Additionally, given the length of this document, there are some shortcuts here at the top to get to some of the more major events in the band's history.

The text on this page is (c)2007 Joe Siegler - all text was written by me unless otherwise specified.

• Ozzy Osbourne - Vocals
• Tony Iommi - Guitar, Keyboards
• Geezer Butler - Bass
• Bill Ward - Drums
• Rick Wakeman - Keyboards (not a full member of band)
• Jezz Woodruffe - Keyboards (not a full member of band)

(Official) albums from this lineup:

• Black Sabbath
• Paranoid
• Master of Reality
• Volume 4
• Sabbath Bloody Sabbath
• Sabotage
• We Sold Our Soul for Rock & Roll
• Technical Ecstasy
• Past Lives
• Symptom of the Universe: The Original Black Sabbath 1970-1978
• Black Box: The Complete Original Black Sabbath 1970-1978

Keyboard duties were uncredited during this era. Before Sabbath, Bloody Sabbath it's generally unknown who played keyboards, although I've heard some stories that Tony Iommi played keyboards on Volume 4's Changes. Rick Wakeman played on Sabbath Bloody Sabbath, and Jezz Woodruffe played after that (from May 1975) until the end of the Technical Ecstasy Tour. The trials and tribulations of the original lineup are well documented (so well that a lot of people mistakenly believe that Sabbath ended in 1979), so I won't repeat them here.   However, I'll list some of the more notable things here.

Before the band recorded their first album, and after they had taken the moniker of Black Sabbath, Tony Iommi quit the band briefly to play with Jethro Tull.  He only lasted 2 weeks, and came back to Sabbath. During his time in Tull, he did "play live" once, and a recording of this exists on the Archangel bootleg, and on the Rolling Stones "Rock & Roll Circus" video (however, it really wasn't Tony "playing", he was just miming). The musical contributions of the original lineup of Black Sabbath to the music world are legendary. The albums they produced during this time still hold up with today's music, and should be required listening for everyone who has a CD player. :)

Additionally, There were a few demos recorded in 1969 that have yet to surface (completely) in the collector's circles. They are "A Song for Jim", "The Rebel", and "When I Came Down".   Short samples of the first two of these are on the Sabbath Story Volume 1 & 2 videos.  Do you have the full versions? I want to hear from you.  Now.   I've also heard through the grapevine that the album that we all know as Sabbath's "first album" (aka Black Sabbath) isn't really their first album, that they recorded an album before that (which is where Rebel & Song for Jim come from), but it was jettisoned.  However, until I can actually get some concrete proof, I'm not ready to revise the discography.  :)  Also in 2005, an alternate version of the first Black Sabbath album turned up in collector's circles.  It doesn't have any new songs, but does have some alternate takes of various songs, and is an interesting footnote in Sabbath history.

Yes, I know there's not a lot written about the original Black Sabbath on this page, but hey - that story has been told over and over again - I don't really need to recant my version of it here, I think.  :)  You're better off checking out the book "How Black Was Our Sabbath" by David Tangye & Gram Wright.  It's by far one of the best accountings of the 60's/70's era Black Sabbath that I've ever read. (US/UK order links)

Recently, I was forwarded an email message from Jezz Woodruffe, keyboardist for the Technical Ecstasy album and tour.  Here's what Jezz had to say about his time in the band... 

II - October 1977 to January 1978

• Dave Walker - Vocals
• Tony Iommi - Guitar
• Geezer Butler - Bass
• Bill Ward - Drums
• Don Airey - Keyboards (not listed as full member)

Albums from this lineup:

• None

Ozzy left Black Sabbath in October of 1977 to try and form the first incarnation of "Blizzard of Ozz".  Needing a new vocalist, Tony Iommi remembered Dave Walker from their old Birmingham days and contacted him in San Francisco to ask him to come out to join Black Sabbath.  On the flight from San Francisco to London in November 1977 and for the next three weeks, Walker had written lyrics to music the rest of Black Sabbath (Iommi on guitar, Terry "Geezer" Butler on bass and drummer Bill Ward) had put together for their next album (though no Walker vocals had been recorded) and they, along with Walker, appeared on the BBC Midlands TV program called "Look Hear" performing what turned out to be an early draft of "Junior’s Eyes" on January 6, 1978.  I'm not entirely sure what he did immediately after his exit from Black Sabbath, but I recently got reports that he rejoined Savoy Brown and recorded three albums with them from 1988-1990.

