About Black Sabbath

A Band born in Brum

Black Sabbath were born in and around Aston, Birmingham, England and are well known as the godfathers of heavy metal music. They were founded in 1968 by Ozzy Osbourne, Tony Iommi, Geezer Butler and Bill Ward.

They defined heavy metal music with hits such as Black Sabbath (1970), Paranoid (1970), and Master of Reality (1971). Black Sabbath inspired millions of fans and musicians around the globe paving the way for many artists and bands that came after them.

With more than astounding 100 million records sold worldwide, the group was ranked by MTV as the “greatest metal band” of all time. They were honoured with many awards through the years including multiple Grammys and inductions into the UK Music Hall of Fame and the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.

Their legacy lives on today!

Beloved home and away

Black Sabbath are born and bred Birmingham citizens, and created the heavy metal scene in their home city The band’s original music style and inventive approach to metal music made them an inspiration to listeners around the world. The Birmingham Museum & Art Gallery held a Home of Metal exhibition from June 26 to September 29 2019. The exhibition attracted fans from countries raging from Argentina, to USA. In the exhibition you will find thousands of items relating to the group such as Ozzy Osbourne’s glasses, outfits worn by the band and many other rare objects. Black Sabbath has massively contributed to the popular discography of heavy metal around the world.

Home is where the bench is A well-received honour

All four members of the band have shown appreciation for the bench since it arrived to Birmingham in 2019. Tony Iommi and Geezer Butler actually unveiled the bench, and met many of their fans. The members had a chance to admire the bench, study their own portraits and understand the time and effort put into the work. Ozzy, and Bill Ward have not yet visited the bench, however Ozzy used his portrait from the attraction to promote his album Ordinary Man (2020).

“I understand that it attracts literally thousands of visitors each year, many from overseas who are visiting the UK. They pop up to Birmingham just to grab a photograph on the bench and bridge. I mean, how wonderful is that?”
– Tony Iommi