Editing Black Sabbath (section)

===1984–1987: Hiatus, Hughes as singer, ''Seventh Star'', and Gillen as singer===
Following the completion of the [[Born Again Tour 1983|''Born Again'' tour]] in March 1984, vocalist Ian Gillan left Black Sabbath to re-join Deep Purple, which was reforming after a long hiatus. Bevan left at the same time, and Gillan remarked that he and Bevan were made to feel like "hired help" by Iommi. The band then recruited an unknown Los Angeles vocalist named [[David Donato (singer)|David Donato]] and Ward once again rejoined the band. The new line-up wrote and rehearsed throughout 1984, and eventually recorded a demo with producer [[Bob Ezrin]] in October. Unhappy with the results, the band parted ways with Donato shortly after.<ref name="AMG Biography"/> Disillusioned with the band's revolving line-up, Ward left shortly after stating "This isn't Black Sabbath". Butler would quit Sabbath next in November 1984 to form a solo band. "When Ian Gillan took over that was the end of it for me," he said. "I thought it was just a joke and I just totally left. When we got together with Gillan it was not supposed to be a Black Sabbath album. After we had done the album we gave it to [[Warner Bros.]] and they said they were going to put it out as a Black Sabbath album and we didn't have a leg to stand on. I got really disillusioned with it and Gillan was really pissed off about it. That lasted one album and one tour and then that was it."<ref name="Classic Rock Revisited interview">{{cite web|url=http://classicrockrevisited.com/Interviews05/geezerbutler.htm |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060829011113/http://classicrockrevisited.com/Interviews05/geezerbutler.htm |archive-date=29 August 2006 |title=Geezer Butler Interview |publisher=ClassicRockRevisited.com |access-date=2 March 2008 |url-status=dead}}</ref>

One vocalist whose status is disputed, both inside and outside Sabbath, is Christian evangelist and former [[Joshua (band)|Joshua]] frontman [[Jeff Fenholt]]. Fenholt insists he was a singer in Sabbath between January and May 1985.<ref name="MusicMight" /> Iommi has never confirmed this. Fenholt gives a detailed account in Garry Sharpe-Young's book ''Sabbath Bloody Sabbath: The Battle for Black Sabbath''.{{sfn|Sharpe-Young|2006}}{{page needed|date=January 2013}}

Following both Ward's and Butler's exits, sole remaining original member Iommi put Sabbath on hiatus, and began work on a solo album with long-time Sabbath keyboardist [[Geoff Nicholls]]. While working on new material, the original Sabbath line-up agreed to a spot at [[Bob Geldof]]'s [[Live Aid]], performing at the [[Live Aid#John F. Kennedy Stadium|Philadelphia]] show on 13 July 1985.<ref name="MusicMight"/>{{sfn|Thompson|2004|pp=233–239}} This event – which also featured reunions of [[The Who]] and [[Led Zeppelin]] – marked the first time the original line-up had appeared on stage since 1978.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.mtv.com/news/articles/1504968/live-aid-look-back.jhtml|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110805063607/http://www.mtv.com/news/articles/1504968/live-aid-look-back.jhtml|url-status=dead|archive-date=5 August 2011|title=Live Aid: A Look Back at a Concert That Actually Changed the World|last=Kaufman|first=Gil|date=29 June 2005|publisher=MTV Networks|access-date=24 April 2009}}</ref> "We were all drunk when we did Live Aid," recalled [[Geezer Butler]], "but we'd all got drunk separately."<ref>{{cite magazine|first=Paul|last=Elliott|title=The last word|magazine=[[Kerrang!]]|date=20 September 1997|page=62}}</ref>

Returning to his solo work, Iommi enlisted bassist [[Dave Spitz]] (ex-[[Great White]]), drummer [[Eric Singer]] and initially intended to use multiple singers, including [[Rob Halford]] of [[Judas Priest]], former Deep Purple and [[Trapeze (band)|Trapeze]] vocalist [[Glenn Hughes (English musician)|Glenn Hughes]], and former Sabbath vocalist Ronnie James Dio. This plan did not work as he forecasted.{{sfn|Thompson|2004|pp=233–239}} "We were going to use different vocalists on the album, guest vocalists, but it was so difficult getting it together and getting releases from their record companies. Glenn Hughes came along to sing on one track and we decided to use him on the whole album."{{sfn|Rosen|1996|p=123}}