One time I was talking to Bill Ward about this time of the band's history, and Bill Ward had this to say about the Dave Walker era Black Sabbath...    "No, these were not the very best of times. I was pretty much numb at that time period.  Ozzy’s father Jack had died, and we were making I guess slow progress on the album. Juniors’ Eyes was a song very much for Oz and his dad. I mention that only because it was a song we did live at a lunchtime BBC show in Birmingham with Dave Walker.  I have forgotten what else we did with Dave on that show, I’m pretty sure we did Juniors’ Eyes though, and of course it didn’t work.  Not because of Dave, because the song was Ozzy’s as far as I was concerned.  I felt crap at that time while Oz was away.  If I sound vague, I am vague and very foggy about back then. We all liked Dave Walker as a mate so to speak.  We got to know him when he fronted with Savoy Brown, and earlier when Dave played in the Redcaps, an early Birmingham band, from 60s.  I liked Dave a lot, and I thought he had a great voice.  When it came time to choose another singer all kinds of names came up, but Dave’s stayed. So, Dave flew in from Frisco to Field Farm, where we got on with rehearsals.  Oddly enough, it was me who let Dave know that things were not working out, “I volunteered again.” I felt awkward and uncomfortable telling Dave this, as I liked him as a person very much.

When Oz started back at rehearsals everything felt normal again, even though I was buried in a bottle, with Oz there it was right. We went on to complete Never Say Die and the Never Say Die tour. It’s all quite sad to recall actually."

Ia - January 1978 to Early 1979

• Ozzy Osbourne - Vocals
• Tony Iommi - Guitar
• Geezer Butler - Bass
• Bill Ward - Drums
• Don Airey - Keyboards (not listed as full member)

Albums from this lineup:

• Never Say Die
• Black Box: The Complete Original Black Sabbath 1970-1978

Shortly after the appearance with Dave Walker on television, Ozzy rejoined the band so Dave Walker was dismissed.  None of the lyrics Walker had written for the Never Say Die album were used as Osbourne preferred to use other lyrics.  One track on the resulting album called "Swinging the Chain" was sung by Bill Ward instead of Osbourne and another tune called "Breakout" ended up being an instrumental when it wasn't originally planned to be such.

This album gets a lot of negative press, and I've never personally understood that.  Even Ozzy once said Never Say Die was the "biggest piece of shit I was ever on".  I think NSD has some killer riffs (Never Say Die, Johnny Blade), and some great musical experimentation (Air Dance).  I was too young to see them on tour (was 13), although I would have liked to - even given the long standing story about how Van Halen blew 'em off the stage every night.

The last date on the Never Say Die tour was December 11, 1978, and Ronnie Dio didn't come on board until around March 1979, so sometime in early 1979 is most likely when Ozzy was "fired".

The picture below has always been a source of discussion about where Ozzy's loyalties lie, as it said "Blizzard of Ozz".  Course that's retroactive thinking, it could just not mean anything.  But still...  :)

• Ronnie James Dio - Vocals
• Tony Iommi - Guitar
• Geezer Butler - Bass
• Bill Ward - Drums
• Geoff Nicholls - Keyboards

Albums from this lineup:

• Heaven & Hell
• The Dio Years

Depending on who you talk to, Ozzy was either fired, asked to leave, or just quit. There's too many conflicting stories about his departure.  However it's spun, it obviously wasn't working anymore, and Ozzy's heart didn't seem in it (having already quit and returned in 77/78).  Bill Ward has said over the years that it was he who "informed" Ozzy that he wasn't in the band anymore.

Also, for a brief time before Dio joined the band, Geezer left, too. During that time, Geoff Nicholls (ex-Quartz) was brought in to play bass.  Via email, Geoff told me he actually started on July 17, 1979.  Now when Ronnie came onboard, Geezer left, I don't have dates for.  It's kind of a hazy grey area in the Summer/Fall of 1979.  Hopefully I'll get some real dates on all this eventually.

Seometime towards the back end of the album's production, Geezer returned.  When that happened, Geoff moved over to keyboards, and stayed there for a very long time (till sometime in 2004). Also, at some point during Geezer's departure, Craig Gruber (ex-Rainbow) was "used" (source was an interview with Tony Iommi that is on this web site). How much input or what Craig did is generally unknown. There was also an unfounded rumour that Craig Gruber actually plays bass on the Heaven & Hell album, and it's not Geezer Butler, but I've never turned up anything substantial regarding this, so it will stay a "legend", I think.  :)  Geezer didn't return until late in the sessions - as the story goes the only song he actually had a hand in writing was "Neon Knights, the final song recorded/written for the album.  The main bass line for the title track was written by Geoff Nicholls, apparently.  Hell of a start with the band, eh?  :)

The band actually got on well (at least at this point, anyway), and the inclusion of Ronnie James Dio seemed to respark what had become a lazy, tired band.  However, it wasn't to last all that long, unfortunately - although we did get a totally spectacular album out of this version of the band.

