"Black Sabbath" is an English Heavy metal band, who were pioneers of Heavy Metal. The band was originally comprised of Ozzy Osbourne (vocals), Tony Iommi (guitar), Terence "Geezer" Butler (bass), and Bill Ward (drums).
One of the definitive heavy metal bands, Black Sabbath remains a dominant influence in the genre they helped originate.http://www.billboard.com/bbcom/bio/index.jsp?pid=4105&cr=artist&or=ASCENDING&sf=length&kw=Black%20Sabbath VH1's ''100 Greatest Artists of Hard Rock'' ranked them second, behind Led Zeppelin. http://www.vh1.com/shows/dyn/the_greatest/62188/episode_wildcard.jhtml?wildcard=/shows/dynamic/includes/wildcards/the_greatest/hardrock_list_full.jhtml&event_id=862769&start=81
Black Sabbath formed in Birmingham, England in 1968 under the name
"Polka Tulk Blues Band" (soon shortened to "Polka Tulk"), and later "Earth", playing blues rock and hard rock.
Black Sabbath had a unique sound that emerged from diverse influences. Iommi was greatly influenced both by Hank Marvin's playing on Cliff Richard and the Shadows' heavy-guitar based recordings and by jazz guitar, particularly that of Django Reinhardt.http://ca.music.yahoo.com/ar-301550-...
|years active||1969 – present|
|music genre||Heavy metal music|
|current members|| Ozzy Osbourne|
|past members|| Ronnie James Dio|
Tony Martin (rock singer)