Anthony Philip Harford (born 19 April 1957), better known by his stage name Tony Martin, is an English heavy metal vocalist, best known for his time fronting Black Sabbath, initially from 1987 to 1991 and again from 1993 to 1997. Martin was the band's second-longest-serving vocalist after Ozzy Osbourne. He has since been involved in other projects, including M3, Misha Calvin, The Cage, Giuntini Project, and Phenomena.
Despite performing almost exclusively as a vocalist, Martin is a multi-instrumentalist, stating in an interview that he plays guitar, bass, drums, violin, keyboards, harmonica, bagpipes, and pan pipes. On his 2005 solo album Scream, Martin performed vocals, bass, drums, violin and additional guitar parts.
Contents
Career
Black Sabbath, The Eternal Idol, Headless Cross and Tyr (1987–90)
During the recording of The Eternal Idol (1987), Martin was brought in to re-record Ray Gillen's tracks, alongside former Electric Light Orchestra drummer Bev Bevan who had previously been in Black Sabbath during 1983–84 on the Born Again tour.
Martin had been contacted by Black Sabbath to replace Glenn Hughes the year previous. He secured his place in the band after a successful audition singing the track "The Shining". Before the release of the new album, Black Sabbath accepted an offer to play six shows at Sun City, South Africa during the apartheid era. During this period Geezer Butler was coerced into rejoining the band with Bev Bevan remaining on drums. The band was supposed to play a music festival in Plymouth on 18 July, but Butler backed out at the last minute even though Martin and Sabbath had been in rehearsals from 14–16 July in preparation.
The band drew criticism from activists and artists involved with Artists United Against Apartheid, who had been boycotting South Africa since 1985. Bev Bevan refused to play the shows, and was replaced by Terry Chimes, formerly of The Clash. After nearly a year in production, Martin's debut with Sabbath The Eternal Idol was released on 8 December 1987 and ignored by contemporary reviewers. On-line internet era reviews were mixed. AllMusic said that "Martin's powerful voice added new fire" to the band, and the album contained "some of Iommi's heaviest riffs in years".
The album would stall at No. 66 in the UK, peaking at 168 in the US. Sabbath toured in support of Eternal Idol in Germany, Italy and for the first time, Greece. Unfortunately, in part because of a backlash from promoters over the South Africa incident, other European shows were cancelled. Bassist Dave Spitz left the band shortly before the tour, and was replaced by Jo Burt, formerly of Virginia Wolf.
Following the poor commercial performance of The Eternal Idol, Black Sabbath was dropped by Vertigo Records and Warner Bros. Records, and signed with I.R.S. Records. The band took time off in 1988, returning in August to begin work on their next album. As a result of the recording troubles with Eternal Idol, Tony Iommi opted to produce the band's next album himself. "It was a completely new start", Iommi said. "I had to rethink the whole thing, and decided that we needed to build up some credibility again". Iommi enlisted ex-Rainbow drummer Cozy Powell, long-time keyboardist Geoff Nicholls and session bassist Laurence Cottle, and rented a "very cheap studio in England".
Brief Departure from Sabbath and Back Where I Belong (1991–93)
Tony Martin recorded his first solo album Back Where I Belong (1992) while Black Sabbath had reunited with Ronnie James Dio for the Dehumanizer (1992) album.
At the demo level for Back Where I Belong, Tony Martin played all the instruments and the album itself featured former Black Sabbath members bassist Neil Murray and drummer Cozy Powell, as well as Brian May on guitar, among others. Cozy Powell also joined the band for the subsequent tour after leaving Black Sabbath himself. There were two singles released for the album. The first was "If There Is a Heaven", and the second was "Angel in the Bed". This album includes a version of "Jerusalem" from the Black Sabbath album Tyr (1990).
Tony Martin stated that "Back Where I Belong is an album of songs that were written over the period between 1990 and 1991. The title reflects my feelings at having this opportunity to write, record, and perform my own material. The recording of this album has been made possible due to the contributions of the following people who have all given their individual and very special talents to this project, for which I would like to express my eternal thanks!"
