It’s been a few years since I’ve done this article, and with it being a new year, I thought I’d have a run at it again. There’s been many people in Black Sabbath over the years, and keeping up with what they’re all doing can be a challenge. So I’ve decided to research it, and see what’s going on. For the record, a “member” to me means someone who is on a record (beyond a single guest appearance (like IceT or Brian May)), or played live with the band (again, beyond a guest appearance – like Brian May again). So here’s a list of everyone and what they’ve been up to lately. If you have more recent/accurate info than I do (or if you ARE one of these people), please let me know. Tkx.
RIP: First off, I want to mention the three members of Black Sabbath that have died.
Ronnie James Dio: (if you’re reading this site, you know what Dio did)
Ronnie James Dio was the vocalist for Black Sabbath/Heaven & Hell on and off from 1980 through till his death in 2010. He had three stints in the band, culminating in the 2009 studio release, “The Devil You Know”. Ronnie died due to complications from stomach cancer on May 16, 2010 in Houston, TX.
Website: http://www.ronniejamesdio.com
Cozy Powell: (drummer during the majority of the Tony Martin era)
Cozy joined Black Sabbath, and was there from 1988 through 1991, and again in 1995. He was instrumental in reviving Black Sabbath’s name after their popularity collapse in the mid 80’s. Cozy died in a car crash on April 5, 1998.
Website: http://www.cozypowell.com (Which I started working on with Cozy, but he died, it turned into a tribute site)
Ray Gillen: (vocalist on the majority of the Seventh Star Tour, and on the Eternal Idol album – demo form)
Ray died of AIDS related complications on December 3, 1993. His version of The Eternal Idol was finally released in November of 2010 as part of a “Deluxe Edition” release of the EI album.
Website: None that I’m aware of.
Don Airey: (played keyboards on 1978’s Never Say Die! album)
Since 2002, he has been the keyboardist in Deep Purple, and has spent most of that time fulfilling those duties. Deep Purple are playing Mexico in February of 2011. Additionally, Deep Purple are supposed to record a new studio album in 2011. Don released a solo album in 2008 (A Light in the Sky), as well as playing keyboards on Judas Priest’s album Nostradamus that same year. He should be releasing a new solo album in 2011. He’s also working on his memoirs.
Website: http://www.donairey.com
Vinny Appice: (played drums on all but one Dio era albums and tours)
Vinny was the incumbent drummer in Heaven & Hell/Black Sabbath when Ronnie died in 2010. The band played one gig in 2010, and then disbanded. Since then, Vinny has been involved with a band called “Big Noize”, which has some well known names. Joe Lynn Turner (voc), Carlos Cavazo (g), Phil Soussan (b), Vinny Appice (d). You can check them out at their Myspace page. One short comment: For a band called “Big Noize”, the sample track they have at Myspace is a serious slow ballad song. Doesn’t fit their name.
Website: http://www.vinnyappice.com
Bev Bevan: (played drums on the 83/84 Born Again Tour, briefly returned in 1987 as well)
Bev was mostly known for his time in ELO, and also had a couple of short stints in Black Sabbath in 83/84 & again in 87. Lately, Bev has been involved in his radio show in England, which I believe is called the “Bev Bevan & Jimmy Franks Show”. You can listen to it here on the BBC website. Additionally, Bev will be honoured with a star on the Birmingham Walk of Fame. You can read more about that here.
Website: None that I’m aware of.
Mike Bordin: (played drums on the whole Ozzfest 97 tour, except for the last date)
Mike had the misfourtune of playing drums for the “Original Black Sabbath reunion” Ozzfest 97 tour. Most everyone was expecting Bill Ward, but I won’t get into the politics of THAT now. Bordin is also well known for playing drums for Ozzy’s solo band for awhile, as well as his involvement in Faith No More. FNM is what his recent activity has been about. Mike left Ozzy’s band in April 2010, and played some FNM gigs, most recently in December of 2010. It appears that FNM is on hold at the moment, deciding whether to play more gigs or record an album.
Website: None that I’m aware of.
Jo Burt: (played bass on the short tour for Eternal Idol in 1987)
When I last did an article like this in January of 2005, I wrote this about Jo Burt.. “I have no idea where to find information on Jo Burt. If you have any, please let me know. Might be involved with a band called “Xit18″, but I’m not sure if it’s the same Jo Burt or not.” That’s changed. Jo has a bit of a presence now. Website, Facebook, Myspace pages. He’s mostly been involved with his own project, “The Jo Burt Experience” it would appear.
