Happy Birthday, Ozzy Osbourne! Listen to a Classic Black Sabbath Performance

Legendary Black Sabbath frontman and now reality TV star Ozzy Osbourne turned 70 years old today. Osbourne aka “The Prince of Darkness” and his band Black Sabbath are frequently cited as the first heavy metal band and were hugely influential in other subgenres like doom metal, stoner rock and grunge. Though by 1970, they had only been a band for less than two years, it’s hard to argue against the notion that it was Black Sabbath’s best period—releasing two of their greatest records of their career: their self-titled debut LP and Paranoid.

On May 25, 1970, Black Sabbath taped a show at a television studio in Bremen, Germany in front of a small audience, featuring a lineup of Osbourne (vocals), Tony Iommi (guitar), Geezer Butler (bass) and Bill Ward (drums). They played just four songs—”Black Sabbath” from the band’s debut album, a reworked version of the Carl Perkins classic “Blue Suede Shoes,” and two songs from Paranoid that hadn’t been released yet: “Paranoid” and “Iron Man.” Despite this session being recorded in an old TV studio, the recording is surprisingly clear. This particular session has been bootlegged and shared by Sabbath fans for years, but this Wolfgangs Vault recording is far superior.

Listen to Black Sabbath perform live in Germany in 1970 below.