One other thing.  Geoff Nicholls is credited with keyboards on everything Black Sabbath releases from this point through 1998's Reunion album.  However, he's rarely ever actually listed as an "official" member of the band, even though he played rhythm guitar, and handled background vocals too over the years.

Astute readers of my page have pointed out that I have some odd combination choices in 1987, so why don't do it the same thing here with the early days of the Heaven & Hell period?  Problem is that the timeframes for most of that stuff is unknown (Geezer's departure/return, Craig Gruber, Nicholls on bass, etc...)  If I ever find out details on that level, I'll revise, but for now I'll go with what I have.

IV - August 31, 1980 to October 1982

• Ronnie James Dio - Vocals
• Tony Iommi - Guitar
• Geezer Butler - Bass
• Vinny Appice - Drums
• Geoff Nicholls - Keyboards

Albums from this lineup:

• Mob Rules
• Live Evil
• Dehumanizer
• The Dio Years
• Live at Hammersmith

Bill Ward left the tour in August, right before a Hawaii gig, for a couple of reasons. His drinking and depression are his publicly stated claims (source was the Sabbath Story Volume 2 video). Bill had also lost both his parents in a short period of time not long before this. The tour was postponed until a replacement could be brought in.  Bill's replacement was ex-Axis drummer Vinny Appice. Vinny finishes the Heaven & Hell tour, and records the following album Mob Rules, as well as plays the entire tour for that, which was recorded for the Dec 82 release, Live Evil. 

Ronnie & Vinny leave to form Dio at the end of 1982. Again, depending on who you talk to, it's a different story as to why they left. Seems it boils down to personalities. There is also the publicly stated claim of Ronnie "sneaking into the studio to mix up the vocals, and the bass and drums down". Around the time of the Dehumanizer album, the guys say that this claim was "never exactly true".   Why the band split apart has always been a mystery to me.  Granted, that could be the naive opinion of a young Sabbath fan at the time wondering why his band split up.  :)

On a personal note, it was around this time that I discovered Black Sabbath.  It was during 1982 when I saw the cover art for Mob Rules in a magazine, thought it was kick ass, and went to the record store to buy it.  I was curious as to what kind of music would go with album cover art like that.  Heard the opening riff for Turn up the Night, and I was hooked forever!   The second album I bought was Paranoid (totally at random).  I didn't even know Sabbath had another singer then, so it was quite a surprise not to hear Dio when I put on Paranoid.  By the end of that week, I had all the Sabbath albums. :)  I'm sure I would have discovered Sabbath anyway, but I thank Greg Hildebrant for his artwork which got my attention.

• Ian Gillan - Vocals
• Tony Iommi - Guitar
• Geezer Butler - Bass
• Bill Ward - Drums
• Geoff Nicholls - Keyboards

Albums from this lineup:

• Born Again

After Dio splits, another singer is needed.  After a short search, Ian Gillan of Deep Purple is brought in for vocals, and Bill Ward is also brought back to play drums.  Some years later, Ian Gillan states the only reason he did Sabbath was money.  There were interviews given over the years that seem to indicate that this lineup of the band was put together over some drinks in a pub, and then when they sobered up, it was like "Oh shit - we have to do this".  

Also, there was a story about the rather hideous album cover for Born Again - Sabbath were being managed by Don Arden (Sharon's Osbourne's dad, ironically) at the time, and word has it that he had the cover drawn up, knowing it was bad, and sent it to the band (because he didn't give a shit about Sabbath).  However, Tony liked it, and picked it.  Don't know how true that story is, though.  I also have a story online here from Steve Joule on the Born Again page, the man who actually drew the Born Again cover art.  It's definitely worth reading.

