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Song · Black Sabbath

“Iron Man” by Black Sabbath

From the album Paranoid (1970)

“Iron Man” by Black Sabbath appears on 104 radio countdowns from 37 stations between 1982 and 2026. It was first released in 1970 on the album Paranoid. Its best result is #1 on the KSHE 95 Rock N' Roll 500 (2023). In the combined RockLists rankings it is #5,050 indie & aaa song of all time and #371 of the '70s.

104countdowns
37stations
#1best position
1#1 finishes
5top 10 finishes
1982–2026years charted

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Iron Man

Video from YouTube (Black Sabbath - Topic). Pressing play loads YouTube's player. Watch on YouTube

"Iron Man" comes from Paranoid, Black Sabbath's second album, released in 1970, and it lumbers out of the speakers like something ancient that has been dug up and is very annoyed about it.

Tony Iommi's riff is the whole world here, a slow, crushing monster of a thing, while Geezer Butler's bass doubles the weight and Ozzy Osbourne howls over the top. Bill Ward's bass drum proved so powerful that producer Rodger Bain and engineer Tom Allom struggled to get it onto tape with the microphones of the day.

Butler wrote the words, and they tell a proper science-fiction tragedy: a man travels into the future and sees the end of the world, but on the way back to warn everyone he's turned to steel by a magnetic field. Mocked and ignored by the people he meant to save, he takes his revenge and brings about the very apocalypse he foresaw. For the record, Butler has said it has nothing to do with the Marvel superhero, since he never read American comics as a kid.

Written with AI assistance from RockLists chart data, MusicBrainz and Wikipedia.

RockLists rankings

Indie & Adult Alternative

Classic Rock

Hard Rock & Metal

All Rock Formats

Year-end countdowns

Year#StationCountdownof
1997 70 97.1 The Eagle Dallas-Fort Worth, TX KEGL The Eagle's Top 97 Songs of 1997 97

