Who was the best singer in Black Sabbath?
Okay, so I’m going to include all of the singers who recorded and released songs with Black Sabbath.
Dave Donato, Dave Walker, Ron Keel, Ray Gillen and Rob Halford…well, they’re all excluded, if for no other reason than I never heard what they sounded like as Black Sabbath singers.
The first thing I’d like to say before trying to put them into some kind of weird, and actually pretty meaningless scale, is that I’m a huge Black Sabbath fan, and I love all of their line-ups.
In number five, it’s Ian Gillan.
I loved the Born Again Album, but it was the only one Ian Gillan ever made with Sabbath, and I think that was always his plan, but not necessarily the band’s plan, or at least not Tony Iommi’s plan. Let’s face it, by this point, and probably even earlier, Tony was definitely the boss. Gillan still had the scream, but it was a lot more grainy than it was with Deep Purple ten years earlier. I’d have liked a few more albums from the Gillan era, but I guess you can’t have everything. The first time I saw Black Sabbath was in 1989, with Tony Martin singing, and Ian Gillan came on at the encore, and sung Smoke on the water and paranoid. Brilliant!
At four, it’s Glenn Hughes.
Seventh Star, again a one-album show for this guy, was the first Black Sabbath album I bought. Musically, it’s kind of on a level with Born Again, but both albums are very different. Glenn Hughes’ singing edges out Ian Gillan’s in my opinion, and there are some real monster songs on this album. Also, while I know we’re supposed to be focusing on the singer, if we’re talking Seventh Star, we’re also talking Eric Singer. Amazing drumming.
Third place, Tony Martin.
This guy absolutely does not get the credit he deserves. He sang on five Black Sabbath albums and his voice is just immense. A lot of Sabbath fans either liked the music, or liked a certain line-up, and whatever your take on that, that’s cool. Personally, I just loved the music, and with the Tony Martin era, there’s a lot of music to like. The first time I saw Black Sabbath as in 1989 on the Headless Cross tour, and it was fabulous. Tony Martin not only handled his own songs perfectly, but also the Ozzy and Dio eras as well.
Second place, Ozzy.
Yes, I know, original singer, set the standard, living legend and all round metal god. I get it, and I respect it. As I said, I love all of the Black Sabbath incarnations, and for me, I really couldn’t care less which one I like better than the other, but hey, the question’s been asked. At the time I was getting into metal, and my age as well, the Ozzy era Black Sabbath was old news, years in the past. Ozzy was a solo artist, and Seventh Star was my introduction to Black Sabbath. The Ozzy era was actually the last Sabbath era that I got into despite it being the first one chronologically. And compared with the others, yes, Ozzy really was something special, but so were all the others in their own way. Over the ten years or so that this line-up ran, some of their albums are indeed immortal, but let’s face it, they also made the odd stinker as well, but oh my, when they were on form, they absolutely ruled!
First place, for me, is Ronnie James Dio.
If there was ever one singer who could have dug Black Sabbath out of the hole they were in way back in ‘79, it was this guy, who had a voice like absolutely no other. His singing and lyrical style absolutely suited Black Sabbath, and he was different (way different) enough to Ozzy to never be seen as a clone. Purely as a singer, he’s up there, and Heaven and Hell, Mob Rules and Live Evil alone should be enough to cement the legend. He was a trained musician, and also a strong personality, and that was always going to be a hard fit alongside three, and then two, and then one Brummie who came from a different world. There was friction, and bust-ups and reunions along the way, but always endless musical chemistry. For me, he was not only the best singer in Black Sabbath, but given where he put the band after just two studio albums in the early eighties, he was also the best singer for the band, giving them a lifeline they would not have otherwise had.
But really, it doesn’t matter what singer was better than the other, that’s kind of a meaningless question. Me, I can meander through all of their albums, all of their different line-ups, and enjoy much from all of them.
I don’t care who was or wasn’t on a particular Black Sabbath album, the music is always the winner.
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