Metallica rocked Birmingham, England’s Villa Park as part of Black Sabbath‘s gargantuan Back to the Beginning concert, storming through a six-song set of Sabbath covers and originals that got the audience primed for the evening’s main attractions.

A year later, they'd slimmed down, found a new name and invented heavy metal. Few bands are so inextricably linked with a musical genre, but Sabbath set the template for everyone from Motörhead and AC/DC to Metallica and Guns 'n' Roses.

The music world is reeling from the loss of Ozzy Osbourne, following today’s sad news that he passed away at age 76. Among those who have paid tribute are his band Black Sabbath, Metallica, Ronnie Wood of The Rolling Stones,

Rock royalty is paying tribute to Ozzy Osbourne, who died today at 76.

Tony Iommi on Black Sabbath: ‘I would like to play with the guys again’ Metallica shakes things up during Aftershock Festival in Sacramento Metallica’s Kirk Hammett talks S&M2, drive-in ...

But Sabbath was the band that basically wrote the rule book on metal. Without them, there would likely be no Metallica. Winner: Black Sabbath. Category 3: Best frontman. This one’s a doozy.

Bassist Terence “Geezer” Butler, guitarist Tony Iommi, lead singer Ozzy Osbourne, and drummer Bill Ward were all between the ages of 18 and 20 when

Faith No More, Judas Priest, Linkin Park and Smashing Pumpkins all trace their roots back to the music put out by Ozzy and co. Electric Wizard literally take their name from an amalgam of two Black Sabbath songs (Electric Funeral and The Wizard).