Fifty years ago, Black Sabbath released their self-titled debut album, which revolutionized the music world and created heavy metal. As one of the most important albums in the genre, a mystery surrounds it: the woman featured on the cover.
In an interview with Rolling Stone , photographer Keith Macmillan , responsible for the cover, revealed the woman's identity. Named Louisa Livingstone , the model was between 18 and 19 years old at the time and was hired for the photo shoot at Mapledurham Watermill in Oxfordshire, England.
“She wasn’t wearing any clothes underneath, we were trying to do some bolder things, but nothing worked. Anything sexier would take away the spooky vibe. She was a great model. She was very brave and understood very well what I was trying to do,” said Keef, as he is credited with his photos.
Livingstone herself also commented on the session: “I remember it was freezing cold and I had to wake up at 4 a.m. Keith kept throwing dry ice into the water, but it wasn’t working the way he wanted, so he ended up using a smoke machine.”
“He just told me, ‘Stand there and do this.’ I’m sure he told me it was for Black Sabbath, but I don’t think that meant much to me at the time,” he said.
The model has no connection to heavy metal beyond the iconic cover, but she remains linked to music to this day. Livingstone has an electronic music project called Indreba and also acted in some series between the 70s and 80s in small roles. See below what Louisa looks like today.
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