I’m with Tony Iommi on this one, and as for Osbourne’s ‘quality control’ – Sabbath didn’t have any problems with this aspect when they released Heaven and Hell in the warbler’s absence.

The Osbourne’s seem to want to have it both ways – a disfunctional, disorganised, ‘comical’ Ozzy to rake in the TV dollars, and a shrewd music executive Ozzy when it suits otherwise – will the real Ozzy please stand up?

What a sorry state of affairs…….

Big shame really when freinds fall out. Also rules out the chance for a original line up reunion. Let’s hope this can be settled in a sensible manner

Let’s see… Iommi formed the band, played on every album and tour.

Ozzy left in 1979 and came back for a brief period, recording a live album and a couple of tours. I think it’s a no-brainer.

Iommi should own the name, he kept it going all this time.

As for quality control, Ozzy should take a close look at some of his recent albums.

Dont the Osbournes already have enough loot!

What confuses me is why is this being decided in a US court and not a British one? Is this just for the rights of the name in the US or worldwide? Surely as the band & it’s member are British, it should be fought in our courts.

this is stupid. ozzy has no right to do this. he was just the singer of the band. iommi wrote a portion of all the sabbath tunes and ozzy wrote nothing. like oz don’t have enough money ? hey oz how many lyrics did you write for sabbath and your solo stuff ?

We all know this is Sharon’s doing. Greedy biatch!!!!!!!

What a sad state of affairs, a band Ozzy wanted nothing to do with for almost 20 years and now he wants 50%, surley Bill and Geezer who have been in the band longer than Ozzy and contributed more to the actual songs are at least entitled to some share and what about DIO? I kind of sense sharon behind this.

We’ve seen all this before when Ozzy re-recorded the Bass & drum parts for his first 2 solo albums so as to stop the original players getting any more royalties.
Very sad situation and very childish on Ozzy part.

TBH, Why Can’t Ozzy, Bill Ward and Geezer Butler & Iommi Just Have 25% Each? It Would Be Fairer, Besides Geezer Cam Up With The Name

Ozzy and his side kick make me want to puke.Who’s their legal adviser….Simmons?

Iommi is Sabbath,always was….And always will be.

Doom or be Doomed……….

black sabbath-tony iommi

Funny thing – according to all accounts, before Sabbath was formed, Tony used to beat Ozzy up in school and take his lunch money… Then he finds an ad for this vocalist who says he has a PA, and he even said in an interview awhile back that the main reason they took Ozzy was because he had a PA. Nothing better coulda happened than when Iommi and Butler were joined by Ronnie James Dio!!! But I do also love the Born Again album, with Ian Gillan on vox.

Is Sharon behind it? Likely… BUT… Whose behind Sharon? Ozzy! This crap runs in circles. Forget it. Heaven & Hell rules! Iommi is the man! Geezer too!!!!

And frankly, the courts should look at it in regard to public perception. Is Ozzy Sabbath? Not so much. Is Iommi (and Butler) Sabbath? Absolutely!

SHARON SUCKS. since ozzy rejoined it was a totally rip off. it´s absurd the band changing the name to heaven & hell due to bloody sharon and ozzy. long live to ronnie james DIO.

Its being settled in the US courts because that’s where Iommi has filed for patent.
Iommi is a bully – Ozzy didn’t ‘leave’ he was sacked.
Sadly Iommi (or the record company) abused the the Black Sabbath name to release some dire albums using the name (like Seventh Star).
While Heavan & Hell is great album its really ‘Black Rainbow’ and from what I read apart from Iommi & Dio the rest of the album is session men.
After Ozzy was fired Iommi should have changed the name to ”The Tony Iommi Band’ because where its ended.
Just lsten to ‘Live Evil’ and you will see what I mean.
Played once and duly danced on.
.

That’s b.s. I think Ozzie is right!

Dave Walker would never have behaved like this!

Hmmm, Sharon laughing spreads her wi-i-ings….