Unfortunately, Sabbath seems to have forgotten this era, which is a shame, as Born Again was an excellent album. The only post Born Again tour to have any material from Born Again was the Seventh Star tour, when they played a few bars from Zero the Hero.  Ian Gillan released a solo album in 2006 called "Gillan's Inn" which was to celebrate his 40th anniversary in the industry.  On the album is a new recording of Trashed which Tony Iommi plays on.  Also in late 2004, a demo tape from the Born Again sessions turned up online.  This version does seem to sound cleaner (referencing the fact that Ian Gillan talking about the horrible mix on the released version).  But it is novel for the reason that there's a completely new track there which isn't on the released version called "The Fallen".  For a more comprehensive review of this demo recording check out this page over at sabbathlive.com.  Around the time of Born Again's release, there was an interview with Geezer Butler where he references a track called "Death Warmed Up", but whether this is a real track, or a work in progress name for something else is unknown.

VI - Spring 1983 to February 1984

• Ian Gillan - Vocals
• Tony Iommi - Guitar
• Geezer Butler - Bass
• Bev Bevan - Drums
• Geoff Nicholls - Keyboards

Albums from this lineup:

• None

Bev Bevan is brought in to replace Bill Ward for the Born Again Tour.  Bill's general health and well being was still not up to par, and he was not able to tour with the band, mostly due to alcohol addiction.   Bill has stated in interviews over the years that Born Again was the first sober album he ever recorded, and he was trying to stay that way.  He apparently had a weakness for drinking on airplanes, and the thought about going out on the road and touring sober was too frightening for him, and he went back on the sauce, and had to go home because he got too sick to tour.

Bev is also from Birmingham, and grew up around Sabbath, so they were "friends from back home". This is the tour that featured the Spinal-Tap spoofed Stonehenge stage. This lineup lasted the entire tour, but not long after it.  Ian does some great renditions of Sabbath classics on stage - he has a wonderful scream for the song Black Sabbath, as well as Iron Man.

On tour, Black Sabbath was playing the Purple staple Smoke on the Water as the first encore song. There was a rumour that Sabbath was going to play ELO's Evil Woman on tour, but to my knowledge, it never happened.  Also at a few gigs, Sabbath played the old song "Apache" by the Shadows.

• Ron Keel - Vocals
• Tony Iommi - Guitar
• Geezer Butler - Bass
• Bill Ward - Drums
• Geoff Nicholls - Keyboards

Albums from this lineup:

• None

At the end of the Born Again tour, Ian Gillan leaves to go reform Deep Purple. Ian's stated reason at the end of the Born Again tour was "vocal chord problems", but the fact that he immediately did the Purple gig tends to discount that. Bev also splits, to go work on the ELO II project. During this time, Bill Ward is coaxed back yet again after getting healthy while Sabbath was on tour for Born Again and the search is on again for a new singer.

Black Sabbath was to work with producer Spencer Proffer at this time, having come off the wildly sucessful album "Metal Health" by Quiet Riot.  Proffer's choice of vocalist for the album was American singer Ron Keel.  Apparently Proffer had worked up a demo tape of songs with Ron Keel on it and presented this to Tony.  Apparently this material wasn't up to snuff to the Sabs, so the relationship soured between Sabbath and Proffer, and both he and Keen went shortly after this.  Since this didn't progress past the demo stage, I don't count this as an "official lineup".

Here's some text from Ron Keel about his involvement with Sabbath...

"I had been doing the KEEL demos at Pasha in Hollywood, which was owned by Quiet Riot producer Spencer Proffer. Quiet Riot had just sold ten million records and Spencer was the hot producer, and he was set to do the next Sabbath album. Ian Gillian had just quit and Spencer heard the KEEL demos, hooked me up with Tony and Geezer, and I demoed some of the material that Spencer wanted them to record and we hung out for a few days plotting the future (basically Tony and Geezer wishing they could get Ozzy back). MTV, radio, everybody announced that Ron Keel was the new singer in Sabbath, but something went sour in their deal with Spencer Proffer and I went with it. They went through a bunch of other singers, but all they really wanted was Ozzy. I know for a fact that no singer, including me, was ever "in" Black Sabbath except Ozzy Osbourne."

VII - Summer 1984 to January 1985

• Dave "Donut" Donato - Vocals
• Tony Iommi - Guitar
• Geezer Butler - Bass
• Bill Ward - Drums
• Geoff Nicholls - Keyboards

Albums from this lineup:

• None

For the longest time, I was always under the impression that Dave Donato was a minor blip in the band's history.  There was a long standing statement that I helped push for a long time about "Dave apparently gives a very horrible interview in Kerrang, and is fired because of it." - In late 2005 I found new information which shows that my knowledge of the era had the emphasis in the wrong places.  The angle of my understanding was that Donato was there for a relatively short period of time (which in the overall scheme of things is accurate, I suppose), but it turns out here was there for longer than I thought (which was just a few weeks).  

