If you ask a skater what music they casually listen to, they will almost always mention Black Sabbath, usually followed by an admission that it’s cliché. I hear it just about every time I hit up the park; Chris Oleata over at Washington Street called them “the fathers of Metal,” Ruben and Libby from Linda Vista avowed that the Ozzy-era ballad “Changes” was one of their favorite songs and Austin in Ocean Beach said Black Sabbath was one of the first bands he remembers ever listening to.
This week, I interrupted AJ, Paul and Tyler as they shared a cigarette to talk about music, and what did they recommend? Sabbath. “I love anything fast; fast is good,” Tyler said. “Black Sabbath is pretty cliché, but like, it’s for a reason,” he continued. “Metallica, too,” AJ chimed in. “It all depends on the session and your crew. Got good buddies? Maybe something chill. Girlfriend pissed you off? Fast and hard.” Then Paul added: “Every day I wake up with a song in my head, could be Black Sabbath or, hell, ‘Genie in a Bottle.’”
No matter what kind of obscure genres they’re obsessed with or niche jazz subculture they define themselves by, skaters always return to Sabbath. Formed in England in 1968, modern heavy metal is the progeny of Black Sabbath’s leather-clad loins. The band’s first incarnation, led by singer Ozzy Osbourne, revolutionized rock ‘n’ roll by plugging messy blues bars into overdriven amplifiers and combining them with politically motivated, anti-establishment lyrics.
The rhythm section, led by Geezer Butler on bass and Bill Ward on drums, almost rivals Led Zeppelin for its rhythmic intricacy and iconic performances, and Tony Iommi’s idiosyncratic guitar playing is unparalleled for its unique sound and carnivorous grit. In fact, copying his sound is nearly impossible. Iommi worked at a steel mill before playing music full time, and on his last day of work, he accidentally cut off the fingertips of his fretboard hand. According to Ozzy’s memoir, Iommi melted thimbles to those fingers and drastically altered his playstyle to accommodate, inadvertently inventing his unique tone.
Between 1969 and 1977, the band’s creative output was enormous. They released eight studio albums such as the self-titled “Black Sabbath,” “Paranoid” and “Masters of Reality;” all the records seemed to try and outperform the last. These albums were stacked with genre-defining songs like “Wicked World,” “War Pigs” and “Children of the Grave,” all of which went on to inspire the subsequent wave of heavy metal, sludge rock and doom rock.
Ozzy left the band in 1977 to pursue (drugs) a highly-successful solo career (and a stint as a reality TV star) and was replaced with Ronnie James Dio, who led the band into a different, but commercially and critically successful, new era. Dio is most famous for introducing the world to the iconic rock ‘n’ roll hand symbol. Demonstrated to him by his grandmother as a symbol for the devil, he would perform with his hand outstretched, tucking his ring and middle finger into his palm and extending his pinky and index fingers.
With Dio at the head of the group, the band dove into the world of glam and heavy metal with albums like “Heaven and Hell” and “Mob Rules,” which were sonically adjacent to other ‘80s metal bands like Iron Maiden and Scorpions. Across the ‘80s, ‘90s and ‘00s, the band had several line-up changes and reunions, culminating in a final album with Ozzy in 2013 titled “13.” The band is planning a final reunion show in July of 2025 for a benefit concert helping those afflicted with Parkinson’s disease, which Ozzy was diagnosed with in 2019.
As the band rolls into retirement, the legacy they leave behind is one of foundational importance that will forever mark the history of rock music. But what about skateboarding? While I lack first-hand experience, I know for certain that Sabbath has been played at skateparks long before I was born. Some of the earliest skate videos, like those starring skate pioneers Waldo Autry and Tony Alva, heavily featured Sabbath songs on their soundtracks. Sabbath songs are so prevalent in skate videos that Red Bull Media wrote up a list of their favorite skate videos featuring their songs.
Clichés become clichés for a reason. Whether you’re practicing a line, bombing a hill, ripping down some stairs or carving a bowl, something about the sound of Black Sabbath captures the ethos of skating perfectly; Iommi’s crushing guitar licks, the rhythm section’s unfaltering messiness and Ozzy’s hoarse vocals fit skating better than a scab on your skin.
Pro skater Justin ‘Figgy’ Figueroa said it best in a 2015 interview: “Hearing all of the early Ozzy and Sabbath in general, not to sound all cheesy and s**t, but that spoke to me. Made me want to go out and push everything – push it all.”
Nick Hancock 
Spencer Gorka