28 famous bands that opened for Black Sabbath

28 famous bands that opened for Black Sabbath28 famous bands that opened for Black Sabbath

Founded by Tony Iommi (Guitar), Geezer Butler (Bass), Bill Ward (Drums) and Ozzy Osbourne (Vocals), Black Sabbath released their groundbreaking self-titled debut album in 1970 and it was the birth of Heavy Metal music. In the following years with new albums being released the group became one of the most influential in the world and played all over the world.

Over the decades they helped many new bands inviting them to be their opening act and we selected 28 famous groups who opened for Sabbath from the early 70s until 2017.

28 famous bands that opened for Black Sabbath

Yes and Humble Pie (1971)

Yes and Humble Pie opening for Black SabbathYes and Humble Pie opening for Black Sabbath

In 1971, just one month before Black Sabbath released their third album “Master of Really”, the band played in New York City. They had two really special guests, which were Yes, the influential Progressive Rock group and Humble Pie, the incredible band led by Steve Marriott.

Talking with Metal Hammer in 2017, Ozzy Osbourne said that Humble Pie was one of the best opening acts Black Sabbath ever had.

Alice Cooper and Black Oak Arkansas (1971)

Alice Cooper Black Sabbath opening actAlice Cooper Black Sabbath opening act

Also in 1971, Black Sabbath had two other incredible opening acts. The godfather of Shock Rock, Alice Cooper and the American band Black Oak Arkansas.

In an interview with Metal Hammer in 2017, Ozzy Osbourne said that he really enjoyed touring with Black Oak Arkansas and that they were one of the best opening acts Black Sabbath ever had.

The J. Geils Band and Blue Oyster Cult (1972)

Back in July, 1972 Black Sabbath was already one of the most famous and influential bands in the world but they only had three albums out. Their self-titled debut (1970), “Paranoid” (1970) and “Master of Reality (1971).

During that year, they toured the United States, with opening acts such as The J. Geils Band and Blue Öyster Cult, which had not yet achieved the level of fame they would later attain. BÖC and Black Sabbath toured together again in 1980 on the famous ‘Black and Blue’ tour, when Sabbath featured Ronnie James Dio as their vocalist.

Black Oak Arkansas and Gentle Giant (1972)

Other two bands that were Black Sabbath’s opening acts in 1972 were the American Black Oak Arkansas and the British Progressive Rock group Gentle Giant. One of the shows happened at the Nashville Municipal Auditorium.

Slade, Status Quo and Kiss (1975)

When Black Sabbath was promoting their sixth studio album “Sabotage”, which had songs like “Hole In The Sky” and “Symptom of The Universe”. In that year they had many famous acts as their opening act like Kiss, Slade and Status Quo.

Lynyrd Skynyrd and Peter Frampton (1975)

Also in 1975, Black Sabbath had other famous opening acts like Lynyrd Skynyrd, the American Southern Rock band and Peter Frampton, the guitarist and singer who previously was a member of Humble Pie.

Ted Nugent (1976)

In 1976 Black Sabbath was promoting their seventh album “Technical Ecstasy” (1976), which is certainly one of the most underrated ones from their discography. On December 8, they played at the Civic Arena in Pittsburgh with Ted Nugent as their opening act.

AC/DC (1977)

In 1977 Black Sabbath was still promoting their 1976 album “Technical Ecstasy” they simply had AC/DC as their opening act.

However, the Hard Rock band ended up being kicked out of that tour because of a discussion between their guitarist Malcolm Young and Sabbath’s bassist Geezer Butler.

Van Halen (1978)

In 1978, when Black Sabbath had released their eighth studio album “Never Say Die!”, they had the American band Van Halen as their opening act. At the time the group had recently released their groundbreaking self-titled debut album. It was the start of the friendship between Eddie Van Halen and Tony Iommi.

Eddie was a big Sabbath fan and even helped the group to write a song called “Evil Eye”, released on their 1994 album “Cross Purposes”.

Ramones (1978)

Also in 1978 another influential band opened for Black Sabbath and it was the biggest Punk Rock of all time: The Ramones.

At the time, the American band had already released their first four albums, the most recent one was “Road to Ruin” (1978).

Nazareth, Quiet Riot and Diamond Head (1983)

After two albums with Ronnie James Dio on vocals, Black Sabbath reunited with the drummer Bill Ward and recruited the former (at the time) Deep Purple vocalist Ian Gillan. They recorded the album “Born Again” released in 1983 and to promote the record the group toured a lot but without Ward who left the band for rehab.

They hired the Electric Light Orchestra drummer Bev Bevan and he was their drummer during that tour. Curiously, they used to play Purple’s “Smoke on The Water” during the shows.

Some of their famous opening acts at that time were Nazareth, Quiet Riot and Diamond Head.

W.A.S.P  and Anthrax (1986)

In 1986 Black Sabbath had once again a new line-up and they were promoting their twelfth studio album “No Stranger To Love”. Besides the guitarist Tony Iommi the band was formed at the time by Glenn Hughes (Vocals), Eric Singer (Drums), Dave “The Beast” Spitz (Bass) and Geoff Nichols (Keyboards).

Some of their opening acts during that tour were W.A.S.P. and Anthrax.

Motörhead (1995)

Black Sabbath had many different line-ups in the 90s and in 1995 the group was formed by Tony Iommi (Guitar), Tony Martin (Vocals), Neil Murray (Bass), Geoff Nichols (Keyboards) and Cozy Powell (Drums).

In that year the band released their eighteenth studio album “Forbidden”. One of their opening acts that year was Motörhead, led by the late legendary singer and guitarist Lemmy Kilmister.

Pantera (1999)

After more than 20 years, in 1998, the band’s original line-up finally reunited for a tour and they played a lot in 1998 and 1999. One of their opening acts from that tour was Pantera.

Soundgarden, Alice in Chains, Megadeth and Rival Sons (2012 to 2017)

After 1999 Black Sabbath did many special shows but never really did a big tour, that would only happen again in 2012. However, the original line-up was not complete since Bill Ward ended up not being part of the tour which had Tommy Clufetos on drums.

The band played around the world from 2012 to 2014 and then in 2016 and 2017. They had many opening acts like Megadeth, Soundgarden, Alice in Chains and Rival Sons.

Rafael Polcaro: I'm a Brazilian journalist who always loved Classic Rock and Heavy Metal music. That passion inspired me to create Rock and Roll Garage over 6 years ago. Music has always been a part of my life, helping me through tough times and being a support to celebrate the good ones. When I became a journalist, I knew I wanted to write about my passions. After graduating in journalism from the Pontifical Catholic University of Minas Gerais, I pursued a postgraduate degree in digital communication at the same institution. The studies and experience in the field helped me improve the website and always bring the best of classic rock to the world! MTB: 0021377/MG
whatsapp