Alongside Led Zeppelin, Birmingham's Black Sabbath defined the very nature of heavy metal music. From the release of their first album in March 1970 to the acrimonious departure of vocalist John "Ozzy" Osbourne nine years later, they ruled the rock roost with the heaviest music, the rockiest riffs and songs of doom, despair and despondency. Yet no-one would have predicted superstardom when four young Brummies got together to play the blues as Earth in the late Sixties.

Guitarist Tony Iommi and drummer Bill Ward both had musical ambition and could, when the musical frame allowed, play in a jazzier style. They'd moved away from Birmingham together to play with a band called Mythology in Cumbria; when they split, a music-shop ad placed by Osbourne put them in touch with another musical duo. Bassist Terry Butler, affectionately known to all as 'Geezer', had played rhythm guitar in Rare Breed alongside Osbourne. He fancied himself as a bass player and a lyricist. But Ozzy was the character who turned heavy metal to pure gold.

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