Music

Black Sabbath's 1972 cocaine budget was enough to buy a house

by Jesse Locke

On the eve of embarking on a final world tour, some new/old stories about riff-wielding granddaddies Black Sabbath are making the rounds. Specifically, their 1972 cocaine budget of $75,000, which bumps up to over $400,000 in today’s dollars.

Dangerous Minds has shared a few choice anecdotes from that year’s recording sessions for the Sabbath album Vol. 4 (originally titled Snowblind *wink wink*). Bassist Geezer Butler explains that their stash of coke and Quaaludes was flown in by private plane, while they partied at the California mansion of John Du Pont. You may recognize his name from the bizarre wrestling-related murder case recently depicted in the film Foxcatcher.

At least they got their money’s worth when they topped the $60,000 budget of the album’s recording. In his autobiography I Am Ozzy, the Sabbath singer shared his fuzzy memories:

“Eventually we started to wonder where the fuck all the coke was coming from… I’m telling you: that coke was the whitest, purest, strongest stuff you could ever imagine. One sniff, and you were king of the universe.”