In all Donato was involved in the band from a writing and rehearsing standpoint for about six months apparently.  When that six months started and when it ended I'm unclear on.   There is some extreme detail as to what happened in terms of demoing, the pictures I used here on this page, how it fell apart, etc, etc, etc on the Rockdetector site here.  You'll definitely want to read that.

In early 2006, a recording from the Dave Donato sessions turned up online.  Click here to hear a song the Donato Sabbath recorded called "No Way Out", which musically is the song "The Shining" (with different lyrics) that turned up on 1987's 'Eternal Idol' album.  This appears to have been removed from the site as of March 2007.

Also, the reason he's referred to as "Donut" here is an interview Bill Ward gave where he talked about Donato turning up to rehearsals and that he loved to eat donuts during rehearsals.

GEEZER GOES:

After the band with Donato fell apart, feeling disgusted and quoted as being "sick of it all", Geezer Butler quits to work on a solo project.  Geezer did play some gigs around the UK for awhile under the moniker of "The Geezer Butler Band".  This incarnation of Geezer's solo project never recorded, but some live tapes do exist. This is not to be confused with the G//Z/R project of Geezer's from 1995.  

Thing is there were several attempts by Geezer to do a solo band in the mid 80's.  Some of them recorded, some didn't - I'm very unclear as to how many there were, but there was definitely more than one of them.   One involved Carl Sentance.  This version band did record, although nothing was formally released save for a track on Geezer's site in 2005, and some on Carl's site.  An interesting side note to Geezer's mid 80's solo work - he also got involved with David Donato there, too.  David apparently did some writing with Geezer outside of Sabbath.

You can tell this is from the mid 80's - look at this picture, which is from the Carl Sentance variant of the 80's GBB.  Oh, the hair!  :)

BILL WARD GOES:

Also at this time Bill Ward left again.  However, in an interview, Bill claims that when he left after recording Born Again, he was drunk.  Leaving after this brief time, he left sober, which was important to him.  He also had left after coming back, and then telling Geezer & Tony, "This isn't Black Sabbath, I've got to go". 

Not much is known about what he did during this time, and there were rumours that Bill was homeless and on the streets of Los Angeles, too.

BAND INACTIVE FROM MID 1984 to JAN 1985

Sabbath is more or less put on ice at this time until Iommi is forced by record company pressure to make his 1986 solo album a Sabbath album (see Lineup #8 for more info on this.)  After the mid 84 attempt to bring another singer into the band (Dave Donato, Ron Keel, etc..) the band more or less "breaks up".  I say that because there was never an official announcement of a disbanding or a breakup, but this is the opinion that some fans have - at least the ones that still knew Sabbath existed, anyway.

It was at some point in this time that Tony Iommi bought up the legal rights to the name Black Sabbath.  Now I'm no legal expert, and I'm not privy to the contracts of the various members up until this point, but I would imagine that the original Sabs owned the name, and with the band seemingly dead and gone at this point around 1985, there probably wasn't any consideration to Tony owning it, figuring it was dead.

An article in a 1986 Kerrang said something like (I'm paraphrasing from memory) "Iommi didn't want the Black Sabbath name to die, and bought up the rights to it from the other original Sabbath members" (which is ironic, considering the record label forced the Iommi solo album Seventh Star to be a Sabbath album).  The upshot of this is that now that Tony owns all legal rights to the name Black Sabbath, no one can put together a version of Black Sabbath without his permission. 

There's been a lot of fan speculation that the 1997 and forward time when Oz returned came with a caveat that Oz partly owned the name Black Sabbath again.  I decided to check into this myself, and in the Summer of 2006, I emailed Tony Iommi's representatives and asked them about this situation.  I was told my knowledge of the situation is correct.  Tony Iommi is still the sole "owner" of Black Sabbath in 2006, and there were no "deals" made regarding ownership with anyone else for any other reason.
 

• Jeff Fenholt - Vocals
• Tony Iommi - Guitar
• Gordon Copley - Bass
• Eric Singer - Drums
• Geoff Nicholls - Keyboards

Albums from this lineup:

• None

As if all the 1984 stuff wasn't confusing enough, we now come to Jeff Fenholt.  Before you read this part, understand that I do not consider Jeff Fenholt to be a member of Black Sabbath.  Read all of this, and you'll understand why it's listed here at all.