Hmmm, there hasn’t been an Ozzy fronted studio album from the Sabs in over 30 years, since then Iommi has release incredible albums with Dio and Tony Martin singing and done several world tours. Surely Iommi’s detuned guitar sound IS Sabbath. Makes me wonder if this is because no-one really gives two fucks about Ozzy as a musician anymore, he’s more Krusty the Clown than Prince of Darkness now.

seventh star, born again, tyr, headless cross… all great albums and without the clown on vocals…good luck tone! Lets face it tho it aint ozzy behind this….

maybe they aren’t exactly “The Sunshine Boys” but they might end up looking like Matthau and Burns….. Black Sabbath is something greater than Tony Iommi himself, but he’s definetely the one who ALWAYS held the flame alive. Tony and Geezer are the quintessence of Sabbath anyway:music,sound and lyrics.
four guys,a legendary band,a reunion and a wife.we can’t help it!

i feel sorry for ozzy,because of that interfering bitch he`s nothing but an embarassment

Ozzy is entitled to some of the proceeds of the Reunion, but his performances on the Ozzfest tours was becoming increasingly an embarrassment. Also the antics of his thug management were bringing the name of Black Sabbath into disrepute. Not to mention the poor quality of the re-releases…spelling album titles wrong, publishing pictures of a different band on the compilation covers, etc.

Vive Iommi!!!

Much as I am a fan of Ozzy, I’m with Iommi on this one. As a fan you want to know what you’re buying and that’s important to me. Anything with Black Sabbath on the label has to have Tony Iommi in it. Ozzy is EX sab but Iommi IS Sabbath.

This has Sharon Osbourne written all over it. First they destroy the only 2 useful Ozzy albums because they’re too tight to pay Daisley and Kerslake the royalties they totally deserve, and now this. Tell them where to go, Tony…..

Without Ozzy there NEVER would have been a black sabbath. Yeh iommi is great but through all ozzys drug and alcohol fuelled days he fronted the band into pioneering Rock into what it is today which we re all surely thankful for. he deserves a share of the rights. As for he has enough money already… doesnt iommi too? hey i saw the rock god last year at sonisphere. Very poor performance. I Would give my right arm to see original line up on stage again !

I’m with Team Iommi!

Ironic, isn’t it? Osbourne has less talent than Iommi, Butler and co., and WAY less talent than Dio, and there’s a cult around him that seems to demand our respect. Well, Ozzy, you’ll never have any respect from me. You’re a torturer of animals, and a fool.

Tony wrote the music towards then end, Ozzy was a lazy f**k and was canned… and now hes trying to take ownership of the band??? Tony and Geezer formed the band! Ozzy has his own band and his own tv show… he goes and starts a solo career, and names it after himself when he doesn’t write all the music… when is he gonna lay off?

i think the answers in the comments above a couple of ‘ozzy is king’ the rest talking sense !
Tony Iommi kept the name alive for years without that i boubt ozzy would have got a tv show etc etc he wasnt exactly knocking albums out that where great during the mid 90’s was he in fact you would have thought he was dead . Went to see him with sabbath in 99? birmingham uk who was this old man in front of me i thought before the tv show etc
Shame its come to this but the real fans can see the answer still recording great albums off their own back Iommi Dio Butler and Vinny Appice . Sabbath!

So, the greedy witch in her castle scrabbles around the dark recesses of her sofa for spare change to fund more plastic surgery, finding no small change, her eyes catch onto a cover of Sabbath bloody Sabbath ~(possibly Ozzy’s last great Sab album). Her mind quickly does some arithmetic, MONEY she thinks….Regardless of the fact the last album her husband did with the band was in 1978, maybe , just maybe she can squeeze a few last drops out of the cash cow.

Can’t do anymore tours she thinks….that cash cow is drier than a camels armpit. I know, I will get Ozzy to claim for an equal share in the Black Sabbath name. Now what is a quarter of a whole??? Her math not being that excellent she settles that 50% is the right amount and proceeds to her favourite court. with the tills ringing in her ears and the dollar signs floating around her head.

I am sure this fairy tale, will have an ending, but will it be a happy and just one? I very much doubt it; just remember how Lee Kerslake and Bob Daisley were treated.

