Sharon Osbourne reveals band's first manager returned 1969 recordings back to the band: "All of that stuff should be theirs. So it all ended well"

The legal battle over Black Sabbath ’s early demos has been resolved, with the four members regaining ownership of the songs they recorded in 1969 when they were known as Earth.

In June 2025, just weeks before Black Sabbath’s End of the Beginning concert and Ozzy Osbourne ’s death, the band’s first manager Jim Simpson revealed plans to officially release the Earth recordings that Ozzy, Tony Iommi, Geezer Butler, and Bill Ward recorded at Zella Studios in Birmingham, England, in 1969, months before the foursome changed their name from Earth to Black Sabbath.

The Legendary Lost 1969 Tapes were set for release in July 2025 but never arrived, as Sharon Osbourne revealed there was a behind-the-scenes legal battle over ownership of the demos between the band and Simpson.

“As you know, the Band do not want these tapes released, not least as they haven’t heard them…