Black Sabbath announced their long-awaited Tony Martin era reissues last Friday, which got us thinking – who's the best Black Sabbath vocalist? So we ran a quick poll over the weekend to see what our readers though, and these are the results.
#5 Glenn Hughes (24 votes, 0.8%)
It's not too surprising that Glenn Hughes came in fifth. Hughes' work with Deep Purple was fantastic, his stuff on Black Sabbath guitarist Tony Iommi's 2005 album Fused is great, and the dude is still out there fronting Black Country Communion. But sadly Hughes legacy with Black Sabbath is only their 1986 record Seventh Star – a record that was originally supposed to be an Iommi solo effort and got changed to be a Black Sabbath album for a wider appeal. Seventh Star isn't bad, but it's hardly Black Sabbath.
#4 Ian Gillan (60 votes, 2%)
Much like Hughes, Gillan (Deep Purple's longtime vocalist) was only featured on one Black Sabbath album… and boy, was it a difficult one. Gillan fronted Black Sabbath for their 1983 record Born Again and had the unfortunate position of filling the void left by vocalist Ronnie James Dio. Gillan still did a great job and at least Born Again was better received by the public than Seventh Star. Gillan also got to front Black Sabbath when they were using their Stonehenge props live. So that's pretty cool.
#3 Tony Martin (169 votes, 5.7%)
Tony Martin – the man that many Black Sabbath fans are about to discover thanks to the upcoming Martin-era reissues. For those unaware, Martin sang for Black Sabbath between 1987 and 1991, and then again between 1993 and 1997. Martin's discography with the band includes The Eternal Idol, Headless Cross, Tyr, Cross Purposes, and Forbidden. Martin's material with Black Sabbath leans more of a radio-friendly doom sound, and it's pretty damn good. Tyr is always a good place to start when discovering Martin.
#2 Ronnie James Dio (1,083 votes, 36.6%)
I gotta be honest, I thought the gaps between Martin, Dio, and Ozzy Osbourne would've been a little closer. Or at least between Dio and Osbourne. Though I guess when you ask someone who casually enjoys Black Sabbath, Heaven And Hell or Dehumanizer aren't exactly the ones that come to mind. Still, Dio's three albums (Mob Rules being the third) are nothing short of stone cold metal classics that showcase a legend in his vocal prime. I mean really, can you imagine cranking out Heaven And Hell, Mob Rules, Holy Diver, and The Last In Line all within five years of one another?
#1 Ozzy Osbourne (1,623 votes, 54.9%)
Yes. The guy who played on "Paranoid", "Iron Man", "War Pigs" and every other massive Black Sabbath song ran away with this one. And who can argue with that? Ozzy Osbourne is an immortal name throughout rock and metal, and his contributions to Black Sabbath cannot possibly be overstated.
