We can argue all day long about who invented heavy metal. But there’s no denying that Black Sabbath largely shaped the genre. Tony Iommi, Bill Ward, Geezer Butler and Ozzy Osbourne banded together to form the legendary quartet in 1968. Four months after releasing their self-titled debut album, the Birmingham, England boys were back in the studio for a follow-up record. Originally written as an afterthought, “Paranoid” became both the title track and the band’s signature song. And 54 years ago today, on Aug. 7, 1970, the world heard it for the first time.
“We basically needed a three-minute filler for the album, and Tony came up with the riff,” Black Sabbath bassist Geezer Butler told Guitar World in March 2004. “I quickly did the lyrics, and Ozzy was reading them as he was singing.”
Former drummer Bill Ward added in 2016, “It was about 1:30 in the afternoon and Tony had the riffs. By 2:00 we had ‘Paranoid’ exactly as you hear it on the record.”
As Black Sabbath was carving out their place in heavy metal history, another British foursome was on the rise. By August 1970, Led Zeppelin had already hit No. 1 in the U.S. with their definitive sophomore record, Led Zeppelin II.
“We always loved Zeppelin in them days, sitting round on the floor smoking dope and listening to that first album,” Geezer Butler told Guitar World in 2016.
