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50 free Black Sabbath trivia questions with answers — music quiz, new questions added Aug 2026.
Black Sabbath formed in Aston, Birmingham in 1968 as a blues band called Polka Tulk, took their name from a Boris Karloff horror film showing across the street, and released a debut on Friday the 13th that is now generally accepted as the first heavy metal album. Fifty-seven years later the original four played one last show at Villa Park, a short walk from where they grew up. These 50 questions follow the whole story: Earth and Jethro Tull, the tritone, Paranoid written in 25 minutes, the Zurich club residency, Master of Reality and Vol. 4, Clearwell Castle and Rick Wakeman, California Jam, Ozzy's firing, Ronnie James Dio and Heaven and Hell, Ian Gillan and the Stonehenge set that Spinal Tap parodied, Tony Martin's long tenure, Dehumanizer, the 1997 reunion, 13 with Rick Rubin, The End tour, the Commonwealth Games cameo and Back to the Beginning. Easy questions stick to the hits and line-up; the hard tier asks about studios, openers and the Fairy Liquid bottle that made Tony Iommi's thimbles. Every answer is cited to a page we checked, with a short explanation so you learn something even when you miss. Play it solo or print it for a metal night.
30 of 50 questions with answers and explanations. Play the quiz
Q 01In which Birmingham district did Black Sabbath form in 1968?
Aston
All four grew up within a short walk of each other.
Q 02What did the group call itself first, before Earth?
Polka Tulk
The name came either from a talcum powder brand or an Indian clothing shop; nobody is sure.
Q 03Which band did Tony Iommi briefly leave Earth to join in December 1968?
Jethro Tull
He appeared with them on The Rolling Stones Rock and Roll Circus before returning within the month.
Q 04The band took its name from a 1963 horror film starring whom?
Boris Karloff
Mario Bava's film was playing in a cinema across from their rehearsal room.
Q 05The song 'Black Sabbath' uses which musical interval, nicknamed 'the Devil's Interval'?
The tritone
Rob Halford has called the track 'probably the most evil song ever written'.
Q 06Where did Black Sabbath play their first show under that name, on 30 August 1969?
Workington
They signed to Philips Records that November.
Q 07How many days of studio time did the band get to record their debut album?
Two
They played live with Ozzy in a separate booth, and one of the days was for mixing.
Q 08On what date in February 1970 was the debut album released?
Friday the 13th
Lester Bangs panned it in Rolling Stone, but it went Platinum and is now called the first heavy metal album.
Q 09What was the band's first single, a cover of a song by the band Crow?
Evil Woman
Released on Fontana in January 1970, it failed to chart.
Q 10What was the second album originally going to be called before Warner changed it?
War Pigs
The title track was written in the studio at the last minute in about 25 minutes.
Q 11Most songs on the second album were worked out during a club residency in which city?
Zurich
The band played seven 45-minute sets a day for six weeks at the Hirschen Club.
Q 12What UK chart position did the single 'Paranoid' reach, making it the band's only top 10 hit?
4
Its success pushed the album to number one in the UK.
Q 13Which 1971 album contained the band's first acoustic songs and 'Children of the Grave'?
Master of Reality
It went Gold in under two months despite a lukewarm Lester Bangs review.
Q 14What was Vol. 4 originally going to be titled, after a song about cocaine?
Q 21What was the 1975 compilation the record companies released without the band's input?
We Sold Our Soul for Rock 'n' Roll
It charted throughout 1976 and went double Platinum in the US.
Q 22Technical Ecstasy was recorded in 1976 at Criteria Studios in which city?
Miami
Ozzy was admitted to Stafford County Asylum by the time it was finished.
Q 23Which Technical Ecstasy track features Bill Ward's first lead vocal?
It's Alright
The album was the band's second in a row to miss Platinum status.
Snowblind
Bill Ward called the final title 'pretty stupid' since there was no Volume 1, 2 or 3.
Q 15Which Los Angeles studio hosted the sessions for Vol. 4 and Sabbath Bloody Sabbath?
The Record Plant
On their return they found their old room replaced by a 'giant synthesiser'.
Q 16Where in the Forest of Dean did the band write Sabbath Bloody Sabbath after a dry spell in LA?
Clearwell Castle
Iommi stumbled on the title riff while rehearsing in its dungeons.
Q 17Which Yes keyboardist played on 'Sabbra Cadabra'?
Rick Wakeman
The 1973 album was the first to earn the band positive mainstream reviews.
Q 18Which 1974 festival drew 200,000 fans to see the band alongside Deep Purple and the Eagles?
California Jam
Portions were shown on ABC, exposing the band to a wider American audience.
Q 19Which notorious manager, Sharon Osbourne's father, did the band sign with in 1974?
Don Arden
The switch triggered two years of litigation; Ozzy was handed a subpoena on stage.
Q 20Which band opened for Black Sabbath on the 1975 Sabotage tour?
Kiss
The tour was cut short when Ozzy ruptured a back muscle in a motorcycle accident.
Q 24Which ex-Fleetwood Mac singer briefly fronted the band when Ozzy quit in late 1977?
Dave Walker
His only performance with them was a TV appearance before Ozzy changed his mind.
Q 25In which city did the band spend five months recording Never Say Die!?
Toronto
The 1978 tour that followed had a young Van Halen as openers, who upstaged them nightly.
Q 26Which band opened the 1978 Never Say Die! tour and was judged far more 'youthful'?
Van Halen
Reviewers called Sabbath's own sets 'tired and uninspired'.
Q 27Which former Rainbow singer replaced Ozzy Osbourne in 1979?
Ronnie James Dio
His 1980 debut with the band was produced by Martin Birch and acclaimed.
Q 28Which drummer replaced Bill Ward for Mob Rules and Live Evil?
Vinny Appice
He returned for the 1992 reunion album and the late-2000s reunion.
Q 29Which Deep Purple singer fronted the band on Born Again (1983)?
Ian Gillan
He left in 1984 to rejoin a reforming Deep Purple.
Q 30The Born Again tour's oversized stage set, later parodied in This Is Spinal Tap, depicted what?
Stonehenge
The band made a mistake ordering the set piece, so it was far too big for most stages.