The chart success of 13 in the UK - selling 13,000 more copies than the second-placed Beady Eye album - shatters the previous record for longest gap between number one albums. Rod Stewart had previously claimed the title in May with a gap of 34 years, but Sabbath have topped that recent record by almost a decade. Their last number one album was their 1970 sophomore offering Paranoid.
Osbourne has received the news by both praising the previous record holder and criticising the state of modern music. "Rod's the same as us, we've got something other people haven't got" he observed. "It's all manufactured bulls**t these days. But the likes of Rod, and Elton John and us have got something different. We know our craft."
Although Osbourne has been active with the band since 1997, 13 marks the first time he has collaborated in studio with bandmates Tony Iommi and Geezer Butler since 1978's Never Say Die!. The new album was produced without the participation of original drummer Bill Ward. The late Ronnie James Dio had regularly acted as the band's lead singer in the absence of Osbourne.
Osbourne, 64, has expressed hope that fans will not have to wait "another 43 years" for the next chart-topping Black Sabbath LP, but warns "I don't want to promise anything to anyone. If it comes to pass we don't make another record, then I can rest easily knowing we finished things properly with 13".
