NEWS > ENTERTAINMENT > OZZY OSBOURNE INCOMPREHENSIBLY SUES TONY IOMMI OVER SABBATH

OZZY OSBOURNE INCOMPREHENSIBLY SUES TONY IOMMI OVER SABBATH

May 30 2009

New York, NY – The history of Black Sabbath is one of the most storied and important in the history of popular music. Formed in the rough inner cities of Birmingham England in the late 1960’s, the band quickly rose to prominence across the global music scene. Their combination of screaming vocals, exhaustive guitar
tracks, and booming rhythm section set them apart from all of their peers and helped to create and entire genre of music almost by itself. In the four decades since Sabbath’s formation there is nary a band that has felt their influence.

That type of success often carries with it stress and tension that lesser bands often do not have to endure and there too Sabbath set the standard for a generation of bands. Since the termination of co-founder Ozzy Osbourne the band has gone through legendary levels of changes with only one member, Tony Iommi, remaining intact. Now Osbourne is suing his former band mate for royalties from a band he has only been loosely affiliated with for thirty years, leading to yet more drama and potential for incomprehensible statements from the Prince of Darkness.

“Tony, I am so sorry it's had to get to this point by me having to take this action against you,” said Osbourne to the Associated Press. “We've all worked too hard and long in our careers to allow you to sell merchandise that features all our faces, old Black Sabbath album covers and band logos, and then you tell us that you own the copyright.”

Iommi has countered with claims the Osbourne and other founding members Geezer Butler and Bill Ward gave up their rights to the band’s identity, and that he being the sole remaining original member has primary rights.

“It’s an interesting legal and ethical pickle really. I mean Iommi has put more work into the band than any other member. Osbourne was fired once and even after the reunion gave intermittent support because of solo projects
and his television show so you can hardly claim that it’s about time spent working,” said Scrape TV Music analyst Dylan Chambers. “Of course the argument is that Osbourne is the principle star of the group that not only made the success in the early days but has allowed to band to continue trading on the Sabbath name even with multiple line up changes. People continued to buy records and go to concerts because of the name, which Osbourne helped to create. Odds are that if Ronnie James Dio had been a part of the band from the beginning they wouldn’t be the band they are today. Of course work and influence have nothing to do with ownership or the law and so those debates will likely come to nothing, but it will be fun to listen to Osbourne make his arguments.”

Osbourne’s television show, which depicted the ups and downs of his personal life, aired its final episode in 2005. The success of that series helped to reignite interest in Osbourne’s musical career as well as became a platform for humour due to his largely incomprehensible speech.

“The argument for influence could carry some weight if they can show the judge that it is distinctly Osbourne that people come to see. It’s very difficult for someone who has so much difficulty in everyday speech to gain success as a singer or as a television personality and his success would indicate that there is something intrinsic about the man himself that draw people in,” continued Chambers. “Of course that point is going to be difficult for him to argue, because, well let’s just face it. Pretty much everything he argue is difficult for him to argue. Sure he’s going to have representatives but they still need to interpret what it is he is trying to get across to them. Iommi is able to speak coherently so his argument may carry a little more weight.”

Experts predict that much of the outcome will be determined by which era of Sabbath the judge is most fond of, with the non-Osbourne era potentially weighing heavily against Iommi.

Samantha Dryden, Entertainment Correspondent

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