From darkness to light: Black Sabbath heads to Abu Dhabi

(MENAFN- Khaleej Times) Black sabbath are loving their time back in the spotlight as they prepare to play abu dhabi this weekend.

from sacrilegious lyrics to bat decapitations it’s hard to think of another band that has shocked the music industry the way black sabbath has. perhaps unsurprisingly for the ‘princes of darkness’ that was always the point.

the british heavy metal troupe - currently made up of founding members ozzy osbourne geezer butler and tony iommi - are on tour for the first time in 35 years and for a band that has had 22 different members since debuting in 1968 sharing the stage together after all this time is something of a minor miracle.

marking their first middle east concert on may 29 in abu dhabi the boys from birmingham will be in town to support their last hit album 13 a compilation of music that fans and critics alike have lauded as proof of the band’s relevance in modern-day music.

speaking from los angeles ahead of their highly anticipated show bassist and primary lyricist of the band geezer butler displays all the signs of an ageing rocker who has long given up the hard partying lifestyle synonymous with musicians from that golden age of metal. at 64 he’s incredibly mellow and thoughtful as he speaks about the band’s many accomplishments.

“the band is tighter than ever” butler said with a hint of pride. “none of us get out of our heads anymore. we lead a very sedentary life the craziness has passed - plus we’re all old.”

with the surprise success of last year’s 13 butler ponders whether the album will be black sabbath’s final contribution to music.

“if it’s going to be our last album - and i don’t know if it is - we wanted to do a really good one before things got too late” he said. “we just did it for ourselves really.”

rewind to 1970 when the band’s self-titled debut album hit the scene. credited with helping to build the foundations of the heavy metal genre the entire album was recorded in a single day - much of it in a single take - and cost a mere £800 (dhs5000) to record. before the record’s astonishing success it was a struggle for geezer and his band mates to find support in an industry that couldn’t understand the dark and often terrifying tone of their music.

“everyone told us to go away and come back when we could play proper music” he recalled. “but when you’re against the odds and believe in what you’re doing it makes you stronger.”

since the very beginning geezer has helped pen the lyrics to some of black sabbath’s most legendary and often infamous songs. thanks to contributions from ozzy whom geezer credits with “always coming up with things off the top of his head” the band enjoys an almost mythical occult status that has only grown stronger over time.

“we’re a band that believes in what we’re doing” geezer explained regarding people’s misunderstandings of the group. “if there’s something we want to say we’ll say it…we know our own boundaries.”

for a band that has managed to sell more than 70 million records over a span of nearly five decades it wasn’t until mtv made a reality tv superstar out of ozzy osbourne and his family that black sabbath became something of a household name the irony of which is not lost on geezer.

after becoming the most-viewed series in the history of the television network the osbournes - which featured ozzy and his wife/manager sharon and their children jack and kelly – catapulted the family into global celebrities and introduced a whole new set of fans to sabbath’s music.

“we didn’t really realise [the show’s popularity] until we got back with ozzy…i couldn’t believe it” he said. “old women were coming up to him for autographs - i think sharon is even more popular now than black sabbath.”

how much do we know about the famous band members of black sabbath? here are a few facts that you never would have guessed.

ozzy osbourne the comedian

ozzy ozbourne has a knack for the comedy scene starting with his skit ad campaign for ‘i can’t believe it’s not butter’ in 2006. the black sabbath band members also recently appeared in an episode of csi. horatio caine be afraid!

tony iommi collaborated with ian gillan of deep purple and many other rock artists to form a supergroup entitled whocares in 2011. they participated in a charity project to raise money to rebuild a music school in armenia.

when tony iommi injured his fingers he was inspired by the jazz guitarist django reinhardt to continue playing and so he developed a love for jazz music. the band themselves started out as a jazz-blues band named polka tulk later called earth. in early 1969 the group changed its name to the now iconic black sabbath.

in 2005 black sabbath was inducted into the uk music hall of fame by friend and music icon brian may. ozzy had previously removed the band from the list after they had been overlooked seven times. the following year the band was inducted into the american rock and roll hall of fame.

ozzy’s first career ambition wasn’t in the realm of music. allegedly when ozzy was a youngster of around fifteen years old he became a plumber’s apprentice as that was the profession he was interested in at the time.

bassist geezer butler is good friends with hollywood actor tom hanks having bonded over their mutual love for premier league strugglers aston villa sometimes attending games together.

an eight-year-old autistic boy in twin peaks california ran away into the woods due to parental abuse and was lured back into police protection after they played his favourite song no more tears.

born terence michael joseph butler geezer got his nickname for his preference of calling his classmates “geezer” at school a british slang for “guy” or “dude”.

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