Ozzy Osbourne Suing Tony Iommi Over Black Sabbath Name
Band Photo: Ozzy Osbourne (?)
Ozzy Osbourne has revealed that he is suing Black Sabbath/Heaven And Hell guitarist Tony Iommi over disputes about the Black Sabbath name. The legendary metal vocalist states that Iommi illegally claimed sole ownership of the name and is seeking to receive 50% of the Black Sabbath trademark and wants a portion of Iommi's profits from using the name.
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51 Comments on "Ozzy Osbourne Suing Tony Iommi Over Sabbath Name"
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3. writes:
TOG: have to admit, I don't see where he's coming from. All Ozzy's doing is trying to get more money - which he doesn't need - and giving Sabbath a bad name.
Iommi always has been the heart of Sabbath, and for that reason alone there is no ground for suing. But I think in general Ozzy cares more about money than music now (or his lawyer does).
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8. writes:
tony iommi IS black sabbath. end of story. i am certain ozzy has been getting royalties from the sabbath albums he sang on. ozzy was always bigger by himself than with sabbath anyways, so he should just move forward in his own career and let the past be the past, without bickering over money.
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12. writes:
This is it now for me. I'm through defending Ozzy. I've stuck by him through reality shows, that piece of crap album Black Rain, cancelled tours that I bought tickets for and that god awful variety show, but now, he can stick everything he's ever done. At least Iommi is still trying to make a living by playing music and he keeps his head down. Still like a working class bloke from Brum in many ways. Ozzy on the other hand has done nothing to deserve more money from Sabbath. He didn't even write the lyrics, that was Geezer.
Bad Ozzy. Very bad Ozzy.
Member
13. writes:
From this day forth I shall refer to Ozzy as the Pince of Douche-ness. While I agree that this stinks to high hell of Sharon, to allow his name to appear on the lawsuit is unforgivable. WOW!
NP: Breaking Into Heaven - H&H The best damned Black Sabbath album since Born Again.
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22. writes:
Ozzy is f**kin legendary! Everything he touches turns 2 $$$...even that ridiculously bad show 'The Osbournes' made s**t loads of $$$! It is however a shame that he will drag the 'Black Sabbath' name through the dirt but these things happen. I agree that Sharons lurking around somewhere, but shes just chasing the green like the rest of us.
WHATS UP WITH OZZYs WORLD OF WARCRAFT COMMERCIAL? LIKE HES EVEN PLAYED IT ONCE! I SMELL MORE $$$ 4 THE OSBOURNES!
NP: Children Of Bodom - Tie My Rope
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25. writes:
I personally lost respect for Ozzy when that damn show came out, but this just hits the all time low. We all know Iommi is the heart, mind, and soul of Sabbath. It's a disgrace for Ozzy to allow Sharon to do this, yes, I'm more than positive Sharon is the one behind this.
Let's just hope Iommi teams up with Sharon's old buddies, Iron Maiden, and we have a good ol' Osbourne beatdown. :D
Iommi >;>;>;>;>;>;>;>;>;>;>;>;>;>;>;>;>; Ozzy.
26. writes:
Little doubt Sharon is behind this ridiculous lawsuit. Every Black Sabbath fan knows that Tony Iommi has been the only constant in Black Sabbath since 1969. Ozzy has been doing very well as a solo artist and Iommi never sued Ozzy for performing old Sabbath classics. I suspect Ozzy is jealous that Black Sabbath with Dio as vocalist is doing just fine without the Oz. It is Iommi's dark, sludgy guitar riffs (and, to a lesser extent, Geezer's booming bass) that is the heart of the Sabbath sound, whether it is Ozzy, Dio, Tony Martin, or whoever behind the microphone. Shame on Ozzy for this!!
Member
27. writes:
I dunno... I'm on the fence on this one. Ozzy definetly deserves his share of credit. However, how many people don't think Ozzy when you think Sabbath? Sure Ozzy wasnt in Sabbath for over 20 years but nothing past the Ozzy era besides possibly Heaven And Hell is remembered.
Member
28. writes:
Don D.: He didn't just perform the old Sabbath tunes, He made a record containg old Sabbath tunes (Speak of the Devil) with Brad Gillis on guitar.
