“We had a great relationship”: the singer Tony Iommi called the best vocalist in rock
How do you ever top someone like Ozzy Osbourne? The man was truly one of one.
When Black Sabbath first started releasing music, people were blown away by how powerful their sound was, and every member of the band contributed towards it. Geezer Butler, Tony Iommi and Bill Ward, simply put, Black Sabbath wouldn’t have been Black Sabbath without them. However, the real standout was none other than Ozzy Osbourne.
His voice was a combination of technically fantastic and deeply emotive. He could hold the hard notes, don’t you worry about that, but he could also inject a grit into his words which really gave the dark and twisted tracks Sabbath were writing more depth. When he passed away, the entire world of music stopped in its tracks, and Tony Iommi tried to put the singer’s impact into words.
“I just can’t believe it! My dear, dear friend Ozzy has passed away only weeks after our show at Villa Park,” he wrote. “It’s just such heartbreaking news that I can’t really find the words, there won’t ever be another like him. Geezer, Bill and myself have lost our brother. My thoughts go out to Sharon and all the Osbourne family. Rest in peace, Oz.”
Of course, this wasn’t the first time that Black Sabbath had lost Ozzy Osbourne. Back in 1979, because of creative and personal differences, Ozzy Osbourne left Black Sabbath, which meant the band desperately needed to try and find a singer who could hold a candle to him. There have been a number of different vocalists in the band throughout the years, and none of them are bad, but the only one who really came close to Ozzy to the extent where some fans prefer him was Ronnie James Dio.
When Dio first joined Black Sabbath, he only recorded one album with them, which was Heaven and Hell. It was a damn good record, and Dio’s vocal ability was nothing to be trifled with; however, a combination of awkwardness, ego and creative differences meant that the singer didn’t stick around long. Once the album was done, the shows were completed, and following the making of a pretty sketchy live record, they parted ways.
“Ronnie was very excited about joining the band,” he said. “But I think it was difficult for him to fill Ozzy’s shoes.”
However, Dio later rejoined Sabbath, and they worked together a lot more effectively. The result was an album, Dehumanizer, which Iommi didn’t just like, but called one of the best records the band ever made. “It has a raunchy sound,” he described, “something I think has been missing from Sabbath over the last few years. This is very much a classic Black Sabbath record. In fact, I didn’t expect it to come out quite this good.”
If you asked Iommi to choose between Ozzy and Dio, he probably wouldn’t give you an answer. They were both exceptional vocalists who helped elevate Black Sabbath to extraordinary heights. However, at a celebration of Dio’s life shortly after the singer passed, Iommi was asked to share a few words about him, and the sentiment was simple. “I mean, the best vocalist, rock vocalist,” he concluded. “We had a great relationship.”
