Black Sabbath have unveiled their own ‘Black Lives Matter’ t-shirt with a design based on the album art of ‘Master of Reality’, a week after Tom Morello was seen wearing one in an Instagram post.
All proceeds from the shirt’s sales will go directly to Black Lives Matter.
View this post on Instagram#BlackLivesMatter 100% of the proceeds to @BlkLivesMatter https://blacksabbathapparelshop.com/
The shirts are selling for US$25 each. They can be ordered from anywhere in the world and will ship from mid-July from the band’s official merchandise website.
On June 8, Morello posted a photo to Instagram of himself in the Black Lives Matter shirt featuring the iconic font, alongside his mother and a message supporting the movement.
View this post on InstagramMy 96 yr old mom has been a tireless advocate for Black Lives her whole life. From being a foreign student advisor at the Univ. of Illinois, to teaching in Kenya and supporting the anti-colonial movement there, to teaching African Studies and bringing a radical perspective to a white conservative high school for 30 yrs, to being a member of the Illinois Urban League and campaigning for civil rights, to helping homeless African American men get their GED at the Salvation Army, to telling anybody who came at our family with any racist garbage to go straight to hell, to arming me with pride & confidence, to being a lifelong proponent of racial justice and ruthless critic of racist police. Proud to stand with her today, as always, in solidarity in the fight for a more just and humane country & planet. (Photo by Rhoads Morello)
Black Sabbath bassist Geezer Butler approved, commenting “Nice shirt & nice sentiment & awesome mum”. Now, the band are selling the shirts themselves.
Black Sabbath aren’t the first band to release merchandise in support of the Black Lives Matter movement. Knocked Loose, Dying Wish, Drug Church, SeeYouSpaceCowboy, Can’t Swim, Beartooth and The Story So Far are some of the other acts who have designed new merchandise, with profits going to Black Lives Matter and related charities.
- READ MORE: George The Poet on Black Lives Matter: “This is our opportunity to reassess our story”
Earlier this year, Black Sabbath’s Ozzy Osbourne got behind another charitable cause through the sale of merchandise. The singer donated 10 per cent of all tour merchandise sales to Michael J. Fox’s Parkinson’s disease charity.
In May, Black Sabbath’s Tony Iommi revealed that it “would be good” to play more shows with the iconic metal outfit.
“It would have to be a year or an 18-month tour,” he said on SiriusXM’s ‘Trunk Nation’ show.
“The hard thing is, certainly with Sabbath, because it’s such a big thing, you can’t just do an occasional show, because of the crew, and you have the whole setup.”
