Occasion took place in the early 2000s, when late original vocalist suffered a bronchitis crisis and failed to perform a show
Ronnie James Dio, Ian Gillan, Glenn Hughes, Tony Martinamong many others that were not made official – or even were, but did not participate in studio recordings… the Black Sabbath had a series of vocalists taking over the original vacancy of the late Ozzy Osbourne.
None of them, of course, had the blessing of Osbourne himself, fired in 1979 while dealing with chemical dependence. The only one to be authorized by the singer, albeit in temporary and emergency mode, was Rob Halford.
The also legendary Judas Priest singer recalled the occasion in an interview with the Ultimate Classic Rock. It took place on August 26, 2004, in the city of Camden, United States. At the time, Sabbath and Priest participated in the itinerary festival Ozzfest. Osbourne suffered a bronchitis crisis and doctors recommended that he would not rise to the stage. That was when Sharon, Ozzy’s wife and businesswoman, resorted to Halford.
“I was in my hotel room and Sharon called me and asked, ‘Robbie, can you help us? Ozzy lost his voice.’ I asked, ‘Yes, what do you want me to do?’. ‘You can sing in his place?’. I said, ‘Yes, anytime.’
Despite his fear, Rob was remembered by Sharon from his broad knowledge of Black Sabbath’s repertoire. He comments:
“We were together, Priest and Sabbath, on that tour. She said, ‘Ah, you know all the Sabbath songs.’ I said, ‘I know, but what a last minute warning!’ I asked her: ‘Can you deliver the latest VHS tape shows for me to check out the way?’ So, on the way to the hotel, in the rear lobby of the bus, I just got singing along with the recording of the show. This was the only kind of preparation I had. ”
And no break for Halford compared to Judas Priest. The singer performed twice the same night.
“Of course, I did the Priest show and soon after I changed my shirt and went to the Sabbath show.”
The repertoire, slightly smaller than usual, featured eight songs from the first three albums of Black Sabbath. Among the highlights were tracks like “War Pigs”, “Nib”, “Black Sabbath”, “Iron Man” and “Paranoid” – This, with a brief introduction of the riff of “Sabbath Bloody Sabbath”song that names the band’s fifth album.
In a 2007 interview with BW & BK (via Igor Miranda site), Rob Halford said “C#G0u de Fear” as she did the show. The initial reactions of the audience were not the best after drummer Bill Ward came on stage and read a note written by Ozzy about his absence. Still, he managed to turn around – and did a historic show.
“When I went to the stage and started the first song, a little spit hit me and a bottle passed close to my head. As you followed, the audience was great. They understood. What else can you do? Either you will see something, or you won’t see anything. They were fantastic.”
It wasn’t the first time
Interestingly, Rob Halford had already sung with Black Sabbath in another situation, but not replacing Ozzy Osbourne. It rolled on November 14 and 15, 1992, during two performances in Costa Mesa, California, United States.
Newly sought from Judas Priest, Halford was in a hurry to occupy the place of Ronnie James Dio, who had returned to the band, but left after a disagreement involving Ozzy. At the time, the original singer – out of Sabbath since 1979 – was in his first farewell tour, No More Toursand I wanted the two final shows to have opened by the former colleagues. The idea, even, was that everyone came to the stage at some point.
Ozzy, the guitarist Tony Iommi and the bassist Geezer Butler They agreed to do this, but Dio refused and said he would not open a “clown” show. In the middle of the bullshit, the drummer Vinny Appice It ended up in training for those presentations, but also left to continue playing with Ronnie.
+++ Read more: Why Black Sabbath brought mobsters to be his entrepreneurs
+++ Read more: When Ozzy, unintentionally, left buses full of tourists enter his home
+++ Read more: Ian Gillan’s opinion on ‘Born Again’, his only album with Black Sabbath
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Source: Rollingstone
Earl Johnson is a music writer at Gossipify, known for his in-depth analysis and unique perspective on the industry. A graduate of USC with a degree in Music, he brings years of experience and passion to his writing. He covers the latest releases and trends, always on the lookout for the next big thing in music.
