In a world full of saints and holy figures, where the sinners were frowned upon, godless were humiliated and the rebels were hunted down, there came a band from the outskirts of Birmingham, that not only glorified Satan but also performed gory satanic rituals on the stage.
The year was 1968 and neither England nor the world was ready for this band.
Like the raging fire through the bushes, the younger generation was totally consummated by their music.
They called themselves The Black Sabbath, true proponents of free will, terrorizing the land of Knights and Templars.
Their songs provided solace and comfort to the teenyboppers of the 1960s, who were left unemployed and penniless, thanks to the corrupt politicians and greedy corporates of the Gen X.
Black Sabbath have been in the industry for more than five decades and have sold more than 70 million albums, till date.
Known as the godfathers of heavy metal music, they had overcome multiple death threats, record label boycotts, venue bans and countless humiliations, to reach the pinnacle of success.
The group was formerly called Earth, but they changed their name to avoid confusion with another British group that had the same name.
The band was formed by main songwriter and guitarist Tony Lommi, drummer Bill Ward, singer Ozzy Osbourne and bassist and main lyricist Geezer Butler.
Here are some of the scary facts you need to know about this band.
1. Their Name is from a Horror Movie
In 1969, the group changed their name from Earth to Black Sabbath.
Their new name was taken from a 1963 horror movie Black Sabbath starring Boris Karloff.
They had also considered other names like The Polka Tulk Blues Band and Blues Band Margarine. What a selection of names!
2. The Cryptic Book of Black Magic
Their scary lyrics and music started when Ozzy Osbourne gave Geezer Butler a cryptic book of black magic.
Butler was a Catholic, but he was dabbling with the occult, as he was not happy with Catholicism.
One night, Butler had a vision of demonic presence in his room, and when he woke up to look for the book, it was gone.
3. Demonic Visions
Ozzy has been blamed for Butler’s frequent demonic visions, as fans believed, the great Wiccan had cast a nasty spell on his unsuspecting bandmate.
Butler rushed back to Catholicism, after almost losing himself to his new found crush, Satanism.
4. Animal Abuse to a Scary Level
Ozzy Osbourne loves to bite off bat’s head on stage and has done it many a times in the early 80s.
Well…it may not be a big deal, compared to what Miley Cyrus does on stage, these days.
And just like Miley, he used to get away with his biting antics.
5. The Band Set a Band Member on Fire
Though it was a prank gone wrong, this was such a scary experience.
Bill Ward’s beard experienced the Black Sabbath in it’s totality.
The band set it on fire which resulted in third-degree burns for him.
The sticks man would then refuse to join the band’s reunion. Wonder why?
6. Interested Satanists
A group of Satanists were interested in the band and approached them to perform at one of their celebrations “Night of Satan” .
What could have interested the Satanists so much in the group if they had no bits of Satanism in them?
7. Placed Under a Hex
As mentioned above, the band was approached by a group of Satanists in their early days and asked them to perform their “Night of Satan” celebrations at Stonehenge.
The group however refused and were told that they have been placed in a hex.
Ozzy requested his dad to make aluminum crosses for them and wore them round the clock for protection.
8. Taunted by Ghosts
When they rented out Clearwell Castle in The Forest of Dean in England, they were shocked and had to leave in the end as they were terrified.
Lommi said he was walking down the corridor with Ozzy when they saw a figure in a black cloak.
They followed the figure to the armory and it disappeared into thin air.
9. Immortal Black Sabbath
All the band members are still alive!
They have a history of chemical recreation and that’s an accomplishment. Or is it?
10. They Brought Witches to Their Shows
Tony Lommi confessed to bringing witches at their shows together with Geezer.
They once got back to their hotel and found them in a row in black cloaks sitting on the floor and chanting.
11. Stalked by Satanists
Around the 1970s freaks with black robes and white makeup started showing up at Black Sabbath concerts.
The freaks wanted the band to come along with them at the black masses at Highgate Cemetery in London.
12. Offered Extra Fare for Human Sacrifices
Black Sabbath promoters learned the occult habits of the band, and they started offering them additional fare for the band to bring along human sacrifices to their shows.
One German promoter asked them, if they needed one-way air ticket for a sacrificial ritual, a terminal cancer patient from Berlin, who willingly offered himself to be sacrificed.
13. God is Dead?
This is one of the band’s well known songs, and it shook the Christian community to the core.
Well known preachers and evangelists openly condemned Black Sabbath and asked their followers, to keep this song away from their kids, at any cost.
14. They believe in God
When asked, Tony Lommi said the band believes in God but also that the Devil exists in all of us.
15. They Blew Up Part of a Billionaire’s Private Lake
It happened during the production of one of their song’s music video “Born Again”.
They killed a lot of the billionaire’s fish and he wasn’t happy about it.
