1. Black Sabbath In The Early 90’s
Granted, Black Sabbath’s recent reunion has been filled with loads of drama. But to be honest, that somewhat pales in comparison to what went down in the early 90’s. First, after years of releasing sub-par albums under the Black Sabbath moniker, the Ronnie James Dio-era lineup reunited and released 1992’s Dehumanizer. It was Black Sabbath’s most well-received album in years. However, the honeymoon came to a halt when Ozzy Osbourne asked Black Sabbath to open for his final two No More Tours dates in California. Outraged that his bandmates would even consider taking Ozzy’s offer, Dio left the group. Not only did Sabbath go on to play the shows with Rob Halford, but Tony Iommi and Geezer Butler performed an encore set with Ozzy and Bill Ward.
But that’s not where the story ends. You’d think that the encore sets would’ve lead to a full-fledged reunion, right? Nope! Instead, Iommi reinstated singer Tony Martin and released three more forgettable Black Sabbath albums before the original lineup finally reunited in 1997. Some say (including even Martin) that Iommi simply released those “filler” albums so as to fulfill Sabbath’s deal with I.R.S. Records and to move onto the reunion everyone wanted to see. Either way, the 90’s certainly served as a confusing time for Sabbath’s lineup.