Jeff's part in the history of Black Sabbath is in dispute. The Black Sabbath camp has said that Fenholt merely "tried out" for the part.  Jeff says that he was in the band for about 7 months, worked on the Seventh Star album, and is uncredited for co-writing some of the stuff on the album, including No Stranger to Love. If you'd like to read Jeff's side of things, click here. I have requested that the Fenholt camp release a picture of him with the band so that we can have some proof, but as of yet, I have not received a response to this specific request. The general consensus is that Fenholt wasn't really part of the band, but is making this up to "push his cause". If I get an answer or a resolution from either side on this, I will update this section with that info. However, I'm not holding my breath, I don't suggest you do, either. :)

However, other info about this time is more secure. Tony Iommi was briefly engaged to be married to Lita Ford during this time, and because of this (I would assume) when Iommi started working on a solo project (what became The Seventh Star) he used Eric Singer and Gordon Copley from Lita's band. When Lita went to go back out on the road in the fall of 1985, Gordon left the band to go with her, while Eric stayed. Gordon does appear on the final version of Seventh Star on the track No Stranger To Love, though.

There is a bootleg floating around with Seventh Star music on it (called "Star of India"), but with different lyrics sung by Jeff Fenholt.  I've heard it, and it is definitely Seventh Star music in an early form, but with different lyrics. I've never been able to formally get any kind of official confirmation from anyone as to the sources of this recording (I don't think I ever will).  However, I believe it's a recording of Fenholt's audition to work with Tony when Tony was working on his solo album back in 1985 (the album eventually became Seventh Star).  I've also been told that the Fenholt audition tape shows the reason Jeff wasn't hired, which was his inability to come up with lyrics on the fly.  If you'd heard it, you'd know what I mean by that.

This part of the band's history is also kind of weird insofar as Sabbath didn't officially exist as "Black Sabbath" and is the main driving force behind my belief that Fenholt was never in Sabbath proper.  During this time, the album being worked on was officially going to be a Tony Iommi solo album.  From this point of view, it could be construed that even if Fenholt had gotten the gig (which he didn't), was not officially part of Black Sabbath, since this time is generally regarded as Iommi solo project time, and that Sabbath proper wasn't reborn until SIGNIFICANTLY later on in the project when record company pressure forced Iommi to call this a Black Sabbath album, and not a Tony Iommi solo album.

Just for a second, assume that Fenholt was working with Iommi (which everyone I have spoken to or emailed about this issue says he wasn't), but assume he was for a second.  Black Sabbath didn't exist during this time period, and even if Fenholt was involved, it wasn't Black Sabbath, so his claim of being a former Black Sabbath vocalist is doubly inaccurate. 

Please note that I do not consider Jeff Fenholt a member of Black Sabbath!!  I've gotten several messages asking why I even bother to put him here. The main reason is that when I didn't have him here, and I got a lot more messages asking about him. I figure I'll put the sum of my Fenholt knowledge here so people don't have to ask me all the time.
 

• Ozzy Osbourne - Vocals
• Tony Iommi - Guitar
• Geezer Butler - Bass
• Bill Ward - Drums

The original Black Sabbath reunites for one day in July 1985 for the Live Aid Festival to fight hunger in Africa. Black Sabbath played in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania at the JFK Memorial Stadium. They came on around 10AM or so, and played three tracks. There was some talk of an original Black Sabbath Reunion immediately after this, but it fell apart very quickly.

I was living in Philadelphia at the time, I wish I had the honor of saying I was there. I was not, I had to work.

Also, if you didn't know when this picture was taken, you could certainly tell by Oz' hair.  Check it out!  From his "way poofy hair" era.  It was taken backstage at Live Aid.

VIII - Summer 1985 to March 23, 1986

• Glenn Hughes - Vocals
• Tony Iommi - Guitar
• Dave Spitz - Bass
• Eric Singer - Drums
• Geoff Nicholls - Keyboards

Albums from this lineup:

• Seventh Star

At some point during the summer of 1985, Tony Iommi began work on a solo album.  When he was working on this material at the demo level, he used the rhythm section from Lita Ford's Band (Eric Singer & Gordon Copley), due to Tony's then engagement to Lita.

Eventually, as the project progressed, a vocalist was needed.  Glenn Hughes was brought in, and Dave Spitz replaced Gordon Copley (assuming he was ever really a "member" in the first place), who went back out on the road with Lita Ford.   This album was originally intended to be an Iommi solo album, but record company pressure forced it to come out under the Black Sabbath banner, but the band was officially called Black Sabbath Featuring Tony Iommi.  This is another album that was excellent, but very much underrated. The only time other than the Seventh Star tour (and a one shot charity benefit appearance in 1988) that any material from this album was played was on the Tyr tour in 1990, when they played one verse of Heart Like a Wheel.

