until Dio’s death in 2010. In 2013, he cowrote the song “Lonely Planet” for Armenia to perform during the Eurovision Song Contest; it did not win.
Iommi was diagnosed with lymphoma in 2012, though in 2016, he announced that it was in remission.
In 2022, he and Osbourne made a surprise live appearance at the 2022 Commonwealth Games, a sporting event in their hometown of Birmingham.
Geezer Butler (75)
Photo by Rich Fury/Getty Images for SXSW
Terence “Geezer” Butler played bass for Black Sabbath, helping develop the low-end sound that became their signature. But just as importantly, he was the band’s lyricist, crafting the words behind enduring songs like “War Pigs” and “Paranoid.”
Butler was briefly fired from Black Sabbath in 1977, an incident he said shook his faith in the band; he also left briefly multiple times in the late ’70s and early ’80s for personal reasons. Butler joined Ozzy in his backing band in 1988, rejoined Black Sabbath in 1991, re-rejoined Ozzy’s touring band in 1995, and then rejoined Black Sabbath for good in 1997.
In 1995, he released his first album under his solo moniker, g/z/r. He joined Iommi and Dio in Heaven & Hell, while also continuing with Black Sabbath through their final tour in 2017.
Bill Ward (76)
Photo by MJ Kim/Getty Images
Drummer Bill Ward helped define one of the heaviest rhythm sections in hard rock. Ward left the band a handful of times in the ’80s, before quitting in 1984. He released his first solo album, which included guest appearances by Osbourne, in 1990.
After briefly meeting back up with the band in 1994, he formally rejoined in 1997. But in 1998, he suffered a heart attack that prevented him from appearing at almost all of the band’s live dates. In 2006, he was in talks to join Butler and Iommi in Heaven & Hell, but opted not to go forward. He was also in discussions to join the band’s 2012 reunion, but ultimately skipped the tour.
Despite the fact that Black Sabbath have not performed since 2017, in 2019, Ward said on social media that he was “very open-minded to any ideas about playing together in the future.”
While the odds of another Black Sabbath reunion aren’t too likely at this point, fans can see Black Sabbath songs performed live in a most unusual setting — the ballet. Black Sabbath: The Ballet combines orchestral versions of some of the band’s most beloved songs with dance from Birmingham U.K.’s Birmingham Royal Ballet. After a successful U.K. tour in 2023, the ballet will now be traveling around the world in 2024 and 2025.
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