All-time and decade countdowns

Year#StationCountdownof
1982 210 95.5 KLOS KLOS Memorial Day 500 (1982) 499
1990 6 Z-Rock Z-Rock Top 1001 Songs of All-Time (1990) 1000
1994 6 KISW KISW Top 1000 of All Time (1994) 1000
1995 5 KISW KISW Top 1000 of All Time (1995) 1000
1996 7 KISW KISW Top 1000 of All Time (1996) 1000
1996 229 WNEW-FM WNEW Firecracker 500 (1996) 500
1997 210 102.3 WBAB WBAB Top 1,023 Rock and Roll Songs of All Time (1997) 1023
1998 34 KISW KISW Top 1000 of All Time (1998) 1000
1999 31 KISW KISW Top 1000 of All Time (1999) 998
2001 62 KISW KISW Top 99 Rock Songs (2001) 99
2001 1467 WFPK WFPK 2001 Greatest Songs of All Time 2000
2002 414 92.3 KGON KGON Top 923 Classic Rock Songs of All Time (2002) 923
2002 26 KISW KISW Top 999 of All Time (2002) 999
2004 29 Q101 Q101 Top 300 Party Songs of All-Time (July 2004) 300
2004 413 92.3 KGON KGON Top 923 Classic Rock Songs of All Time (2004) 923
2010 34 Studio Brussel Studio Brussel De Zwaarste Lijst (2010) 70
2010 26 97.9 The Loop The Loop USO Rock 'N' Roll 500 (2010) 500
2011 68 100.7 WZLX 100.7 WZLX Top 1100 Countdown (2011) 1100
2011 66 Studio Brussel Studio Brussel De Zwaarste Lijst (2011) 70
2012 69 100.7 WZLX 100.7 WZLX Top 1200 Countdown (2012) 1200
2012 61 Studio Brussel Studio Brussel De Zwaarste Lijst (2012) 70
2012 93 WXPN WXPN 885 Greatest Rock Songs (2012) 885
2013 454 100.7 WZLX 100.7 WZLX Firecracker 500 (2013) 500
2013 49 Studio Brussel Studio Brussel De Zwaarste Lijst (2013) 66
2013 170 100.7 WZLX 100.7 WZLX Grand Jam 1000 (2013) 1000
2013 483 Big 100 BIG 500 Labor Day Countdown (2013) 500
2013 29 99.1 PLR 99.1 PLR CT 500 (2013) 500
2013 28 KBPI KBPI Top 200 Songs of All Time 200
2014 191 Big 100 BIG 1000 New Year's Countdown (2014) 1000
2014 26 100.7 WZLX 100.7 WZLX Firecracker 400 (2014) 400
2014 55 Studio Brussel Studio Brussel De Zwaarste Lijst (2014) 66
2014 419 100.7 WZLX 100.7 WZLX 1K Countdown (2014) 1000
2015 252 I-95 I-95 Memorial Day Weekend Top 500 (2015) 500
2015 326 100.7 WZLX 100.7 WZLX Firecracker 500 (2015) 499
2015 343 102.9 The Whale 102.9 The Whale Hartford 500 (2015) 500
2015 41 Studio Brussel Studio Brussel De Zwaarste Lijst (2015) 66
2015 169 100.7 WZLX 100.7 WZLX Top 1007 Classic Rock Countdown (2015) 1007
2016 231 Qfm96 Qfm96 Memorial Day 500 (2016) 500
2016 59 100.7 WZLX 100.7 WZLX Top 1007 Countdown for 2016 1007
2016 51 103.5 The Fox The Fox Memorial Day 500 (2016) 299
2016 192 102.9 The Whale 102.9 The Whale Hartford 500 (2016) 500
2017 73 Big 100 BIG 500 Memorial Day Countdown (2017) 500
2017 228 97 Rock 97 Rock N Roll 500 (2017) 500
2017 135 97.9 The Loop 97.9 The Loop Top 540 Countdown (2017) 540
2018 72 Big 100 BIG 500 Memorial Day Countdown (2018) 500
2018 122 97 Rock 97 Rock N Roll 500 (2018) 500
2019 102 102.5 WDVE DVE Memorial Day 500 (2019) 500
2019 137 Big 100 BIG 500 Memorial Day Countdown (2019) 500
2019 71 99.1 PLR 99.1 PLR Big 500 (2019) 499
2019 125 102.5 KZOK KZOK Top 1025 of 2019 1025
2019 165 97 Rock 97 Rock N Roll 500 (2019) 500
2019 111 106.7 WLLZ WLLZ 500 (2019) 500
2020 68 102.5 WDVE DVE Memorial Day 500 (2020) 500
2020 86 102.5 KZOK KZOK Classic Rock Top 1025 (2020) 1025
2020 80 97 Rock 97 Rock N Roll 500 (2020) 500
2020 253 Q105.7 Q105.7 Memorial Day 500 (2020) 499
2020 29 106.7 WLLZ WLLZ 500 (2020) 500
2021 121 100.7 KSLX KSLX Arizona 500 (2021) 499
2021 173 WCSX WCSX Rock & Roll 500 (2021) 499
2021 18 106.7 WLLZ WLLZ 500 (2021) 500
2021 166 102.5 WDVE DVE Memorial Day 500 (2021) 500
2021 87 Q104.3 Q104.3 Top 1,043 Classic Rock Songs of All Time (2021) 1043
2021 50 97 Rock 97 Rock N Roll 500 (2021) 500
2022 372 90.9 The Bridge 90.9 The Bridge Top 909 Songs of the '70s 908
2022 41 97 Rock 97 Rock N Roll 500 (2022) 500
2022 285 97.1 The River River 500 (2022) 500
2022 111 100.7 KSLX KSLX Arizona 500 (2022) 500
2022 20 WMGK WMGK Philly 500 (2022) 500
2022 25 106.7 WLLZ WLLZ Rock N Roll 500 (2022) 500
2022 216 102.5 WDVE DVE Memorial Day 500 (2022) 500
2022 176 94.1 KRNA KRNA Memorial Day 500 (2022) 500
2022 253 Q104.3 Q104.3 Top 1,043 Classic Rock Songs of All Time (2022) 1043
2022 158 102.5 KZOK KZOK Classic Rock Top 1025 (2022) 1025
2023 238 97.1 The Drive 97.1 The Drive Memorial Day Weekend Rock N Roll 500 (2023) 500
2023 85 97 Rock 97 Rock N Roll 500 (2023) 500
2023 383 Qfm96 Qfm96 Memorial Day 500 (2023) 500
2023 67 WMGK WMGK Philly 500 (2023) 500
2023 76 106.7 WLLZ WLLZ Rock N Roll 500 (2023) 500
2023 694 90.9 The Bridge 90.9 The Bridge Top 909 Songs of All Time 909
2023 176 101.5 WPDH WPDH Top 1015 (2023) 1015
2023 155 102.5 WDVE DVE Memorial Day 500 (2023) 500
2023 1 KSHE 95 KSHE 95 Rock N' Roll 500 (2023) 500
2023 251 Q104.3 Q104.3 Top 1,043 Classic Rock Songs of All Time (2023) 1043
2023 69 94.1 WJJO WJJO Frequent Rocker Top 100 Songs of 2023 100
2024 199 Q104.3 Q104.3 Top 1,043 Classic Rock Songs of All Time (2024) 1043
2024 117 97 Rock 97 Rock N Roll 500 (2024) 499
2024 382 Qfm96 Qfm96 Memorial Day 500 (2024) 498
2024 434 WMGK WMGK Philly 500 (2024) 500
2024 108 106.7 WLLZ WLLZ Rock N Roll 500 (2024) 500
2024 82 KQRS KQRS KQ 500 (2024) 499
2024 78 102.5 WDVE DVE Memorial Day 500 (2024) 500
2024 15 KSHE 95 KSHE 95 Rock N' Roll 500 (2024) 500
2025 277 102.5 WDVE DVE Memorial Day 500 (2025) 500
2025 111 Q104.3 Q104.3 Top 1,043 Classic Rock Songs of All Time (2025) 1043
2025 115 97 Rock 97 Rock N Roll 500 (2025) 500
2025 378 Qfm96 Qfm96 Memorial Day 500 (2025) 498
2025 255 WMGK WMGK Philly 500 (2025) 500
2025 71 106.7 WLLZ WLLZ Rock N Roll 500 (2025) 500
2025 100 94.1 WJJO WJJO Frequent Rocker Top 100 Songs of 2025 100
2026 156 102.5 WDVE DVE Memorial Day 500 (2026) 500
2026 160 100.7 KSLX KSLX Arizona 500 (2026) 500
2026 132 WMGK WMGK Philly 500 (2026) 500
2026 29 106.7 WLLZ WLLZ Rock N Roll 500 (2026) 500

Also listed as: Iron man.

Charting alongside it in 1997

Best songs of 1997 →
  1. 1Song 2Blur
  2. 2Walkin' On The SunSmash Mouth
  3. 3TubthumpingChumbawamba
  4. 4FlySugar Ray
  5. 5The Impression That I GetThe Mighty Mighty Bosstones
  6. 6Semi-Charmed LifeThird Eye Blind

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