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The next fifteen years were a war between the post-Ozzy Sabbath and Ozzy himself, whose solo career overshadowed Sabbath so much that a reunion was entirely on his terms. It finally came to a head when in 1979 they sacked Ozzy: "For being too out of control-even for us," as Bill Ward put it. They looked for salvation from Don Arden-an even more notorious gangster figure, who resurrected their career but still left them indebted to him, financially and personally. At the height of their fame, Sabbath discovered they'd been so badly ripped off by their managers they didn't even own their own songs. Though all shared a deep love of music-The Beatles for Ozzy, the Mothers of Invention for Geezer, the Shadows and Chet Atkins for Iommi, and Gene Kruppa for Ward- they formed their group "as the quickest way out of the slums." This is the story of how they made that dream come true-and how it then turned into a nightmare for all of them. All four founding members of the original Black Sabbath grew up within half-a-mile of each other in a tiny Birmingham suburb. In an era when rock bands were measured by how 'heavy' they were, no one was weightier than Black Sabbath. Ozzy was the singer in the heavy metal band Black Sabbath, and they meant business. All four founding members of the original Black Sabbath grew up within half-a-mile of each other Decades before reality television was invented, Ozzy Osbourne was subversive and dark. Decades before reality television was invented, Ozzy Osbourne was subversive and dark.