How Ozzy Osbourne was Fired from Black Sabbath

Black Sabbath in 1979

It's safe to say Ozzy Osbourne was blindsided when he was unceremoniously fired from Black Sabbath.

After all, he and guitarist Tony Iommi, bassist Geezer Butler and drummer Bill Ward had been at it since 1968, recorded several multi-platinum albums and sold out tour after tour.

But by 1979, the wheels were falling off in a haze of cocaine and alcohol abuse, as infighting became more and more prevalent while the band worked on the follow up to 1978's underrated Never Say Die album, which basically bombed. Tensions between band-leader Iommi and Osbourne were at an all-time high as the guitarist and taskmaster constantly asked a perpetually drunken Ozzy to redo his vocals. Over and over.

Then, on April 27, 1979, Ozzy was officially fired and his best friend in the band, Ward, was chosen as the deliverer of the bad news.

"I was loaded... but then I was loaded all the time," said Ozzy in his book I Am Ozzy. "It was obvious that Bill had been sent by the others, because he wasn't the firing type. I can’t remember exactly what he said to me. We haven’t talked about it since. But the gist was that Tony thought I was a pissed, coked-up loser and a waste of time for everyone concerned. To be honest with you, it felt like he was finally getting his revenge for me walking out. And it didn’t come as a complete surprise: I’d had the feeling in the studio for a while that Tony was trying to wind me up by getting me to sing takes over and over again, even though there was nothing wrong with the first one."

Accordingly the reason why Ozzy was fired from Black Sabbath was because he'd become too unreliable and was continually wasted, which is true, and Ozzy will be the first to admit it. Evidence of his unreliability was evident on the "Never Say Die" tour, when Ozzy missed a show in Nashville after he crashed following a cocaine binge that saw him up for three days straight. When the band checked into the hotel in Nashville, Ozzy somehow wound up going to sleep in the wrong room, and never got the call to wake up and get down to the gig.

In fact Ozzy slept for 24 hours, missed the show and had everyone searching up and down Nashville for him.

Ozzy Felt Betrayed by Sabbath Bandmates

Despite his egregious errors, the frontman still felt betrayed by his bandmates when the axe came down.

But I’d be lying if I said I didn’t feel betrayed by what happened with Black Sabbath," said recalled Ozzy in his book. "We weren’t some manufactured boy band whose members were expendable. We were four blokes from the same town who’d grown up together a few streets apart. We were like a family, like brothers. And firing me for being fucked up was hypocritical bullshit."

Indeed, Iommi, bassist Geezer Butler and Bill Ward all had substance abuse issues at the time, but Ozzy was the guy who got the boot.

In a way for Ozzy, it was a blessing in disguise as he went on to a monster solo career after discovering guitarist Randy Rhoads and going on to record Blizzard of Ozz and Diary of a Madman in 1980 and 1981 respectively.

The only thing Ozzy wishes about being fired, and the band continuing with Ronnie James Dio on vocals, was that they would have called it Black Sabbath II.

Check out the making and recording of Sabbath Bloody Sabbath and how a single riff saved Black Sabbath

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Black Sabbath's "Sabotage": Anger Provides Inspiration

Not all, but many Black Sabbath fans point to the phenomenal Sabotage as the Birmingham band's best album.

The interesting thing is how that progressive and doomy 1975 record was created: Out of turmoil, lawsuits and copious amounts of drugs.

Coming off their highly successful "Sabbath Bloody Sabbath" album, the band became immersed in a series of lawsuits (starting in 1974) while trying to split from former manager Patrick Meehan, who had been ripping off Sabbath members pretty much since Day 1. According to bassist Geezer Butler, Meehan was trying to stop them recording and attempting to freeze all their assets.

To put it in context, Tony Iommi, Ozzy Osbourne, Bill Ward and Geezer Butler were, then, just four lads from Birmingham who came from the poorest side of the tracks. Any cash they got up that point was gravy to them. They knew absolutely nothing about publishing rights and songwriting royalties. And they were taken with Meehan's charm and worldly knowledge. To his credit, he did take the band to the top, but stole a bunch of money along the way.