Pip Pip

I used to like some of Ozzy’s older stuff, but for me, the Dio-fronted Black Sabbath is the greatest band of all time, & Iommi owns whatever revolves around it. Heaven and Hell my ass, that to me is BLACK SABBATH, back in it’s coolest formation.

Im always amazed when someone makes the comment,dont they have enough money already?If you own something and someone else uses it or steals it or profits from it,you have every right in the world to do whatever it takes to make it right.

Why does (Mrs) Osborne want 50% when he was only 25% of the the band? Such a shame that (s)he has reduced the Black Sabbath legacy to this level of pettiness. This kind of thing gives rock music a bad name.

The problem (along with many others!) with Sharon is that she wants to merchandise Ozzy for the mass market and in doing so is alienating his original base support i.e metal fans like me who can only shake our heads at the man who is now a mere shadow of his former self.
Should have stuck to the booze and fags Oz and not that truly nauseating harridan who’s milking you dry.

Black Sabbath doesn´t need Ozzy and Ozzy doesn´t need Sabbath. The band´s name came from Geezer Butler, so Ozzy doesn´t have the right to claim it.
In my opinion, Ozzy should only receive the royalties from the songs he recorded with Sabbath from 1969 to 1978. And that´s enough.

Well as a fan, I dont give a shit. For me the original Black Sabbath line up was the fucking best. Anything else is just not Black Sabbath either with Ozzy or Iommi or Dio or whoever.Its just something else.

I fully respect Ozzy, Iommi and Dio. All of them are huge, but Black Sabbath is Black Sabbath as we knew them. As simple as that.

Chris Kinloch is right. A quarter each for Ozzy,Geezer,Tony and Bill.They’re the real original Sabbath, much as I love most of the stuff that various line-ups recorded after.

its a tragedy. Sharon killed Ozzy’s career with her lust for fame, transforming him from a rock god to a bumbling ape. We forgave him his increasingly shit solo albums because, bless him, we fucking loved him. Now after 10 yrs of Sharon selling his reputation like a rent boy selling his arse, he has absolute zero credibility. So that evil bitch has to generate income from the dried-up cash cow any way she can. However, suing a genuine metal legend (Iommi) on top of disgracefully abusing another (Maiden) only serves to alienate Ozzy from the people who matter, ie, the metal community. I’m stunned that after so many years in the biz, a seasoned manager like Sharon can’t see how all this is alienating him from the actual people who matter and buy his music. Just goes to show, power corrupts, absolute power corrupts absolutley. Give me Ronnie Dio any day.

Smells like another cash grab maneuver compliments of Mrs. Osborne. I used to actually think she was a good thing for the Oz, but have radically changed my mind. Can’t stand her or her shitty ways of treating other musicians, etc. Let Tony keep the name as he has been carrying the Sabs flag for years.

I think this is the work of wicked-Sharon!
I don’t think Ozzy will do this by himself, Sharon persuaded him!

Sharon please drop dead.

Iommi all the way..Sharon has destroyed Ozzy’s music career and taken away his manhood!

I realize from the comments on here that I will be criticized, BUT…..#1: According to Bill Ward, Geezer Butler, and Ozzy, he was fired at the decision of Tony Iommi. Bill Ward was forced to do the deed, even though he was against the idea.
#2: Sabbath was never as good as they were with Ozzy. Just compare the decades after 1979-1980. Who had the better career? Who has created the most successful summer metal fest in history? Sure as hell wasn’t Tony Iommi, or that poor excusd for a replacement, Dio. BTW… have you noticed that Dio looks like Carla from Cheers in drag? GO OZZY!!!!!!!!

I realize from the comments on here that I will be criticized, BUT…..#1: According to Bill Ward, Geezer Butler, and Ozzy, he was fired at the decision of Tony Iommi. Bill Ward was forced to do the deed, even though he was against the idea. Jeez people, do your research!

#2: Sabbath was never as good as they were with Ozzy. Just compare the decades after 1979-1980. Who had the better career? Who has created the most successful summer metal fest in history? Sure as hell wasn’t Tony Iommi, or that poor excusd for a replacement, Dio. BTW… have you noticed that Dio looks like Carla from Cheers in drag? GO OZZY!!!!!!!!l