Twitch: I would have to disagree with that statement. Mob rules, Born Again, and even Dehumanizer (a highly under rated album) were very good and quite memorable albums. In addition, The Devil You Know has already nudged its way into my top 3 Sabbath albums.
NP: Quintessence - Mastodon
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31. writes:
And once again, I have to agree with Bg1 \m/\m/
My top 5 list of favorite Sabbath albums would go something like this:
1. Mob Rules
2. Heaven and Hell
3. The Devil You Know - Although technically its not named Black Sabbath( Iommi & Butler make it a Sabbath album..!!
4. Born Again
5. Dehumanizer
Yeah thats right... Ozzy era Sabbath isnt even in my top 5.!! But they would fit in a top 10 list;-)
33. writes:
Alright who spiked the mu kool aid....again.....
As much as this is way too childish on the osbourne camp for pulling this stunt for whatever reason, it is completly idiotic to call ozzy osbourne a douche or to insult his legacy, what hes done for metal and his name in general...i know he (sharon) have made some questionable and even wrong decisions and statements the past 9 years, but to verbally insult and attack his name to me is foolish and a lack of respect....
Unbelieveable.........to me metal started with sabbath, no matter who has the rights to the name i would never even consider trashing the name or any of its members...
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36. writes:
ozzy is being f***ing greedy but IMO he is 50% black sabbath. if sabbath had started off with dio i dont think metal would have gone the same way. dio definitely has a far more flexible voice but the way ozzy's voice just worked with those evil iommi guitar riffs is bone chilling.
to say 'f*** ozzy' is like some sort of metal blasphomy and there are some great dio albums but 'black sabbath' 'paranoid' 'master of reality' and 'volume 4' created metal (not to mention sabbath bloody sabbath) and they will never be outdone.
also, i dont see the big attraction to the new album, i found it quite boring, the riffs are fairly average by iommi's standards. but everyone has their own tastes i'm not tryin to start sh** for ppl who like it.
iommi and ozzy made sabbath what they were, i wish they'd have changed the name the moment ozzy left, that being said i am also a huge fan of dio.
37. writes:
Irrespective of what you think of either party, the whole reason that Sabbath got their cred back after Iommi dragged the Sabbath name through the mud for nearly 15 yrs (f*** even Dio left twice) was that all four parties agreed that Sabbath would only be Sabbath with the 4 original members. Iommi himself talked at length about this back in '97.
To go out under another banner is an insult to all the fans who went to see Sabbath as Sabbath and why shouldn't Ozzy do what he's doing.
There is more at stake here than the financial aspect. As a lawyer that works within the music industry and who has had the privilege to work with both Ozzy & Iommi you shouldn't just necessarily assume that Ozzy is chasing the $ or that Sharon has put him up to this.
Member
38. writes:
hail to iommi he is balck sabbath
ozzy left long time
dont get me wrong like some other members i do to stuck with ozzy
but do think its sharron who put the lawsuit together
or ozzy spent some time with simmons and had some thea and gene said well you got nothing to do lets sue black sabbath
black foot highway song
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42. writes:
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43. writes:
There's just so much sh** in this it's ridiculous. If Ozzy didn't dissapear for 20 years I'd be more for him getting his share. He helped start the band but since Toni was in the band through Sabbath the entire time he should get the majority of the ownership. I think the original line up (minus Iommi) is entitled to a percentage, but not 25% each.
45. writes:
Tony Iommi has owned the name for 24 years. He kept Sabbath alive all that time. Since the reunion Ozzy has only used Sabbath to sell HIS Ozzfest and increase his credibility - credibility he uses to sell all his solo albums, world tours and TV shows. Since the reunion, Ozzy has refused to play anywhere other than a few dozen major markets - no world tours. Ozzy has refused to make a new Sabbath album while he has released a handful of solo albums. The rest of the band are still at his mercy. I thank god Iommi still owns the name and helps preserve the dignity of Sabbath.