"Meehan talked a good talk," said Iommi. Osbourne has said publicly that "Patrick Meehan never gave you a straight answer when you asked him how much dough you were making."

Butler: "We felt like we were being ripped off"

And, as Butler said, "We felt we were being ripped off."

Hence Sabbath's decision to part ways with Meehan, but he wasn't about to relinquish control over his golden goose. That's when the litigation began.

The lawsuits were taking a toll, so much so, that writs and subpoenas would be handed out in London's Morgan Studios as Sabbath was working on the record.

"We used to turn up at the studio to go and write a song, and there would be like three lawyers waiting for us to put subpoenas on us, stuff like that," said Geezer Butler on bravewords.com. "It took us about ten months to do the album because of all the interruptions we were having."

Sabbath chose the title because they felt like all their efforts were being sabotaged, and the turmoil they were going through brought about an angry tone to the album, that hadn't really been on any of their previous work.

The nearly 10-minute track "Megalomania" is, lyrically, a song about the torment and frustration the band was going through because of Meehan.

With an evil, angry tone and a killer guitar riff, "Megalomania" is, indeed, like a "trip that's inside a separate mind" that explores going through hell and emerging with your freedom intact.

The Writ Takes Aim at Meehan

Then there's "The Writ", an ode to the writs coming at them in the studio. Osbourne's lyrics (yes he wrote them on that song, according to Butler), take square aim at Meehan ("Are you metal, are you man? You've changed a lot since you began. Yeah, began...You bought and sold me with your lying words...."), and Ozzy's manic vocals are full of fury. The end result is one of Sabbath's heaviest and best songs.

In his must-read book I am Ozzy, Osbourne describes what he was feeling as he penned the angry lyrics for "The Writ": "I wrote most of lyrics myself, which felt a bit like seeing a shrink. All the anger I felt towards Meehan came pouring out."

Despite all the strife and tension, Sabbath emerged with Sabotage, a brilliant album that set the table for thrash metal and has stood the test of time as one of their best records - indeed one of the best metal albums of all time.

Sabbath was able to sever the ties with Meehan, but they paid him out. Between that and the legal bills, there wasn't much cash left. But at least they were free.

Five Great Hard Rock Songs About Weed

It's amazing the influence weed has had on the music industry from the old blues right up to today where many bands celebrate the kush. Heck there's even the Stoner Rock music category now. You'll find many other lists with songs celebrating getting high on 4/20, but here are five songs from some of the best bands of all time:

Reefer Head Woman - Aerosmith

Never a band to shy away from drugs during their heyday, Aerosmith were sure reeling when they recorded a cover of Bill "Jazz" Gillum's bluesy "Reefer Head Woman" for the Night in the Ruts album in 1979. Gillum recorded it way back in 1938, and Aerosmith turned it into a hard rock number. No doubt the Boston Bad Boys were firing up the bong, especially after Joe Perry left midway through the recording sessions on the album.

Goddamn Electric - Pantera

When a band is pounding out lyrics like "your trust is in whiskey and weed and Black Sabbath - It's Goddamn Electric" you know they've got a good thing going. Pantera's ode to the weed life and great bands is off their Reinventing the Steel album. While it's a nod to weed, the song is about being yourself and living life for you, not someone else - a foundation Phil Anselmo, Dimebag, et al molded themselves on.

Sweet Leaf - Black Sabbath

Before Sabbath's 1971 album Master of Reality, few had openly celebrated marijuana and getting high. Then listeners checked out "Sweet Leaf" and learned how Ozzy, Geezer Butler, Bill Ward and Tony Iommi enjoyed firing up the fatties. It's an open celebration of weed with Butler's lyrics personifying marijuana as a new love. The coughing at the start of the song is courtesy of Iommi after a huge bong hit.