Website: http://www.joburt.co.uk/ | Myspace | Facebook
Geezer Butler: (founding member – bassist on a ton of albums and tours)
Geezer was the incumbent bassist in Black Sabbath/Heaven & Hell when Ronnie James Dio died in 2010. The band more or less disbanded after a lone tribute gig in 2010. In December 2010, Geezer won the “Metal Guru award” from Classic Rock Magazine. He also appeared at the NAMM show, doing signings at the Ampeg & Samson booths. Finally, Geezer tells me he is writing for a the fourth GZR album, which he said he hopes to have released in 2011. Other than that he spends time at home playing with his Daleks & watching Aston Villa FC. ;)
Website: http://www.geezerbutler.com (which in the interest of full disclosure, I maintain)
Terry Chimes: (Drummer during 1987/1988)
Terry was the drummer for Black Sabbath from Summer of 1987 through the spring of 1988, played during the Eternal Idol tour, and some other oddball live dates in 1987 and 1988. He retired from music in 1994, and since then has operated a Chiropractor’s office in London.
Website: Terry has a very small site about his past music here, and his Chiropractic firm has their website here.
Gordon Copley: (bassist in embryonic period of Seventh Star project)
Gordon was involved during the early days of the Seventh Star project as bassist. Sabbath ended up using Dave Spitz as their bassist, but Gordon does appear on the final Seventh Star album, playing bass on the song “No Stranger to Love”. No idea what he’s up to currently.
Website: None that I’m aware of.
Laurence Cottle: (session bassist who is on the Headless Cross album)
Laurence was a session bassist who was hired to play all the bass tracks on the 89 Headless Cross album. He appeared in the music video for the title track, but that was it for him in Black Sabbath. Given he’s primarily a session bassist, he’s got an extremely large body of work – rather varied too (Hanson Christmas album!). His website does not appear to have been updated since 2007, and his Myspace page since 2009, so I’m not sure what he’s currently up to, although he did play bass for the Don Airey band live in 2009 in support of Don’s then solo album. 2011? Probably some project somewhere. :)
Website: http://www.laurencecottle.com | Myspace
Bob Daisley: (recorded bass tracks for 87 album, “The Eternal Idol”)
Bob recorded the bass tracks for the Eternal Idol album (ironically almost a full year before the album was actually released). He didn’t join the band after that, and went on to numerous projects. Most recently he made an appearance on the 2010 album by Thomas Tomsen, “Sunflickers”. There is apparently a new “Living Loud” album under way as well.
Website: http://www.bobdaisley.com
Dave Donato: (vocals after Born Again, but before Seventh Star)
Dave Donato demoed with the band after the Born Again tour split up, but before the band itself split up in 1985. Nothing Donato recorded has been officially released. After that, he was in an 80’s hair metal band called “White Tiger” (with the late Kiss guitarist Mark St. John). Last I heard of him, he was out of music and was working at a motorcycle shop in Anaheim California. However, that info is several years old, I don’t know if it’s still valid now. In researching this piece, I found what might be him as a photographer & DJ, but I’m trying to find out if that’s the same Dave Donato or not. :)
Website: None that I’m aware of (or none that I’m positive is the same guy)
Ian Gillan: (vocals for Born Again album and tour)
After Ian left Black Sabbath in 1984, he went back to Deep Purple, and save for a year or so around 1991, he’s been there ever since. He does the odd solo project here and there, too. Most recently he lent his voice to a Polish documentary called “Chopin – The Polish Years”. Of more direct interest to fans of this site, he teamed up with several other musicians to record a charity song called “Out of my Mind”. The others on that song are Tony Iommi, Nicko McBrain, Jason Newsted, & Jon Lord. None of which should need an explanation. This should be released early in 2011. Plus there’s the ongoing Deep Purple activities (live shows in Mexico in Feb, new album in 2011).
Website: http://www.gillan.com
Rob Halford: (vocals for three single gigs – two in 92, one in 04)
Rob stepped in for three gigs, and isn’t what I consider to be the “biggest” member in the band’s history, but he did perform with Black Sabbath three times, so it counts. He’s obviously known for Judas Priest primarily. However, Rob recently toured with his “Halford” band on Ozzfest 2010 (such as that tour was). It was also announced that Judas Priest will commence on a farewell tour in 2011 (as well as a new studio album), so I imagine prep work for that is going on now.
Website: http://www.robhalford.com
Glenn Hughes: (vocals on Seventh Star album, first few gigs of that tour)
Glenn Hughes was in the band during a rather confusing part of their history. He sang vocals on the Seventh Star album, and after his time in Sabbath, he’s done a bunch of things, including singing on a couple of Tony Iommi solo albums. Glenn has been touring with his solo band in 2010, and going into 2011, he’s involved with a new project called Black Country Communion, which will play live dates (as well as his solo band). He’s also due to ship his autobiography in May.
