Black Sabbath tour flier from first show under iconic name surfaces

Black Sabbath began their journey to change music on this day 50 years ago, playing their first set under the moniker that would label their rise to greatness.

Previously known as Earth, on Aug. 1, 1969 at the at The Pokey Hole blues club in Frog Street, Lichfield, Englan Black Sabbath was born.

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The band consisted of Ozzy Osbourne, Tony Iommi, Bill Ward and Geezer Butler. Why is this such a landmark date? These four helped introduce the world to Heavy Metal.

Fans took to social media to celebrate the important day of rock history, sharing a look at the flier for the show. Although it was the first Sabbath show, the band didn’t decide the name change until after the pamphlets were printed.

Redditor u/richterscalemadness notes the landmark day with a post sharing the flyer from their first gig as Black Sabbath.

“While arguably the genre was born a month or so earlier at Sabbath’s rehearsal rooms at Newtown Community Centre in Aston, the gig at The Pokey Hole was the first time it had ever been heard by the public,” the caption reads.

Black Sabbath played their first gig as Black Sabbath 50 years ago today. Arguably the birth of the entire genre… from r/Metal

While some may not see the genre as important to some as the Beatles on the Ed Sullivan Show, or Woodstock; heavy metal has had a glaring influence on the direction of music since. We shudder to think what a sporting event be without Iron Man blasting throughout the arena.

More on Black Sabbath

Earlier in the year, it was announced that Black Sabbath would be one of the acts to receive the Grammys Lifetime Achievement Award from the Recording Academy. As fans may recall, Tony Iommi, Geezer Butler and Bill Ward all made an appearance at the ceremony, but Ozzy Osbourne was nowhere to be found.

Now, Sharon Osbourne has revealed in an interview with Celebrity Access why she made the decision to pull Ozzy from the event.

Sharon opened up about why she was “pissed off” over the award and how she “wouldn’t let Ozzy go.”

“I was just so pissed off at the Grammys this year because they gave them a Lifetime Achievement Award, but wouldn’t give it to them on the TV show that we all know as the Grammy Awards,” Sharon explains. “They did it at a separate ceremony which goes out on another network later on. I wouldn’t let Ozzy go because I just thought it was shocking what they did to them. So I wouldn’t let Ozzy go.”

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