Amsterdam - Van Halen

Everybody's favourite party band released "Amsterdam" on the hugely underrated Balance album in 1995. Essentially a song about the the famous Dutch city, it was unusual for Van Halen to openly talk about drugs on any previous songs. To that end, Eddie and Alex Van Halen were apparently not in favour of Sammy Hagar's lyrics since they thought it did their birthplace a disservice, but the Red Rocker refused to change the lyrics. Interestingly, a video was shot for the song, but MTV sent it back because of the "score me some Panama Red" reference. It was edited out, but MTV never did play the video. And because it's 4/20, do as Hagar says and "Light 'em up!"

Get Ready - Sublime

From a great band with a short legacy, "Get Ready" is more or less a cover of a reggae song by Frankie Paul from 1987. Paul wrote it as a love song and Sublime changed it into a song about getting high and ratted on for doing so. But you gotta love Bradley Nowell singing "Roll out the bong, crank up the song, let the informa call 911". It's a great song you probably won't find on many lists dedicated to Mary Jane.

Check out the five most underrated Sabbath songs from the Ozzy days.

Five Most Underrated Black Sabbath Songs (Ozzy Era)

During the original incarnation of Black Sabbath during the Ozzy days, the band put out eight albums in eight years from 1970-1978. Casual fans will know many of Sabbath's more well known songs like "Paranoid", "War Pigs", "Sabbath Bloody Sabbath" and others. But as prolific as the band was, many of their "lesser known" tracks might be even better than the "hits". So here is our look at the five most underrated Black Sabbath songs from their original lineup.

Hand of Doom (Paranoid, 1970)

You won't find "Hand of Doom" on many Sabbath greatest hit collections, but the song about strung-out heroin addicts returning from Vietnam is one the band's best, period. With a slow, dark bass intro, "Hand of Doom" builds into the heavier second verse, then the band kicks it in for the third verse with a mighty Tony Iommi riff carrying the song to another level. Ozzy's vocals are perfect, while drummer Bill Ward carries the groove with Geezer Butler and Iommi. The song's structure kind of mimics that of a junky from being super low, then getting super high, and crashing back down again, ending with death as the bass notes play out the song.

Under the Sun/Every Day Comes and Goes (Vol. IV, 1972)

The last song on the epic Vol. IV album, "Under the Sun" has a typical Sabbath groove at the start, but it's the frantic middle part of the song that really takes it to soaring heights. Ozzy finds a great vocal harmony to accompany Iommi's powered riff. Then the "Every Day Comes and Goes" section features another stellar Iommi riff starting at 3:56, which carries the song into the outro solo/instrumental.

Looking For Today (Sabbath Bloody Sabbath, 1973)

Sabbath's song about the music industry always looking for the next overnight success acts, which then quickly fade into obscurity, is a fairly accessible track that's more catchy-groovy than heavy. One of the only Sabbath songs to feature a flute, played by Iommi, "Looking For Today" isn't your typical Sabbath song, but that's what makes it so good. One Sabbath staple are plenty of "YEAHS" from Ozzy. And Iommi's outro guitar solo features some stellar fretwork as the song fades out.

The Thrill of It All (Sabotage, 1975)

A track that often goes unnoticed, "The Thrill of It All" opens side 2 of the amazing Sabotage record. It's five minutes of Sabbath at their best in a song that's broken down into three parts starting with the intro riff/solo. The second part comes in with a trademark "Yeah" from Ozzy as the verses get underway, backed by a killer Iommi riff. The last half is like a totally different song with synthesizer underlying Iommi's fretwork as the song soars to a crescendo with Ozzy laying down some powerful vocals. Despite the legal difficulties the band was going through recording Sabotage, the ending of the song conveys a sort of freedom and release that belies the stress they were feeling in the studio.

