Black Sabbath: The Tribute Album That Led To Their Comeback
I remember at some point in the ’90s, Gene Simmons was on MTV’s Headbanger’s Ball; KISS was going to headline a big festival in (I believe) South America, and Black Sabbath was on the bill. The host asked, “Who’s singing for them these days?” Simmons, at a rare loss for words, didn’t seem to remember.
That’s kind of how it was with Black Sabbath in the mid-’80s and early ’90s, and you can’t blame Gene. It’s not hyperbole to say that Black Sabbath changed popular music in 1970 with the release of their self-titled debut. Sure, there were hard rock bands before Sabbath, but Sabbath represents ground zero for heavy metal, a genre that still thrives today. But by the late ’80s, guitarist Tony Iommi was the only constant in the group; they had an almost comical revolving door of singers, bassists and drummers. I remember hearing that Black Sabbath was playing at a club in New York City with Motorhead and Morbid Angel, and you could still get tickets the day of the show. Black Sabbath had lost their mojo.
To make matters worse, pundits were saying (not for the first or last time) that heavy metal was on the decline. Alternative music ruled the charts, the airwaves and the hearts and minds of young rock fans. Or, at least, that’s how the narrative went. It was really just wishful thinking from people who would have liked metal to go away. Metallica was massively popular and still riding on the success of “The Black Album” (they had not yet released the controversial Load). Pantera had shockingly topped the Billboard charts with Far Beyond Driven. And nearly every major alternative rock band — Alice In Chains, Jane’s Addiction, Nine Inch Nails, Soundgarden, the Red Hot Chili Peppers, Primus — was influenced by Black Sabbath, even if those artists weren’t “heavy metal” per se. Metal may have been on the ropes, but the early ’90s was the perfect time for a Black Sabbath revival.
Bob Chiappardi must have sensed this. Bob is the CEO of Concrete Marketing, a branding, marketing and advertising company that has worked with artists across all genres (including Jimmy Buffett, Bruce Springsteen and Shania Twain, to name a few). But, they are most well-known for their work in hard rock and heavy metal. And, in full disclosure, it’s where I landed my first music industry job, as the Associate Editor of their industry tipsheet, Foundations (which was soon rebranded as f). When I was hired there, I was excited to learn that these were the guys who produced Nativity In Black: A Tribute To Black Sabbath, an album that I loved.
Nativity In Black was released in the fall of 1994 (before I started with the company). To mark the 30-year anniversary, I reached out to my former boss, Bob, to ask him about how the album came together. “Like many great ideas, this one came after several after-work drinks in a bar in New York City,” he told me. “Back in 1993, when we started working on the record, heavy metal started to be considered passé, as far as the mainstream was concerned. Bands like Soundgarden, Pearl Jam, and Alice In Chains, who came out of the Seattle scene, were getting huge.”
“The beauty of doing a Black Sabbath record was that even these alternative bands, who didn’t want to be classified as heavy metal, still owed a lot to Black Sabbath, and cited them as major influence. Even Nirvana, who did not want to be classified as a metal band, had very apparent Sabbath influences, which Kurt Cobain did admit.”
Nativity In Black had some of the most aggressive and coolest bands of the time, paying tribute to Black Sabbath. The album focused exclusively on the original lineup: Tony Iommi, Ozzy Osbourne, Geezer Butler and Bill Ward. White Zombie, Corrosion of Conformity, Biohazard, Sepultura, Therapy!, Type O Negative and Megadeth all covered Sabbath classics. It also had previously released covers by 1000 Homo DJs (featuring Nine Inch Nails’ Trent Reznor and Ministry’s Al Jourgensen) and Faith No More. Former Judas Priest singer Rob Halford sang a track; so did former Iron Maiden singer Bruce Dickinson. Most of the bands were clients of Concrete. But there was one big band that got away; ironically, they were managed by Concrete.
“Pantera! Not being able to get permission from Elektra Records to include it, to be honest, really pissed me off. It’s probably the biggest disappointment I had with the whole project.” Happily, Pantera’s “Electric Funeral” was eventually included on 2000’s sequel, Nativity In Black II.
Bob was also able to get three of the four original members on the album. Ozzy sang “Iron Man” backed by the Irish band Therapy? Bassist Geezer Butler and drummer Bill Ward, meanwhile, played together for the first time in a decade as part of the “Bullring Brummies” (which included Rob Halford on vocals) for “The Wizard.”
“I had a very strong relationship with Ozzy and Sharon Osbourne,” Chiappardi says. “Before I even started working on the Nativity project, I reached out to Sharon and made sure she and Ozzy were on board with me doing it. They were, and offered their support. They also wanted very much to be part of the project, and it was Sharon who suggested Ozzy singing with Therapy? That turned out to be an easy collaboration.”
“Getting ‘The Wizard’ recorded was much more of a challenge. Once we had Ozzy, I really wanted to have the rest of Black Sabbath involved as well. Rob Halford had a great relationship with all the Black Sabbath guys and we organized having him do the lead vocal on ‘The Wizard.’ We could not get Tony Iommi on the final recording of the track, even though he did a guitar part for it. His manager at the time would not give me permission to use it. I was really happy with the way this track turned out, even without Iommi, and it’s probably the one I’m the most proud of.”
Three years later, Ozzy Osbourne, Tony Iommi, and Geezer Butler reunited as Black Sabbath to headline the first Ozzfest tour in the summer of 1997. Did the tribute help to get the ball rolling? Chiappardi says, “I know that they all were impressed with how successful the record was. We earned gold record status in several territories, including the US, and received a Grammy nomination. Maybe in some small way, the album got the guys thinking about Sabbath again in a positive light, which may have helped.”
It marked a rebirth for Sabbath, who toured often over the next two decades, playing their final show in Birmingham on February 4, 2017. They even made one last album, 2013’s 13, which was their first #1 album in the U.S. (it also topped the album charts in several other countries). And the Ozzfest tour was a huge moment for metal. In 1997, as the Lollapalooza tour was running on fumes, Ozzfest was just getting started (karma alert: Sharon Osbourne started Ozzfest after Lollapalooza questioned Ozzy’s relevance when he was pitched to them).
The tribute album(s) and the tours introduced the original Black Sabbath to new generations, and now even those who don’t like heavy metal recognize their impact, even if they don’t like their music. They were inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame in 2006. And that might have happened anyway, even if Black Sabbath never reunited and returned to their rightful place as arena headliners. But Nativity In Black was a great reminder of the band’s relevance and heavy metal’s continuing power, critics be damned.
