The fact that the original members of Black Sabbath weren’t able to undertake a full-on world tour in 2012 was devastating to Sabbath fans. Guitarist Tony Iommi‘s cancer diagnosis stuck a knife into the heart of Sabbath fans, and reduced Sabbath to playing only three live shows this year, with their one U.S. date happening on Aug. 3 at Lollapalooza. Add to that drummer Bill Ward ‘s contract dispute, which resulted in his departure from the band, and the reunion that was announced on Nov. 11, 2011, didn’t pan out as originally planned.

Hundreds of thousands of die-hard fans won’t be able to see the legendary metal pioneers live this year as they had hoped, but the band has just released the next best thing — a pro-shot video of ‘Paranoid’ from Black Sabbath’s hometown gig in Birmingham, England.

On May 19, 2012, Tony Iommi, Ozzy Osbourne and Geezer Butler shared the stage together for the first time in seven years, as they gave the hometown crowd a set filled with Black Sabbath classics. After opening their set with ‘Into the Void,’ the Birmingham crowd began to chant Tony Iommi’s name, with the guitarist being visibly moved by the overwhelming love of his fans. The audience chanted Iommi’s name throughout Sabbath’s set, which included gems such as ‘War Pigs,’ ‘Black Sabbath’ and ‘Iron Man.’

Black Sabbath, with drummer Tommy Clufetos taking Ward’s spot, closed their May 19 show with ‘Paranoid,’ from their sophomore album of the same name. The stunning footage of the performance was posted earlier today (July 27) on Sabbath’s official YouTube page.

Check out Black Sabbath playing ‘Paranoid’ in the video above.

 

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