Junior's Eyes (Never Say Die, 1978)

Looking at the last album from the Ozzy years in the 1970s, "Junior's Eyes" is one of the most poignant tracks Black Sabbath ever wrote. Lyrically, it deals with the death of Ozzy's father, who died shortly before recording the album. The song was actually written by the band after Ozzy temporarily quit for three months. Sabbath hired Dave Walker as his replacement and "Junior's Eyes" was one of the tracks they wrote. The band rewrote it when Ozzy joined the fold again because he refused to sing any of the Walker material. "Junior's Eyes" is made that much better knowing the lyrics come from the heart as Ozzy belts out the chorus: "You're coming home again tomorrow. I'm sorry it won't be for long." Definitely one of Sabbath's most underrated songs from the Ozzy era.

Check out how a mighty Tony Iommi riff helped save Black Sabbath as they struggled to record Sabbath Bloody Sabbath.

Five of the Best Metal Christmas Songs

Since it's just a few weeks until Santa comes to town, we decided we'd have a ourselves a heavy metal Christmas. That means checking out five of the greatest metal Christmas songs ever recorded. So here they are, in no particular order, including a classic from Christopher Lee, the actor who played Saruman in Lord of the Rings.

God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen

Ronnie James Dio and Tony Iommi take this 1760 carol and turns it into a metal masterpiece that's found on the 2008 We Wish You a Metal Xmas and a Headbanging New Year album. That's Rudy Sarzo on bass and Simon Wright playing drums. Dio's delivery is amazing, and Iommi's guitar is thick and haunting, reminiscent of his sound on The Mob Rules.

Run Rudolph Run

This version of "Run Rudolph Run" also comes from the We Wish You a Metal Xmas and a Headbanging New Year record. Lemmy sounds like he was into the Christmas spirits and probably had about 10 or 12 pints in him when they recorded the track. Dave Grohl pounds the kit, while Billy Gibbons brings that bluesy, rocking guitar tone. You can imagine those three having a great time recording this Christmas standard. Turn this one up!

No Presents For Christmas

Trust King Diamond to lull us all to sleep at first with this song, which opens with elevator music renditions of Christmas carols, then kicks into high gear with his piercing, evil laugh. All hell breaks loose from there as the riff cranks in definitive King Diamond fashion. A highlight of the song comes near the end when the band starts playing "I'm Dreaming of a White Christmas" and King Diamond sings "I'm dreaming of a white Sabbath". Classic stuff. The song was released on Christmas Day in 1985 as a single, the first with his new band after Mercyful Fate broke up. You can find "No Presents For Christmas" on the re-issue of his Fatal Portrait album.

The Little Drummer Boy

Seemingly from out of left field, the late and acclaimed English actor Christopher Lee put out a metal Christmas EP in 2012 called A Heavy Metal Christmas. The man who played Saruman in Lord of the Rings delivers a stellar blast of chugging riffs and heavy drums with his baritone voice for this Christmas classic. Turns out Lee, who died in 2015 at the age of 93, was a huge metal fan dating back to the 1970s when he heard Black Sabbath. He also recorded several traditional heavy metal albums of his own.

Red Water (Christmas Mourning)

A song many may not have heard before, Type O Negative's "Red Water (Christmas Mourning)" is a classic, gothic track from the Brooklyn band off their October Rust album. Late vocalist Peter Steele delivers this song of Christmas mourning with his typical dark rumbling, while the lyrics speak of a bleak, black Christmas that's anything but joyous. "The stocking are hung, but who cares" and "Goddamn ye merry gentleman" are a couple of snippets speaking to the depression of the narrator during the most wonderful time of the year.

Six Greatest Halloween Metal Songs

With All Hallows' Eve quickly approaching, we thought we'd compile a list of the greatest metal tracks with a spooky Halloween spirit to them. Not all are about Halloween per se, but they are great songs to crank up and get into the Halloween mood.

"Black No. 1 (Little Miss Scare-All)" - Type O Negative

The most well-know Type O Negative song is found on the Bloody Kisses album. With late vocalist Peter Steele's trademark vampiric tones and the band's doomy sound, you can't go wrong. And the gothic atmosphere of this track is all the more strong when backed by lyrics like "It's All Hallows' Eve, the moon is full. Will she trick or treat? I bet she will."