Tony Martin returned briefly to Black Sabbath to work on Dehumanizer (1992) when things were not working out with Ronnie James Dio. He, Geoff Nicholls and Cozy Powell worked on a song called "Raising Hell" during these sessions which subsequently ended up on Martins second solo album Scream (2005).
Martin said: "I had already started my first solo album Back Where I Belong so when I got the call to go back I was committed by that point. And in fact it was just a couple of months after they had started the thing with Ronnie James Dio. I was determined to finish my solo thing and so turned them down at that point. We did keep in touch though and I went to some shows. Ronnie wasn’t too pleased, but eventually they had enough and asked me to rejoin again later so it felt like I hadn’t actually left. In fact, I was never formally fired, the phone just stopped ringing. Ian Gillan [Deep Purple singer, also another ex-Black Sabbath lead singer] asked me once if I had actually been fired and I said, "No." He said, "Neither have I." We should just turn up one day and walk on stage!"
Return to Black Sabbath, Cross Purposes and Forbidden (1993–97)
Drummer Vinny Appice left the band following the reunion show to join Ronnie James Dio's solo band, later appearing on Dio's Strange Highways and Angry Machines. After Iommi & Butler realised that the Ozzy Osbourne reunion talks were breaking down they enlisted former Rainbow drummer Bobby Rondinelli, and reinstated Martin.
Martins 4th album with Sabbath, Cross Purposes, was released on 8 February 1994. The album received mixed reviews, with Blender giving the album two stars, calling Soundgarden's 1994 album Superunknown "a far better Sabbath album than this by-the-numbers potboiler". AllMusic's Bradley Torreano called Cross Purposes "the first album since Born Again that actually sounds like a real Sabbath record".
The album just missed the Top 40 in the UK reaching number 41, and also reached 122 on the Billboard 200 in the US. Cross Purposes contained the song "Evil Eye", which was co-written by Van Halen guitarist Eddie Van Halen, although uncredited because of record label restrictions. Touring in support of Cross Purposes began in February 1994 with Morbid Angel and Motörhead in the US. The band filmed a live performance at the Hammersmith Apollo on 13 April 1994, which was released on VHS accompanied by a CD, entitled Cross Purposes Live. After the European tour with Cathedral and Godspeed in June 1994, drummer Bobby Rondinelli quit the band and was replaced by original Black Sabbath drummer Bill Ward for five shows in South America. Following the touring cycle for Cross Purposes, bassist Geezer Butler quit the band for the second time.
Iommi would criticize Martin during this period in his book, to which Martin responded; "It surprises me. I mean, they never said anything to me. Surely, if you've got a problem, the first person you should say something to is the person that's in the band with you... You don't wait ten years. It sounds like a really stupid thing to say, as they didn't say anything to my face – and, if that's the case, then more fool them for not saying anything, because, you know, we could have fixed it. I said to them, endlessly, that if there was anything they wanted changed, done differently, just to say and we could fix it, but clearly they didn't, they hadn't got the guts to, obviously, and to write about it in a book afterwards seems a bit daft to me. I'm not bitter about it, but it is surprising… it seems a bit stupid to say that after the event".
Solo and other collaborations (1998–2005)
After leaving Sabbath, Martin worked with a variety of projects, including Aldo Giuntini. With Dario Mollo, he released two further albums; The Cage in 1999 and The Cage 2. Martin also worked with Empire for their 2003 record Trading Souls.
Late in 2004, Tony let it be known that there would be a new solo album by him out in 2005. The album was recorded at Tony Martin's house, which is in Headless Cross in Redditch, Worcestershire England. The album featured again former Sabbath member Geoff Nicholls and some drum tracks from the late Cozy Powell. Martin explained; "I have recorded 2 tracks featuring the legendary drumming of Cozy Powell. How? well, when I fronted Cozy Powell's Hammer, he gave me 20 drumming tracks to write some songs with, I forgot I had them until I found them recently in the move to my new house."
