Black Sabbath albums in order: Full list of releases
After the death of their legendary frontman, here's the band's full discography dating back nearly 60 years.
Black Sabbath had an incredible career spanning almost 60 years – and less than three weeks after playing their final gig in their hometown of Birmingham, it was announced that Ozzy Osbourne, their iconic lead singer, has died at the age of 76.
The singer's death was announced by his family – wife Sharon, and children Kelly, Aimee, Jack and Louis – on Tuesday 22nd July, with hundreds of tributes quickly flooding in online in the time since.
It included many of the performers who appeared at Black Sabbath's final show on 5th July, which had become an all-day metal festival, Back to the Beginning – a victory lap of the legacy the band have created, with dozens of rock artists joining the stage to bid farewell to the Brummie legends.
Ready to rock and roll, Black Sabbath were pioneers of metal music, consistently going against the grain to create their signature sound.
While they certainly had their ups and downs since first forming in 1968, with all members at points quitting and rejoining the group, the original four – Ozzy Osbourne (vocals), Tony Iommi (guitarist), Bill Ward (drummer) and Geezer Butler (bassist) – remained the core of the band right to the end.
In memory of their star singer, we look back at their albums to date and the stand-out tracks that have transcended genres and generations to remain unmatched hits.
Here are all their studio albums in order and where to get them.
Black Sabbath albums in release date order
Across the course of their career, the band released 19 studio albums.
These are:
- Black Sabbath (1970) – buy on vinyl here
- Paranoid (1970) – buy on vinyl here
- Master of Reality (1971) – buy on vinyl here
- Vol 4 (1972) – buy on vinyl here
- Sabbath Bloody Sabbath (1973) – buy on vinyl here
- Sabotage (1975) – buy on vinyl here
- Technical Ecstasy (1976) – buy on vinyl here
- Never Say Die! (1978) – buy on vinyl here
- Heaven and Hell (1980) – buy on vinyl here
- Mob Rules (1981) – buy on vinyl here
- Born Again (1983)
- Seventh Star (1986) – buy on vinyl here
- The Eternal Idol (1987) – buy on vinyl here
- Headless Cross (1989) – buy on vinyl here
- Tyr (1990) – buy on vinyl here
- Dehumanizer (1992) – buy on vinyl here
- Cross Purposes (1994) – buy on vinyl here
- Forbidden (1995) – buy on vinyl here
- 13 (2013) – buy on vinyl here
They also released eight live albums and 13 compilations/greatest hits.
What are Black Sabbath's most successful albums and songs?
Surprisingly, Black Sabbath never achieved a No. 1 single – most likely due to them being considered "alternative" to the mainstream music for decades as pioneers of the metal scene.
Their classic track Paranoid was their only song to reach the Top 10, peaking at No. 4 and later being named as one of the 500 Greatest Songs of All Time by Rolling Stone.
However, nearly every album they've released has achieved Gold status in sales in the UK, with the Paranoid album giving them their only Platinum record to date.
They've also been covered dozens of times by other rock and metal acts.
We personally recommend adding these to your playlist:
- War Pigs
- Paranoid
- Black Sabbath
- Sabbath Bloody Sabbath
- Iron Man
- NIB
- Snowblind
- The Wizard
- Children of the Grave
- Dirty Women
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Authors
Tilly Pearce is a freelance TV journalist whose coverage ranges from reality shows like Love Is Blind to sci-fi shows like Fallout. She is an NCTJ Gold Standard accredited journalist, who has previously worked as Deputy TV Editor (maternity cover) at Digital Spy, and Deputy TV & Showbiz Editor at Daily Express US.
