Black Sabbath — The Band That Invented Heavy Metal

Black Sabbath formed in Birmingham, England, in 1968 as a blues band called Earth. Tony Iommi (guitar), Ozzy Osbourne (vocals), Geezer Butler (bass), and Bill Ward (drums) changed their name after noticing that horror movies made people pay to be scared. They figured they could do the same thing with music.

They were right.

The accident that created heavy metal happened on Tony Iommi's last day at a sheet metal factory. He lost the tips of two fingers. To keep playing, he made prosthetic caps from melted plastic bottles and tuned his strings down to reduce tension.

That detuned sound — darker, heavier, lower — became the foundation of every metal band that came after.

In 1979, Ozzy was fired and replaced by Ronnie James Dio. Most bands die after losing their singer. Sabbath made Heaven and Hell (1980) and Mob Rules (1981) — two of the greatest metal albums ever recorded.

Dio brought mythology, fantasy, and a voice that could cut through stone. The original four reunited decades later and finally hit #1 in America with 13 (2013).

The debut album Black Sabbath (1970) was recorded in one day. It opens with rain, a tolling bell, and the most evil three-note guitar riff ever committed to tape. Critics hated it.

Fans went insane. It hit #8 in the UK and proved there was an audience for music that sounded like the end of the world.

Paranoid came out seven months later. War Pigs opens side A, Iron Man lumbers through the middle, and the title track — written in 25 minutes as filler — became their only real pop hit. Master of Reality (1971) went further: Iommi tuned down another 1.

5 steps, birthing doom metal and stoner rock in one album.

Vol. 4 (1972) was recorded in Los Angeles on a mountain of cocaine — the album's liner notes thank 'the great COKE-Cola Company.' Sabbath Bloody Sabbath (1973) brought in Rick Wakeman on keyboards.

Sabotage (1975) was recorded during lawsuits with their manager. By 1978, Ozzy was drinking himself into oblivion and the band fired him. Most fans thought it was over.

Every heavy band owes Black Sabbath rent. Metallica, Slayer, Iron Maiden, Pantera, Tool, System of a Down, Mastodon, Sleep, Baroness — they all built their houses on Tony Iommi's foundation. When Nirvana's Kurt Cobain listed his favorite albums, Master of Reality was on there.

When hip-hop producers needed ominous samples, they dug through Sabbath. Even grunge, metalcore, and sludge — all direct descendants.

The band ended on their own terms. The End tour closed with a final concert in Birmingham on February 4, 2017 — same city, same band, 49 years later. Ronnie James Dio died in 2010.

Tony Iommi survived cancer. Ozzy became a reality TV star. The riffs remain.

Put on Iron Man. It still sounds heavier than anything made last week.