1970, the year Black Sabbath released their debut album, and the year the world was given the first Heavy Metal record. Black Sabbaths debut record that included N.I.B, Wicked World and Black Sabbath is arguably the most iconic Metal record to ever be released, it changed the world as we know it and gave rise to an entirely new genre that influenced bands such as Metallica, Iron Maiden, Judas Preist and more. Tony Iommi has become a legendary guitar player and in a recent Icon Series Documentary released by Gibson on the 50th Anniversary of ‘Black Sabbath’, he talks about the early years of the band and how difficult it was to be accepted by the era they were surrounded by.

“We had to break a lot of barriers because it was something that wasn’t about at that time”
- Tony Iommi

“We went to play the Star Club in Germany, and in that time the album had come out and we’re coming back on the boat and we’re driving from London and then back home and the top 20 came on and they announced are album and we couldn’t believe it!”

“We had to break a lot of barriers because it was something that wasn’t about at that time nobody was doing the same sort of thing” Iommi explains. “Zeppelin were friends of ours but it was a different sort of music so when we came on tour, particularly here [USA] when we toured Paranoid, so touring for us nobody really knew who we were and people were frightened because of the name and the image that built up”

Black Sabbath was well known for having a deep interest in the occult which is something that caused problems with many people of the time due to religion being a much more dominant moral belief. “We had witches coming to the shows and then you go outside...everybody with banners saying that we’re Satanists and devil worshipers” Iommi recalls. “There was a lot of stuff we had to go through as a band but all those things made us stick together more and caused more interest because it would be in the press all the time”

Watch in full below. All Hail Black Sabbath...

Author Bio: AC Speed

Senior Editor

I started my career as a music journalist in 2013 and have been involved in the music industry as a touring musician, studio engineer and artist consultant since 2002, as well as previously being a signed artist. My passion for delivering high quality, informative music-related news is a daily driving force behind the content I create. Also a huge gaming nerd! Born in the United Kingdom and currently living in Sweden. Skål!

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