Website: http://www.glennhughes.com/
Tony Iommi: (everything!)
If you’re reading this, I don’t need to tell you about Tony’s past. Going into 2011, it’s been reported that Tony has been writing new music. Where this new music will come out is unknown, whether it be Black Sabbath (unlikely, IMO) or a renamed Heaven & Hell with a new singer, or a new Iommi solo album – it hasn’t been said. He’s also working on his autobiography, which is supposed to be out later this year. He also has recorded some material for a charity benefit to be released this spring, I believe. The “band” on the track(s) is an allstar one – Iommi, Ian Gillan, Jon Lord, Jason Newsted, & Nicko McBrain. He’s also supposedly working on a “proper mix” of Born Again to release sometime this year. :)
Website: http://www.iommi.com
Ron Keel: (Ron was briefly in Sabbath in 1984)
Ron was involved in the band after the Born Again tour when Tony & Geezer tried to keep it together (see Dave Donato). Ron never recorded anything, but some demos allegedly exist (which I’ve never run into). After that, he formed his own band Keel, which has been together and apart over the years. He also plays country music under the name “Ronnie Lee Keel”. Late in 2010, he was touring again with his Keel band after having released a new album in 2010 named “Streets of Rock & Roll“.
Website: http://www.ronkeel.com/
Tony Martin: (Lead vocalist from 1987 to 1991 and 1993 to 1996)
Tony Martin sang lead vocals on 5 studio & 1 live album in the 80’s and 90’s. His part of the band’s history is one that I will never let be forgotten on this site. Anyway, after Black Sabbath, he guested on a ton of projects, had a couple of solo albums of his own, and tours the world (but not the US) with his solo band. The last I heard of Tony, he was writing for a new solo album (supposedly called “The Book of Shadows”), but there’s no word on it’s progress or release. Tony doesn’t have a website as such, so it’s hard to get new info on him. He does have a Myspace page, but that hasn’t been updated with anything new since March 2010. He did contribute some guest vocals on an album called “Victims of the Modern Age” by Arjen Lucassen’s “Star One” project. That came out in October 2010. He’s currently working with Dario Mollo on new songs for the “Cage 3” project (They worked together previously on two other Cage albums). Tony, you need a website, darnit!
Website: Myspace Page
Neil Murray: (Bassist from 1989 to 1991 and again from 1993 to 1996)
Neil played bass for Sabbath from 1989 through 1991 and again from 1995 through 1996. He, like his friend the late Cozy Powell were known for playing in tons of bands. Most recently, Neil has been involved in the Queen stage show, “We Will Rock You” for a few years now, playing bass in that. In fact, the last time I did this article in 2005, I had that same project for Neil as his current gig. Neil contacted me with an additional update, here’s what he said about himself:
In 2010 I did a short tour in Japan with the Michael Schenker Group, following on from playing on their album In The Midst Of Beauty, and I’ll be on one track of Michael’s next album. I also formed a band with ex-Whitesnake original guitarist Micky Moody called Monsters of British Rock, mostly playing classic Whitesnake songs, along with guitarist Laurie Wisefield (Wishbone Ash, Tina Turner, Joe Cocker and many more), drummer Harry James from Thunder, and singer Chris Ousey from Heartland. We did a few festivals in the UK & Europe last year and we plan to do a lot more shows in 2011.
Website: None that I’m aware of.
Geoff Nicholls: (Keyboardist from 1979 through 2001, with the odd bass bit here and there)
After Geoff’s time in Sabbath, he hooked up with Tony Martin, and was the keyboardist for the Tony Martin band. Geoff has also written some soundtrack stuff here and there. He has continued to play in Tony’s band, but what he’s been up to since they last played is unknown to me. I’ve asked him, if I get an update, I’ll update this article.
Website: None that I’m aware of.
Ozzy Osbourne: (Vocalist from 1968-1979 and again from 1997 to 2005)
Ozzy released a new studio album in 2010, that being “Scream“. He’s been touring on that album for some time now, and continues to tour into 2011. This tour should take up most of his time in 2011. After that, who knows?
Website: http://www.ozzy.com.