"Halloween" by Helloween

An epic, 13-minute opus from 1987's Keeper of the Seven Keys: Part II record, this song from the German power metal band blends heavy power chords with melodic vocals and more than just a hint of Mercyful Fate influence. The foreboding lyrics suggest evil spirits are about on Halloween coming to get all those wandering about on the darkened streets.

"Night of the Living Dead" - Misfits

Inspired by the horror movie of the same name, "Night of the Living Dead" is a Misfits classic from Walk Among Us. It's Glenn Danzig writing about the zombie apocalypse, which today would feature well on The Walking Dead. You gotta have some good, punky horror music on Halloween.

"Bark at the Moon" - Ozzy Osbourne

Ozzy's classic 1983 ode to werewolves and darkness belongs on any Halloween music list. With one of Jake E. Lee's greatest riffs carrying the song at a frantic pace, Ozzy delivers the werewolf howls fit for All Hallows' Eve along with some dark lyrics including "Those that the Beast is looking for listen in awe and you'll hear him ..... Bark at the Moon."

"Black Sabbath" by Black Sabbath

Simply put, if you want to scare any trick or treaters, put this song on repeat so it's within earshot of kids when they come to the door.. The tolling of the bell in the rain, Tony Iommi's evil riff along with Ozzy's vocals are enough to scare any kid out of their costume. The original heavy metal song of evil works perfectly as a Halloween masterpiece.

"Halloween" by King Diamond

Off King Diamond's 1986 debut album Fatal Portrait, "Halloweeen" is a tour de force of classic heavy metal, featuring King Diamond's evil, high-pitched wail and some tasty, crunchy guitar riffs. It's the perfect mix of melody and heavy. Definitely add this one to your Halloween metal playlist!

The Story of Black Sabbath's "Sabbath Bloody Sabbath"

In 1973, Black Sabbath were riding high on the success of their Vol. IV album and mammoth tour of the U.S., Australia and Europe.

But when it came time to work on the Vol. IV follow up album, guitarist Tony Iommi, bassist Geezer Butler, drummer Bill Ward and vocalist Ozzy Osbourne found the writing well had simply run dry.

Despite trying to duplicate the surroundings and good times they had when writing Vol. IV - renting a house in Bel Air, snorting up bagfuls of cocaine and using LA's Record Plant Studios - they just couldn't replicate that magic in the summer of 1973. The drugs were taking a toll and Iommi, the guy everybody was waiting on to come up with the songs, had the musician's version of writer's block.

"Everybody was sitting there waiting for me to come up with something. I just couldn't think of anything. And if I didn't come up with anything, nobody would do anything," said Iommi in in the book Wheels of Confusion: The Story of Black Sabbath.

So after a fruitless month in LA, Sabbath returned to their English roots and rented a medieval castle, Clearwell Castle, in Gloucestershire, England, to work on writing new songs. The castle was well known to bands after Bad Company had worked within its gothic halls and dungeons. Later Led Zeppelin would rehearse some songs from the In Through the Out Door sessions there.

The Riff That Saved Black Sabbath

Clearwell Castle

With a ton of pressure still weighing the band down, Iommi had an epiphany in the castle dungeon when he stumbled upon the mammoth riff that would become Sabbath Bloody Sabbath's title track and savior of the band.

In an interview with Guitar World, Butler tells how low the band was before Iommi came up with that amazing riff: "We almost thought that we were finished as a band ... Once Tony came out with the initial riff for 'Sabbath Bloody Sabbath' we went 'We're baaaack!'"

Certainly the spookiness of the castle served as an inspiration for Sabbath, who soon discovered a ghost lurked within the walls.

"We rehearsed in the armoury there and one night I was walking down the corridor with Ozzy and we saw this figure in a black cloak ... We followed this figure back into the armoury and there was absolutely no one there," recalled Iommi in 1998. "Whoever it was had disappeared into thin air! The people that owned the castle knew all about this ghost and they said, 'Oh yes, that's the ghost of so and so. We were like 'What!?'"