The tour started, but was ill fated.  Evidence these comments I got in email from Steven Keller, a fan who attended one of the dates with Glenn Hughes..   "I saw the show at the Brenden Byrne Area in East Rutherford, New Jersey with Glenn Hughes. He was really out of shape and sounded horrible. I felt really bad for him. Sabbath did a lot of jams with extended guitar solos that night. Glenn stated during the show that "It's a fine time to come down with a cold!". I think that both his weight and his vocal problem (cold / partying ... whatever) led to his demise. Glenn is great. But that incarnation was not meant to be."

After about 5 or 6 dates into the Seventh Star tour, Glenn Hughes was fired from Black Sabbath. Again, depending on whom you talk to, there are conflicting reports as to why this happened.  Stories range from drug and alcohol abuse, to a rumour about his vocal cords being damaged in a fist fight right before the first gig of the tour, or to the publicly stated claim of "inability to properly sing Sabbath classics live"  This last bit is backed up by the bootleg I have of Glenn in Detroit where he completely butchers War Pigs (so much so that some guy standing next to the person recording this concert says "Come on Glenn!").   It's a shame, as Glenn Hughes is a masterful vocalist, but it's obvious that this was a low point in his career.

IX - March 25, 1986 to October 1986

• Ray Gillen - Vocals
• Tony Iommi - Guitar
• Dave Spitz - Bass
• Eric Singer - Drums
• Geoff Nicholls - Keyboards

Albums from this lineup:

• None

Being out on tour and needing to replace your vocalist is not something that's terribly easy to do.  This job fell to Ray Gillen.  Ray got the gig because he was a friend of Dave Spitz's, and literally went from a New Jersey bar band to Black Sabbath.  Ray actually was hanging around the band for a few days before his actual debut, legend has it that Ray and the rest of Sabbath (sans Glenn) were rehearsing in secret.  I saw this version of the band on this tour in Philadelphia, and it was quite cool - had the last of the really elaborate stage sets Sabbath ever had (except for possibly Reunion's large stage set) - and Iommi didn't play his usual pre-programmed solo - there seemed to be a lot of variety here.

Ray finishes the tour, and then the fun begins...
 

• Tony Martin - Vocals
• Tony Iommi - Guitar
• No one - Bass
• Bev Bevan - Drums
• Geoff Nicholls - Keyboards

Albums from this lineup:

• None

Around March of 1987, Ray Gillen leaves the band (according to an interview), because he felt Sabbath wasn't going anywhere, as well as his feeling that the band didn't really have any future.  It was a foolish opinion, if you ask me - but given the band had no formal bassist or drummer would explain that feeling, I guess.  Of course, with an album not completed, and the lead vocalist gone, the vocals had to be redone, hence the appearance of Tony Martin. Actually, Tony Martin was considered for the position in 1986, but he was already in a band at the time (The Misha Calvin Band). Tony Martin has said that one small bit of Ray's vocals was left on the released version of Eternal Idol, that being some laughter on the track "Nightmare". 

As production stretched on into mid 1987, Sabbath was warming up to play some gigs in July, most of which were the Sun City gigs below.  As such, they needed someone to play drums, so Tony's friend Bev Bevan (who previously was in Sabbath during 83/84 on the Born Again tour) was brought in to play drums for Sabbath again, although when precisely he joined up again, I don't know.

While Bev does have a credit on the final Eternal Idol album as "percussion", what (if anything) he played on the final album isn't known.  Eric Singer was asked at a KISS convention about the Eternal Idol album, and he said that Bev doesn't actually play anything on the album, and that he's the only drummer.  I had also read something around the time of the release of this album that Bev was brought in only to "clean up" a few things on the final recording after Eric had already left, although that contradicts what Eric said about Bev not being on the album.  Furthermore, the instrumental track "Scarlet Pimpernel" does not exist on any of the Ray Gillen bootleg versions of the album, so if there was any drum/percussion bits to be done, it's possible that Bev was brought in to work on Scarlet Pimpernel, but there aren't any drum bits on there that I can hear, so what he really did is unknown.

As a side note, during this time, Ray Gillen had tried out for Blue Murder, but wasn't actually hired, with the excuse of "He couldn't sing!".
 

