Black Sabbath was an English heavy metal band that formed in 1968 in Birmingham, West Midlands, England, United Kingdom and disbanded in 2017, originally comprising Ozzy Osbourne (vocals), Tony Iommi (guitar), Geezer Butler (bass), and Bill Ward (drums). In the early 70s, they were the first to pair heavily distorted, sonically dissonant blues rock at slow speeds with lyrics about drugs, mental pain and abominations of war, thus giving birth to generations of metal bands that followed in their wake.