[[File:Black Sabbath (1986).jpg|thumb|left|Black Sabbath in 1986 (left to right: [[Dave Spitz]], [[Glenn Hughes (English musician)|Glenn Hughes]], Tony Iommi, [[Eric Singer]], and [[Geoff Nicholls]])]]
The band spent the remainder of the year in the studio, recording what would become ''[[Seventh Star]]'' (1986). Warner Bros. refused to release the album as a Tony Iommi solo release, instead insisting on using the name Black Sabbath.<ref name="Seventh Star AMG Review">{{cite web|last=Eduardo|first=Rivadavia|url=https://www.allmusic.com/album/seventh-star-mw0000192998|title=Seventh Star – Review|website=AllMusic|access-date=9 February 2013}}</ref> Pressured by the band's manager, [[Don Arden]], the two compromised and released the album as "Black Sabbath featuring Tony Iommi" in January 1986.<ref>{{cite magazine|last=Ann Vare|first=Ethlie|date=8 March 1986|title=Sabbath's 'Seventh Star' Spotlights Iommi|magazine=Billboard|volume=98|issue=10|page=47|issn=0006-2510}}</ref> "It opened up a whole can of worms," Iommi explained. "If we could have done it as a solo album, it would have been accepted a lot more."{{sfn|Rosen|1996|p=122}} ''Seventh Star'' sounded little like a Sabbath album, incorporating instead elements popularised by the 1980s [[Sunset Strip]] hard rock scene. It was panned by the critics of the era, although later reviewers such as AllMusic gave album verdicts, calling the album "often misunderstood and underrated".<ref name="Seventh Star AMG Review" />

The new line-up rehearsed for six weeks preparing for a full world tour, although the band were eventually forced to use the Sabbath name. "I was into the 'Tony Iommi project', but I wasn't into the Black Sabbath moniker," Hughes said. "The idea of being in Black Sabbath didn't appeal to me ''whatsoever''. Glenn Hughes singing in Black Sabbath is like [[James Brown]] singing in [[Metallica]]. It wasn't gonna work."{{sfn|Rosen|1996|p=123}}{{sfn|Rosen|1996|p=125}} Just four days before the start of the tour, Hughes got into a bar fight with the band's production manager John Downing which splintered the singer's [[Orbit (anatomy)|orbital bone]]. The injury interfered with Hughes' ability to sing, and the band brought in vocalist [[Ray Gillen]] to continue the tour with [[W.A.S.P. (band)|W.A.S.P.]] and [[Anthrax (American band)|Anthrax]], although nearly half of the U.S. dates would be cancelled because of poor ticket sales.<ref>{{cite web|last=Dwyer |first=Robert |url=http://www.sabbathlive.com/lists/CG83BA.html |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071229233848/http://www.sabbathlive.com/lists/CG83BA.html |archive-date=29 December 2007 |title=Sabbath Live Cancelled tourdates 1985 |publisher=SabbathLive.com |access-date=5 March 2008 |url-status=dead}}</ref>

Black Sabbath began work on new material in October 1986 at [[AIR Montserrat|AIR Studios]] in [[Montserrat]] with producer [[Jeff Glixman]]. The recording was fraught with problems from the beginning, as Glixman left after the initial sessions to be replaced by producer [[Vic Coppersmith-Heaven]]. Bassist Dave Spitz quit over "personal issues", and former [[Rainbow (rock band)|Rainbow]] and [[Ozzy Osbourne]] bassist [[Bob Daisley]] was brought in. Daisley re-recorded all of the bass tracks, and wrote the album's lyrics, but before the album was complete, he left to join [[Gary Moore]]'s backing band, taking drummer [[Eric Singer]] with him.<ref name="AMG Biography"/> After problems with second producer Coppersmith-Heaven, the band returned to [[Morgan Studios]] in England in January 1987 to work with new producer [[Chris Tsangarides]]. While working in the United Kingdom, new vocalist Ray Gillen abruptly left Black Sabbath to form [[Blue Murder (band)|Blue Murder]] with guitarist [[John Sykes]] (ex-[[Tygers of Pan Tang]], [[Thin Lizzy]], [[Whitesnake]]) and then [[Badlands (American band)|Badlands]] with former Osbourne guitarist [[Jake E. Lee]]. The band auditioned a number of singers, including [[Jon Oliva]] of [[Savatage]].<ref>{{cite web|url=https://blabbermouth.net/news/jon-oliva-recalls-nearly-auditioning-for-black-sabbath-i-would-have-been-the-best-singer-for-them-besides-ozzy-osbourne|title=JON OLIVA Recalls Nearly Auditioning For BLACK SABBATH: 'I Would Have Been The Best Singer For Them Besides OZZY OSBOURNE'|publisher=[[Blabbermouth.net]]|date=3 May 2023|access-date=23 February 2024}}</ref>