Black Sabbath launch international design contest and sign new deal

One of the most iconic rock bands of all time, Black Sabbath, has signed with world's leading music merchandising company, Bravado, a division of Universal Music Group.

Black Sabbath, consisting of the legendary Ozzy Osbourne, Geezer Butler and Tony Iommi, are one of the most influential bands of all time. Their albums, including the quadruple platinum Paranoid, released in 1970, helped define the genre of hard rock. Frequently cited as one of the greatest hard rock and metal bands of all time, Black Sabbath has sold 70 million albums worldwide. They were inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2006.

Bravado will commemorate the launch of the Black Sabbath collection with contests held in the USA, UK and Germany for fans and budding t-shirt designers to create their own Black Sabbath inspired merchandise. In the USA, Hot Topic will sponsor a "Design your own Black Sabbath T-shirt" and in the UK, HMV will sponsor the same, with one lucky winner having his/her creation sold exclusively at that store.

The winning designer will also receive a lithograph signed by the members of Black Sabbath. In Germany, the leading mail order company EMP, will sponsor the contest, with the winning design sold exclusively in their catalog and online.

"Bravado is dedicated to working with the most talented and most popular artists of our time," stated Mr. Bennett. "To many, Black Sabbath transcend their music. They not only created a genre, but they then elevated it to have a place in pop culture. I can't wait to see what kind of products they will create with us."

On June 10th, 2012 Black Sabbath will headline Download Music Festival at Donnington Park and in August the band will perform at the Lollapalooza Festival in the Chicago, Illinois.