Black Sabbath may be the pioneers of heavy metal, but when this notoriously macabre rock band initially started out, they regarded a pop rock band to be their most “huge influence.”
The Birmingham quartet would go on to establish a rock ‘n’ roll style that was far removed from their initial influences, yet without them, some band members believe Black Sabbath would not have existed at all.
A fellow group of Brits inspired Black Sabbath.
Black Sabbath and the Beatles are diametrically opposed in terms of sound and aesthetics. Nonetheless, the Fab Four were a major source of inspiration for the heavy metal band when they were first starting out in the late 1960s. Bassist Geezer Butler told Michigan radio station WRKR, “They were a major impact since there was nobody else like them at the time” (via Blabbermouth).
“Up until then, it was, like, my brothers were into Elvis, Eddie Cochran, Buddy Holly, that kind of thing,” Butler explained. “There were no authentic English rock bands. All of the English rock and rollers were attempting to sound American and imitate an American [band], but they never succeeded. When the Beatles came up, they had a wholly unique sound.”
Butler said that the Beatles’ origins in Liverpool, around 90 miles from Black Sabbath’s hometown of Birmingham, served as another source of inspiration. “It just gave us faith that British musicians might be successful. As soon as the Beatles became successful, you got The Rolling Stones, The Kinks, The Who, Herman’s Hermits, and an explosion of British pop music.”
Black Sabbath frontman Ozzy Osbourne loved this pop rock group.
While the Beatles had their share of rock ‘n’ roll debauchery, their stories pale in comparison to Ozzy Osbourne’s crazy exploits, which included eating the head off a bat and drinking urine while touring with Mötley Crüe. Osbourne, like Butler, believes that the Beatles changed the world and, as a result, the lives of Birmingham locals forever.
“I knew I wasn’t built to do a 9-to-5 job,” Osbourne admitted in a 2019 Blabbermouth interview. “After hearing the Beatles, I knew what I wanted to do. I remember it like it was yesterday: I was strolling around with a transistor radio on my shoulder and “She Loves You” came on. And, I’m not sure, it simply went ‘Bang!'”
“It was like going to bed in a black and white world and waking up in color,” Osbourne said a few years later on a 2024 episode of The Osbournes Podcast (via RadioX). “Don’t forget, we got out of WWII and all that. We followed tight rules. And it was that the Beatles broke the f*.
Black Sabbath’s career began just as the Beatles’ was coming to an end, with the release of their self-titled debut in 1970, the same year as ‘Let It Be.’ Despite his band’s renowned breakup, Osbourne was able to meet his idols. “Meeting Paul McCartney was the pinnacle of my life,” he stated (via Express). “I also met Ringo Starr, and he’s a terrific guy. They consistently had the best melodies. “All I’ve attempted to do in my career is add a melody to a dark riff.”
