The Black Sabbath 'Born Again' album sleeve was designed under extraordinary circumstances; basically what had happened was that Sharon and Ozzy had split very acrimoniously from her fathers (Don Arden) management and record label. He subsequently decided that he would wreak his revenge by making Black Sabbath (whom he managed) the best heavy metal band in the world, which, of course they are but back then in the early '80's they weren't quite the International megastars that they had been in the '70's. His plans included recruiting Ian Gillan, who was, at the time, a solo artist and former singer for Deep Purple.

Gillan had first turned down the offer to join Sabbath but his manager later convinced him to have a meeting with guitarist Tony Iommi and bassist Geezer Butler. The two Sabs met with Gillan at The Bear public house in Oxford, and Gillan officially joined the band in February 1983. Released in October 1983, “Born Again” was a commercial success. It was the highest-charting Sabbath album in the United Kingdom since 1973’s “Sabbath Bloody Sabbath,” and became an American Top 40 hit. Despite this, it became the first Sabbath release to not have any RIAA certification (gold or platinum) in the U.S.

  • Tony Iommi - Lead Guitar & Flute
  • Geezer Butler - Bass
  • Ian Gillan - Vocals
  • Bill Ward - Drums
  • Geoff Nicholls - Keyboards
  • Produced by Robin Black & Black Sabbath
  • Engineered by Robin Black & Steve Chase
  • Mastered for CD by Hans Brethouwer
  • Recorded at The Manor Studio, Shipton on Cherwell, Oxfordshire, England