London ( CNN ) -- The rock band Black Sabbath have created music history on both sides of the Atlantic with the release of their new album `` 13 . '' The record has provided the band with their first number one album in the U.S. and their first album chart topper in the UK after an unprecedented 43 years . They have achieved the landmark by returning to their roots . It 's the band 's first album for more than three decades featuring vocalist Ozzy Osbourne along with fellow original band members guitarist Tony Iommi and bass player Geezer Butler . They credit producer Rick Rubin with helping them overcome their initial apprehension . `` He was really good for us '' , says Butler `` and suggested we go back to the old spirit of how we used to do things like live in the studio , a jam , live in the studio kind of feel . And that gave us the direction to go in . '' `` We tried it in 2001 '' adds Osbourne `` and I think unconsciously we knew this was our last chance . If we had failed on this attempt people would have said 'ah it 's never gon na happen . ' I think it must be over 30 or 40 years since I listened to the first album because you know you move on and you challenge yourself . As I was saying earlier on , it 's like asking the Beatles to go back to 'Please Please Me ' and they would have gone 'what ? ' '' That first album was recorded in just two days in the English city of Birmingham in 1969 . The band 's name was inspired by seeing people queuing to see a horror movie at a cinema in the city . Osbourne recalls : `` Black Sabbath was an after-thought cos originally we were a blues jazz band and someone said 'people pay money to see horror movies and get scared , why do n't we start writing scary music ? ' '' Playing scary music produced a legacy that has influenced generations of rock bands and labeled Black Sabbath as godfathers of heavy metal . But the band has an uneasy relationship with their musical offspring . `` I have never ever ever been able to attach myself to the word 'heavy metal ' -- it has no musical connotations , '' Osbourne says . `` If it was heavy rock I could get that but the 70s was kind of like a bluesy thing , the 80s was kind of bubblegum-frosted hair , multicolored clothes and the 90s was kind of grungy . People come up to me and say 'your Sabbath work was a big influence on me . ' I could go 'Oh yeah I can see that ' but other bands ... what part of that is inspired by us ? Some of it is just angry people screaming down a microphone ! '' The band had to overcome several obstacles to complete the new album . Original drummer Bill Ward was replaced by Rage Against the Machine 's Brad Wilk on the new album after a contractual dispute . And Tony Iommi was diagnosed with cancer . `` If it was me I 'd just go `` I 'm out of here '' says Osbourne `` but he never complained once , he just kept it to himself , I 'd be thinking this is the end if it was me . My wife beat cancer . I did n't know if anyone could beat cancer . '' `` He was an inspiration to us during the album '' adds Butler . `` Nothing would stand in his way . He just got on with it and through it and I thought if he can do that then I can do that so we persevered with it . '' Ozzy Osbourne recently apologized to his band mates and wife Sharon after admitting he 'd relapsed into a cycle of drink and drugs . But he says he 's been sober now for four months and ready to take the album on the road . They say the touring experience now is very different to their wildest days . `` It 's great '' says Osbourne . `` I do n't go to clubs or bars , I stay in my room . '' `` Do the gig then go to bed ! '' laughs Butler . Man had not long since set foot on the moon when Black Sabbath had their first number one album in the UK . It took a record-breaking interval of 42 years and eight months to repeat the feat . At times it may have felt like the beginning of the end for the band but in the words of one of their album 's stand-out tracks it may in fact be merely the `` End of the Beginning . '' Osbourne ends in reflective mood . `` Black Sabbath was n't some band created by a London mogul . We were four guys who had a dream that became bigger than expectations . It 's been the best thing that ever happened to me . ''
Black Sabbath creates history with the release of their new album `` 13 '' Record is their first No . one album in UK , first U.S. chart topper in 43 years . Singer Osbourne says `` this was our last chance '' to return to their roots . Ozzy Osbourne says he 's uncomfortable with legacy as godfather of heavy metal .