XVI - November & December 1987

• Tony Martin - Vocals
• Tony Iommi - Guitar
• Jo Burt - Bass
• Terry Chimes - Drums
• Geoff Nicholls - Keyboards

Albums from this lineup:

• None

This version of Black Sabbath was only together for the (short) Eternal Idol tour, playing mostly in places around Germany & Italy. The final date of the tour was to be December 28, 1987 at the Hammersmith, but it was cancelled; Sabbath never played the UK or the US for this album (although they were supposed to play one date in the UK, but it was cancelled). Burt stepped in only for the Eternal Idol tour that ended in late December. Terry Chimes stuck around for a bit longer, (see May 29, 1988 entry) but this version of the band was never intended to continue beyond the Eternal Idol tour.  An interview with Tony Iommi talks about the tour extending into 1988 in the US, but it never happened.  Whether Burt & Chimes would have been around for that is unknown, as it never actually happened.

BACK ROW: Geoff Nicholls, Tony Iommi 

FRONT ROW: Terry Chimes, Tony Martin, Jo Burt.

Not a whole lot is known about what was happening during Early 1988. This is generally considered downtime for the band.  Given the upheaval during this time, it probably was Tony deciding if he wanted to carry on at all, I'd wager - but that's personal speculation.

Again, Sabbath never disbanded, it was just "on ice". At some point during this time, Tony Iommi signs a new record deal with IRS Records, and Sabbath is not on Warner Bros for the first time since 1970.

XVII - May 29, 1988

• Tony Martin - Vocals
• Tony Iommi - Guitar
• Geoff Nicholls - Bass
• Terry Chimes - Drums

Albums from this lineup:

• None

This is the only exception to the last entry. This variant of Black Sabbath played one time. They did a 20 minute charity show appearance in the UK in May of '88. This was Tony Martin's first appearance in the UK while singing for Black Sabbath. This show is notable for two reasons, one being the appearance of Geoff Nicholls on bass, and the other being the only time a track from Seventh Star (Heart Like a Wheel) is played in full other than on the Seventh Star tour itself.  Sabbath only played three songs, those being Heart like a Wheel, Neon Knights, & Paranoid.

Also around this time, Tony Martin goes off and works with John Sykes in Blue Murder, but does not join (Martin is credited as co-author of the Blue Murder song Valley of the Kings).  Blue Murder has an interesting Sabbath connection, as Cozy Powell was the original drummer there, as well as Ray Gillen trying out for vocalist, too!

XVIII - Summer 1988 to April 1989

• Tony Martin - Vocals
• Tony Iommi - Guitar
• Laurence Cottle - Bass
• Cozy Powell - Drums
• Geoff Nicholls - Keyboards

Albums from this lineup:

• Headless Cross

During the summer of 1988, the two Tonys hook up with Cozy Powell and start writing for what will become Headless Cross. The album was actually recorded from August to November of 1988.  During this time, Sabbath is told by Gloria Butler that Geezer was going to join the band again*.  Laurence Cottle was really only around for the recording of the album, he wasn't here all this time. Sabbath waits until April 89 for Geezer, but since Geezer went and joined Ozzy's band, Neil Murray is brought in on the eve of the album's release. The release of Headless Cross also marked the first time since 1970 that Black Sabbath changed record labels.

The two pictures here are promo shots taken during the recording of the album Headless Cross, both after Laurence Cottle had done his part, and before Neil Murray came onboard.  At least that's the guess, although you could make a point that since Cottle was never intended to tour, and was just a session man for this album, that's why he's not on any of the pictures.  The picture above appears to have been taken in the same place that the video for the song Headless Cross was shot.

* - In May of 2006, I asked Gloria Butler about that quote, and she doesn't remember saying that, but also admits "I don't remember yesterday much, either".  :)  

XIX - May 1989 to November 1990

• Tony Martin - Vocals
• Tony Iommi - Guitar
• Neil Murray - Bass
• Cozy Powell - Drums
• Geoff Nicholls - Keyboards

Albums from this lineup:

• Tyr
• Forbidden

This version of Black Sabbath toured for the entire Headless Cross album, and then recorded Tyr. The band toured for Tyr, but the tour was never completed. The tour had a few surprises, that being that Ian Gillan, Geezer Butler, & Brian May made appearances during a few gigs. There was a planned US Tour, but it was cancelled. I was annoyed about that, I wanted to see them. Towards the end of the tour, there are rumors that Geezer Butler and Ronnie James Dio might be rejoining the band.

Both the Headless Cross & Tyr tours did awesome in Europe - but failed miserably in the United States, with the Tyr shows never making it across the pond.  Damn shame, as this version of the band was probably the tightest the band had been since their early 70's heyday.