Butler, in Wheels of Confusion: The Story of Black Sabbath, adds the medieval setting served as an inspiration: "It was really creepy but it had some atmosphere, it conjured up things, and stuff started coming out again."

With songs in hand, Sabbath would end up recording the album at London's Morgan Studios. It was released in December 1973, and on Jan. 1, 1974 in the U.S.

"The Pinnacle" for Sabbath

Indeed, Sabbath Bloody Sabbath is one of the band's best albums. In addition to the title track, "A National Acrobat", "Killing Yourself To Live" and "Spiral Architect" are among Black Sabbath's greatest tracks.

Iommi even called it "the pinnacle" for Black Sabbath.

Additionally, the album's cover is one of the most iconic in metal history. It was painted by Drew Struzan and is immediately with its depiction of an evil death on the front, and a good death on the back fold.

Speaking of that period in the band's history, Osbourne noted it was "the beginning of the end" for the band.

"Sabbath Bloody Sabbath was really the album after which I should have said goodbye because after that I really started unravelling", Osbourne told Mojo. "Then we ended up falling out of favour with each other."

The Five Greatest Tony Iommi Riffs in Black Sabbath Songs

There's not one guitarist who has had more influence on heavy metal than Black Sabbath's Tony Iommi. Iommi, now 65, is the godfather of heavy metal as we know it today, impacting several generations of bands from Judas Priest to Metallica to Soundgarden to Slipknot. And it's his killer riffs (his solos are stellar as well) that are Iommi's trademark as he's come up with some of the heaviest and intense chord progressions. While there are so many outstanding riffs within the Black Sabbath catalogue, here are five of Iommi's greatest riffs.

"Into the Void" on 1971's Master of Reality

"Into the Void" at first might seem not to belong among the greatest Iommi riffs ever, but it's an example of a hypnotic verse riff that grinds like no other that had come before it. It's a perfect example of a riff that opened the door for other guitarist to emulate down the road and the riffs foreshadows the birth of doom and stoner metal. That doomy Iommi sound comes from his Gibson SG, old Laney amp and Rangemaster Treble Booster. Interestingly, Metallica's James Hetfield lists "Into the Void" as his all-time fave Sabbath track.

"Black Sabbath" from 1970's Black Sabbath

The epitome of the evil chord progression, the riff for "Black Sabbath" prominently uses the devil's interval with the flatted fifth of a power chord. The sound harkens to satanic connotations and musicians in times of old were burned at the stake for using it. It's the perfect signature riff for Sabbath to gain their false satanic label, which actually helped them garner more recognition. The riff haunts your brain and is a staple in modern metal.

"Snowblind" from 1972's Vol. IV

One of the best songs ever from Sabbath, the verse riff on "Snowblind" is an Iommi masterpiece with the first five power chords absolutely grinding along and, with the accompanying hard-hitting drum and bass accents, there is an added drama and tension, essentially driving home the hyped-up, altered reality of cocaine. Black Sabath thanks the "Coke Cola" on the album, and so do us fans if it inspired Iommi to create the "Snowblind" riff. As as aside, the band wanted to call the album Snowblind, but their record label wouldn't allow it.

Sabbath Bloody Sabbath from Sabbath Bloody Sabbath (1973)

One of Black Sabbath's signature songs, the track is propelled by Iommi's monstrous riff, which is another grinder that moves power chords down and then up again for that ear-pulverizing motion and power. The riff is even more amazing given the context that when Iommi wrote it, he was struggling to write anything. He thought the well had run dry, but then boom, he comes up with this timeless classic.

The Mob Rules from Mob Rules (1981)

This riff is one of those Iommi masterpieces that's like a runaway train of pure heaviness. The explosive riff combines some single notes and bending that gives a high-octane hint of blues to the sludge-fest. Sometimes it seems that the "Mob Rules" is a bit of a forgotten Sabbath album, but the title track features some of Iommi's finest work.

- Thanks to MMO for the valuable input.

Learn how a massive riff saved Black Sabbath in 1973

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