(February 1979 - February 1981)
Ronnie James Dio - Lead Vocals Tony Iommi - guitar Geezer Butler - bass Bill Ward -drums [played on the album and on tour through August, 1980] Vinnie Appice-drums [Replaced Bill during the middle of the tour; 1st gig was on 8/31/80 in Honolulu] Geoff Nicholls-keyboards
[Note: There were some other odd lineup configurations before the recording of the album, which included Geoff Nicholls or Craig Gruber on bass, but none of these lasted very long.]
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(March 1981 - January 1983)
Ronnie James Dio - Lead Vocals Tony Iommi - guitar Geezer Butler - bass guitar Vinnie Appice-drums Geoff Nicholls-keyboards
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(February 1983 - March 1984)
Ian Gillan - Lead Vocals Tony Iommi - Guitar Geezer Butler - Bass Bill Ward - Drums [on the album only; left the band due to poor health prior to the tour] Bev Bevan - Drums [tour] Geoff Nicholls - keyboards
Deep Purple vocalist Ian Gillan joined up with Geezer & Tony after meeting in a pub in February 1984. While this was planned 'supergroup' was not originally supposed to be called 'Black Sabbath', they were pressured to revert back to the banner.
Iommi, Butler & Gillan began writing songs for the album with ex-Quartz drummer Malcolm Cope helping out. For the recording of the album, Bill Ward was prematurely pulled out of rehab. Although he completed the sessions, he was not in any condition to tour with the band.
For the tour, their old Brummie mate Bev Bevan (The Move, Electric Light Orchestra) was called in to replace Bill for the world tour. Both Ian Gillan and Bev Bevan departed Black Sabbath amicably shortly after the world tour concluded in March 1984.
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(April 1984-December 1984)
David Donato-lead vocals, Tony Iommi-guitar, Geezer Butler-bass, Bill Ward-drums, Geoff Nicholls-keyboards
Once the BORN AGAIN lineup dissolved, Iommi and Butler again coaxed Bill Ward briefly back into the fold. After courting several vocalists, they settled upon David Donato. This lineup recorded a few demo tracks and even did some press to confirm Donato's inclusion. But within weeks, the new project quickly dissolved into the ether.
(January 1985-June 1986)
IOMMI PRE-7TH STAR SOLO PROJECT
Jeff Fenholt-lead vocals, Tony Iommi-guitar, Dave Spitz-bass, Eric Singer-drums, Geoff Nicholls-keyboards
At this point, Black Sabbath was truly on hiatus and Tony was looking to do a solo project. He borrowed girlfriend Lita Ford's backing band for some songwriting sessions at Cherokee Studios in Hollywood in early '85. They worked with vocalist Jeff Fenholt on songs that would later be re-written for the SEVENTH STAR album.
Although this lineup was never truly assembled under the banner of BLACK SABBATH, it is important to include it to illustrate the transitions that occurred between BORN AGAIN and SEVENTH STAR.
(July 1985 - June 1986)
Glenn Hughes-lead vocals (July '85-March '86), Ray Gillen-lead vocals (joined 3/29/86), Tony Iommi-lead guitar, Dave Spitz-bass, Eric Singer-drums, Geoff Nicholls-keyboards.
SEVENTH STAR was originally intended to be an Iommi solo project. After considerable pressure from his management and record company, the album was re-billed as 'Black Sabbath featuring Tony Iommi' to justify the presence of so few original members.
Ex-Deep Purple vocalist/bassist Glenn Hughes helped finish the album Iommi & his band had already been working on since July. Glenn left the band after only 5 shows due to a combination of voice and personal problems. His last show was in Worcester, MA on 3/26/86.
Ray Gillen (who was relatively unknown at the time) took over the singing at the New Haven show on 3/29/86. He did a admirable job of learning the material and replacing Glenn on such short notice.
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(July 1986 - July 1988)
July 1986 (Rehearsals / Songwriting Sessions) - Ray Gillen-lead vocals, Tony Iommi-guitar, Dave Spitz-bass, Geoff Nicholls-keyboards, Eric Singer-drums
October 1986 (Recording sessions at Monserrat) - Ray Gillen-lead vocals, Tony Iommi-guitar, Bob Daisley-bass [joined on 9/30/86], Geoff Nicholls-keyboards, Eric Singer-drums
January 1987 (Recording sessions in London) - Tony Martin-lead vocals, Tony Iommi-guitar, Bob Daisley-bass, Geoff Nicholls-keyboards, Bev Bevan-drums
July 1987 (Athens 7/25/87 show) - Tony Martin-lead vocals, Tony Iommi-guitar, Dave Spitz-bass, Geoff Nicholls-keyboards, Bev Bevan-drums
July 25th, 1987 through December 20th, 1987 - Tony Martin-lead vocals, Tony Iommi-guitar, Jo Burt-bass, Geoff Nicholls-keyboards, Terry Chimes-drums
There was quite a revolving door of musicians during this period. Dave Spitz first left the band in October 1986 while they were recording in Monserrat. Bob Daisley was flown in to fill in during those ill-fated sessions. By January 1987, Ray Gillen had left to join Blue Murder, but lost that job as well in short time. Eric Singer left to tour with Gary Moore around that same time. Gillen & Singer would join forces once again within the year to form Badlands with ex-Ozzy guitarist Jake E. Lee.
In order to salvage the ETERNAL IDOL album, Albert Chapman introduced Iommi to vocalist Tony Martin (ex-The Alliance) in early 1987. Within 8 days, Tony Martin re-recorded the vocal tracks that had originally been done by Ray Gillen. Bev Bevan (drums) also returned to the band to re-record a few drum bits and play on the upcoming tour. Bassist Dave Spitz had also returned to the fold by the time Tony Martin performed his inaugural live performance in Athens on 7/25/87.
The Athens '87 show was the ONLY live performance for this particular lineup, as Bevan refused to play the controversial Sun City shows in South Africa. Instead, Terry Chimes (ex-The Clash) was brought in to play at those shows and remained with Black Sabbath through the end of the short ETERNAL IDOL tour.
Dave Spitz left for the 2nd and final time following the Sun City shows in August 1987. His replacement was Jo Burt (ex-Virginia Wolf) who remained with the band only for the duration of the tour.
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(August 1988 - December 1989)
Tony Martin-lead vocals, Tony Iommi-guitar, Neil Murray-bass [joined them in time for the tour in May '89], Lawrence Cottle-bass [not an official member; played on the album only], Geoff Nicholls-keyboards, Cozy Powell-drums
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