Happy Birthday today (April 19) include former Black Sabbath singer Tony Martin. He’s 60. Also celebrating is Winger drummer Rod Morgenstein (64).

Rod Morgenstein
Rod Morgenstein/Youtube
loading...

Tony Martin is best known for his time as lead vocalist of Black Sabbath from 1987 to 1991, and then again from 1993 to 1997. He was the band’s second longest serving singer after Ozzy Osbourne.

Tony Martin was initially brought in to replace Glenn Hughes in the band. Martin’s debut with Black Sabbath would be on the album The Eternal Idol which was released in Dec. of 1987 and was ignored by many critics. Allmusic was quoted as saying, “Martin’s powerful voice added new fire to the band and the album contained some of Iommi’s heaviest riffs in years.”  The album only peaked at No. 168 on the U.S. Billboard 200 chart. Headless Cross was released in April of 1989 on a new label with a new lineup and would once again be ignored by most critics although Allmusic said the album was “the finest non-Ozzy or Dio Black Sabbath album.” The Headless Cross U.S. Tour began in May of 1989 but would be cancelled after just eight shows due to poor ticket sales. I am a big fan of the album and Tony Martin’s singing, and consider Headless Cross to be a forgotten classic. Last year Loudwire reported that Tony Iommi has plans to work with Tony Martin again, writing material for Martin-era Sabbath reissues.

Cheers today to Tony Martin on his 60th birthday! Crank some Tony Martin era Sabbath in his honor.

More From WPDH-WPDA