The Dark Story of Black Sabbath's Most Famous Fight

Four kids from Birmingham factories invented heavy metal and sold over 70 million albums. By 1985, Tony Iommi had fired Ozzy Osbourne and offered him session wages to rejoin the band he co-founded. The contract was designed to humiliate, and it worked. Ozzy went to the press, Sharon turned it into war, and the brotherhood that survived addiction and 17 years on the road died in a lawyer's office. The 1997 reunion looked like healing from the outside, but backstage Tony and Ozzy stood on opposite sides of the green room and refused to speak. In 1998 Tony sued Ozzy over the right to use the name Black Sabbath. The case settled under sealed terms, and they kept touring together for another 19 years without ever fixing what broke. When the final album was recorded in 2012, Bill Ward was erased entirely, replaced by a session drummer after 43 years. He begged to be included and offered to take less money. The band stayed silent. Tony still keeps a photo of the original four from 1969 in his studio. He has never said why.