Bobby Rondinelli: (Drummer from 1993-1995)
Bobby recorded the 94 album, “Cross Purposes” toured behind that, and came back halfway through the tour for Forbidden (after the US tour ended). He’s also known for being in several other popular bands such as Rainbow, Blue Oyster Cult, & Quiet Riot. He’s most recently been involved with a band called “Over the Rainbow”, which is made up of all former Rainbow members (save one, the son of Ritchie Blackmore). They toured until mid 2010, at which point they took a breather. Bobby has said that Over the Rainbow is going to record an album, so I’m going to guess that’s what they’re working on, as I can’t find any current info on his activities. If I find some other info, I’ll update this story.
Website: Myspace.
Eric Singer: (Drummer from 1985-1987)
Eric plays drums on the Seventh Star & Eternal Idol albums, and played on the complete Seventh Star tour. He’s also known for being the drummer for a far longer time in Kiss. A band he continues to play in to this day. Kiss released a new (pretty good too) studio album in 2009, “Sonic Boom“. Toured behind that into mid 2010. Kiss is going into the studio this month to record a follow up to Sonic Boom, and then back out on the road again. That’s pretty much what Eric has been up to. His own solo project plays scattered live dates (in fact, as I wrote this, one was announced for March 2011 in Finland). Also in 2010, one of the best forgotten albums I’ve ever heard was re-released, that being the first Badlands album. Eric played drums on that, and if you never heard it – man, you’re missing out. Check it out.
Website: http://www.eric-singer.com/.
Dave Spitz: (Bassist from 1985-1987)
Dave played bass for Sabbath on the Seventh Star album, that tour, and a few scattered gigs in 1987. He’s credited, but doesn’t play on the Eternal Idol album as such (although he does make an appearance via a B-Side inclusion on the 2010 Deluxe Edition version). After that, he mostly stopped playing music and went to law school. He is currently a trial lawyer in Florida. He dabbled in small bands here and there, including one with Niko McBrain (McBrain Damage), and another called Deepset, but is currently playing in his own Black Sabbath tribute band, called “War Pigs” (as well as doing the lawyer stuff).
Website: None that I’m aware of.
Adam Wakeman: (Keyboardist from 2004-2005)
Adam Wakeman played keyboards (and backup guitar) for Black Sabbath during the Ozzfest 2004 & 2005 tours. Since then, he’s been the keyboardist in Ozzy’s solo band, as well as his own projects here and there (including Headspace). He co-wrote five songs on the Scream release Ozzy put out last year, and continues to tour with Ozzy on that album. I saw that show in Dallas, and whenever Ozzy plays a Sabbath track, Adam comes out on stage playing guitar – which surprised me. Not that he plays backup guitar, I’ve known about that for years, but that he was on stage like another guitarist. :)
Website: http://www.adamwakeman.co.uk
Dave Walker: (Vocalist early in 1978)
Dave Walker is most known as being the vocalist that originally replaced Ozzy in Black Sabbath (Not Ronnie Dio). He worked on the Never Say Die album in late 77, early 78, but didn’t appear on the final product. Did play live with Sabbath once on TV in Jan 1978. He’s way more known as being the vocalist in Fleetwood Mac & Savoy Brown. Most recently, he’s been performing with a revamped “Dave Walker Band”, and they released an album in July 2010 entitled, “Crazy all the Time”. They are continuing to tour into 2011.
Website: http://www.davewalkerband.com/
Bill Ward: (Founding dummer – 1968-1980, various other times)
Founding drummer in Black Sabbath from inception till 1980. Was in and out of the band several times over the next 14 years or so, until finally settling back for good behind the skins in late 1997, until the band stopped touring together after 2005. He was in the early incarnation of “Heaven & Hell”, but bowed out. He’s kept a relatively low profile since then, focusing mostly on his monthly radio show, “Rock 50”, which has been ongoing for about a decade now. He’s also been working on a new studio album (Beyond Aston) since around 1998, but what the release status of that actually is remains unknown. He made a rare TV appearance in late 2010, appearing on Eddie Trunk’s “That Metal Show”. You can view that episode here.
Website: http://www.billward.com/
Jezz Woodroffe: (Keyboardist, 1975 through 1977)
Jezz was Sabbath’s keyboardist in the mid 70’s from 1975 through 1977. He also was Robert Plant’s solo band keyboardist in the 80’s. In 2004, he released an album entitled “In Through the Swing Door”, which is a swing Jazz cover album of Led Zeppelin songs. If you go to his website, that’s still the most recently released album, although the website says he’s written and released many things with his long standing writing partner, Sally Hope.
Website: http://www.jezzwoodroffe.co.uk/
You can discuss this story on my web forums by clicking here.
Additionally, if you’d like some more detail on the band’s history, check out my timeline page.
Recent Comments