13 (Black Sabbath album)

13 is the nineteenth and final studio album from the English heavy metal band Black Sabbath. Issued on 7 June 2013 via Republic Records in the US and Vertigo Records elsewhere, it arrived 18 years after the band’s previous studio effort, Forbidden (1995)—the longest gap between any two of their studio albums. The record also marked the first time original vocalist Ozzy Osbourne and bassist Geezer Butler had appeared on a studio release since the live album Reunion (1998), which itself included only two new studio tracks. For Osbourne, it was his first full studio album with the band since Never Say Die! (1978); for Butler, it was his first since Cross Purposes (1994).

The original lineup first attempted to craft a new album in 2001 with producer Rick Rubin, but development stretched over a decade. Osbourne returned to his solo work, and the other members pursued separate projects, including GZR and Heaven & Hell. When Black Sabbath announced the end of their hiatus on 11 November 2011, they confirmed they would resume work on the album with Rubin. The recording sessions featured Osbourne, Butler, and guitarist Tony Iommi, with drummer Brad Wilk of Rage Against the Machine and Audioslave stepping in after original drummer Bill Ward declined to participate due to a contractual dispute.

Three singles—“God Is Dead?”, “End of the Beginning”, and “Loner”—supported the album. Critics responded positively, praising the band’s songwriting and performance decades into their career, though the album was also noted as a casualty of the loudness war, its sound quality compromised by excessive dynamic range compression. At the 56th Annual Grammy Awards in 2014, “God Is Dead?” won the Grammy for Best Metal Performance. Commercially, 13 reached number one in several countries, including the UK and US. It later earned gold certification from the British Phonographic Industry for selling 100,000 copies in the UK, and platinum certifications in Brazil, Canada, Germany, and Poland.

After releasing Forbidden in 1995 to largely negative reviews, the group found itself at a crossroads. Following reunion tours from 1997 to 1999—mostly with Ozzfest—and a touring break in 2000, the original lineup began work on a new album with Rick Rubin in spring 2001.