Tony Martin's Headless Cross (2006-2019) and Kingdom of Madness (2019-present)
Tony Martin established Headless Cross in 2005 and would go on to tour Europe in 2006. The band also toured Brazil in 2008.
After Dio's passing in 2010, there was some speculation that he would either return to Black Sabbath or join the renamed Black Sabbath Heaven & Hell. Martin however ruled out ever working with Sabbath again stating: "Sabbath hasn’t talked to me in 15 years. All of the albums that I was on were removed from sale completely by them and it would take unbelievable changes to get it all back together". Black Sabbath was rejoined by Ozzy Osbourne in 2011 with the band's legal disputes apparently concluded.
Tony Martin's Headless Cross last performed at the Asylum in Birmingham, UK on 27 July 2012. This marked Martin's first ever UK show as a solo artist and first show with his new Headless Cross line-up. Martin stated in interviews that this would be his only live show of the year.
In January 2013 Martin signed to a new music publishing deal by Alan Bambrough of Sony/ATV Music Publishing Limited. Martin would be working on the fourth album Giuntini Project IV (2013) from Giuntini Project, the Italian heavy metal band started in 1988 by guitarist Aldo Giuntini as a solo project. This would be the third album Martin has appeared on. Martin would also appear on releases with Layla Milou and with Veronica Freeman, vocalist with Benedictum. Martin also sang on an album with Zele from Yugoslav/Bosnian rock legends Divlje Jagode.
In 2019, it was announced that Martin would front Kingdom of Madness, a band featuring former Magnum members Mark Stanway, Micky Barker and Richard Bailey performing material from Magnum's classic period. The COVID-19 crisis prevented the band from touring in 2020, with dates postponed till 2021.
On 14 January 2022 Martin released Thorns, his third solo album.
Reunion with Iommi and Black Sabbath re-releases
In January 2016 Martin announced on his Facebook page that he "was greeted by Tony Iommi VERY warmly" at the unveiling of the Cozy Powell memorial (also attended by Neil Murray) and that they may work together again. Shortly after Iommi himself announced his intention to work with Tony Martin again. Iommi said: "We've held back on the reissues because of the current Sabbath thing with Ozzy, but they will certainly be happening. I'd like to do a couple of new tracks for those releases [Headless Cross and Tyr] with Tony Martin. I'll also be looking at working on Cross Purposes and Forbidden."
In January 2024 Tony Iommi confirmed that the Martin-era box set was coming out in May 2024. The box set entitled Anno Domini 1989–1995 was finally released on 31 May 2024 and it includes four of five albums from the 1987–1997 Martin-era of the band, with Headless Cross (1989), Tyr (1990) and Cross Purposes (1994) all remastered, and Forbidden (1995) remixed by guitarist Tony Iommi.
Personal life
In August 2015, Martin married his wife Carole.
Discography
Guest appearances
Phenomena – Psychofantasy (2006)
Candlemass – Candlemass 20 Year Anniversary (DVD 2007)
Various – Voices of Rock: High & Mighty (2009, "Into The Night")
Candlemass – Doomology (2010, on "Witches") (Tony Martin vocals – October 2004)
Phenomena – Blind Faith (2010, on "Liar")
Star One – Victims of the Modern Age (2010, on "Closer to the Stars")
Arrayan Path – Ira Imperium (2011, on "Ira Imperium (The Damned)")
Black Widow – Sleeping With Demons (2011, on "Hail Satan")
Wolfpakk – Wolfpakk (2011, on "Ride The Bullet")
Layla Milou – Reborn (2012, on "Bloody Valentine")
Benedictum – Obey (2013, on "Cry")
Schubert In Rock – Schubert In Rock (2013, on "Second King Of Darkness", "Youg Free And Deadly")
Herman Rarebell & Friends – Acoustic Fever (2013, on "Another Piece of Meat")
Lazy Bonez – Alive (2015, on "Racing Heart")
Magnus Karlsson's Free Fall – Kingdom of Rock (2015, on "When The Sky Falls")
Sebastien – Dark Chambers of Déjà Vu (2015, on "Lamb of God")