Don't kid yourself. If Ozzy owned the Sabbath name, the first thing he would do would be to delete all Sabbath releases that did not include him. Imagine poor Iommi getting more than half his life's work deleted. Don't think it could happen? Ask Bob Daisley.
It's disgusting that Sharon is trying to paint Iommi as a selfish bad guy. She has now RUINED any chance of Sabbath performing together ever again. This will be known as the day Sharon killed Sabbath. The fans are the real losers in this ridiculous lawsuit and Sharon's greed is to blame. This is the most shameful thing I have EVER seen in the music business. I hope all the people who care more about music than money will rally to Iommi's defense on this one. Ozzy and his management are trying to steal something that Iommi bought fair and square.
Don't let this happen! Support Iommi any way you can!!!
Member
47. writes:
godlike, I agree with your list, Heaven and Hell is definetly one of their best but for me I'd have to throw in "Parinoid" in my top 5, simply 'cause it was the album that introduced me to Sabbath..........Oh....and I like your new avatar!!!LOL!!!...............hey Bert, where the f##k is Ernie?
49. writes:
50. writes:
I don't think you fools get it. You really don't. This isn't about owning the name Black Sabbath. This is about the Black Sabbath t-shirt I have that says "Black Sabbath" and features the likenesses of Tony, Ozzy, Geezer and Bill. This is about the poster that adorns my man-cave wall that says 'Black Sabbath" and also features the likenesses of Tony, Ozzy, Geezer and Bill. Who gets the money from the sales of the aforementioned? Tony iommi. Not Ozzy, not Geezer and not Bill. This isn't about Ozzy deleting the post-Ozzy catalogue. This isn't about Ozzy hiring four hacks and touring as Black Sabbath. Watch the God-damned Reunion DVD!!! You'll see with your eyes and hear with your ears the ORIGINAL FOUR MEMBERS cleary state that there is really no other Black Sabbath than the one that contained them. Go to friggin' Cleveland and visit the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. You will see Black Sabbath. You will see Tony, Ozzy, Geezer and Bill. Not Tony Iommi and the revolving door of musicians that have come and gone. Gee, I can't remember hearing any Black Sabbath on the FM dial that didn't have Ozzy singing 99.999999999% of the time. That other .0000000001% might be a Dio fronted song. Ian Gillan? No. Glenn Hughes. Don't think so. For all of you Ozzy-haters who can't seem to come to grips with this, suck on this for a while. I saw the Dehumanizer tour at the Orpheum in Boston. 2,500 people. I saw Black Sabbath "featuring" Tony Iommi at the Hampton Beach Casino Ballroom with MAYBE 500 people there. I saw Black Sabbath with Glenn Hughes at a half-full Orpheum in Boston. I along with 17,000 other people saw Black Sabbath with Ozzy at the Boston Garden. I saw Black Sabbath with Ozzy, along with 18,000 people at the Spectrum in Philly. I saw Black Sabbath with Ozzy in front of 20,000 people two nights in a row (*that's 40,000 for the imbeciles) at the Comcast Center. I saw Heaven and Hell at the far-from-full Tsongas arena in Lowell, MA with about 6,000 people and two weeks ago, I scored 2nd row tickets to Heaven and Hell at the Pavillion in Boston (5,000 capacity) two days after tix went on sale for that. And tickets are still available. So people I really do think Ozzy has a right to his 1/4 share. And for all of you who think TDYK is the greatest thing since free porn on the internet, I'm sorry but it is slightly above average at best. It doesn't hold a candle to H and H or Mob Rules and I think Dehumanizer is better too.. It debuted at #8 and then disappeared out of the top 50 within a week. (I really love Bible Black) I love the Dio-era Sabbath just as I love Dio-era Rainbow, but I am glad they are carrying on as Heaven and Hell because there is only one Black Sabbath. Peace.
51. writes:
I think ozzy's management just wants to be able to see t-shirts and stuff that say black sabbath on it. Don't you think Ozzy was in the band long enough to be able to do that, now that he retoured with them. As it is now, he can't even sell a t-shirt that says black sabbath, and has his picture on it.
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1. That_One_Guy writes:
I can see where Ozzy is coming from, but it has always really been Tony's band, especially through the 80's when he was the only original member left.