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Black Sabbath’s Legendary Breakup Detailed in New REELZ Documentary
The latest installment of the REELZ music series reveals hard rockers Black Sabbath were on the brink of success in the USA when sex, drugs and money threatened to blow it all away.
The Sabbath’s manager, Patrick Meehan, had organized a 120-date world tour for the band with all the trappings of the 1970’s rock n’ roll lifestyle.
“Patrick Meehan gave the band everything they wanted, houses and cars and drugs and women,” says Black Sabbath biographer Steven Rosen. “But there’s a piper to pay at the end of all of this and Patrick was an enabler and it’s hard to remain normal under those circumstances.”
Often called the “Godfathers of Heavy Metal,” front man Ozzy Osbourne, drummer Bill Ward, bassist Geezer Butler and guitar legend Tony Iommi came from humble origins to become some of the most successful and outrageous rock stars in music history.
With dark songs like “Paranoid,” “Iron Man,” and “Children of the Grave,” the band enjoyed stellar success with fans who came to see their hedonism and antics on stage.
But behind the act was volatility, jealousy, crippling alcohol abuse and famous cocaine binges.
Was it drugs, greed or Ozzy’s notorious brushes with satanism that eventually shattered the band after they had sold 70 million records worldwide?
Find out all the details in Black Sabbath: Breaking The Band, Sunday, December 6, at 8:00 p.m. ET/PT on REELZ.
