Sharon Osbourne , widow and manager of Ozzy Osbourne , has ended a long legal dispute with Jim Simpson , Black Sabbath 's first manager . He had planned to release rare demos made by the band's four original members when they were still performing under the name Earth .
Weeks before the death of the Prince of Darkness, Simpson had announced his intention to release the material, titled Earth: The Legendary Lost Tapes. The compilation was scheduled for release in July 2025, but legal threats made by Sharon prevented the release from occurring with the group's official approval.
During the most recent episode of The Osbournes, Sharon commented on the outcome of the case. “We reached an agreement with Jim Simpson and the band now has their demos back. All four [original members of Black Sabbath] own them, which is where the material should be. Everything ended well. We'll talk about what everyone wants to do with it and we'll go from there,” she revealed [transcription via Blabbermouth].
The businesswoman further explained that the recordings are more blues-oriented and quite different from what would later establish the quartet as the pioneering Heavy Metal band. Sharon also stated that she had secured the rights to the original photos from that period and thanked Jim.
“I think it’s historically important for fans of the genre. And we also got the rights to the photos from that time. It’s special. I’m happy that it’s with the band and they can decide together what to do with it. In the end, he did the right thing for the band,” he added.
What does Jim Simpson say about Black Sabbath's demos?
Approaching 90 years old, Simpson previously stated that he paid for the recordings out of his own pocket in 1969, when Ozzy, Tony Iommi, Geezer Butler , and Bill Ward were still teenagers in Birmingham. He revealed that he restored and remastered the tracks with the intention of releasing them through Big Bear Records, his label focused on blues and jazz.
Last year, the former manager said he offered the musicians the chance to participate in the official release, but reported receiving negative responses and "two very threatening emails from Sharon." "I contacted them about it on September 24, 2024. The response I received was that they didn't want it released and didn't want to be involved with it," he commented.
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