For most metal fans, the story seems simple: Ozzy Osbourne leaves Black Sabbath, and Ronnie James Dio steps in to launch a new era. But tucked away in the band’s late-’70s chaos is a strange, almost mythic side quest — the brief moment when Dave Walker fronted Black Sabbath, and nearly helped shape what became Never Say Die!.
In late 1977, burnout and bad blood finally caught up with Ozzy Osbourne. With relationships inside Black Sabbath fraying and another album cycle looming, he walked away just as the band was gearing up to record their eighth studio record, Never Say Die!.
Suddenly, this doom-laden juggernaut needed a new voice.
They turned to Dave Walker, a name that made sense on paper but still felt left-field in the Sabbath universe. He’d already put in time with Fleetwood Mac, Savoy Brown, and other outfits, bringing a bluesy, road-tested presence that was miles away from Ozzy’s haunted wail. For a moment, it looked like Black Sabbath might be about to pivot into a different future — same riffs, different ghost behind the mic.
But the timing was brutal. Dave Walker barely had a chance to settle in before the ground shifted again. Before the band could fully cement this new lineup, Ozzy Osbourne had second thoughts and decided to come back. When he did, there was a catch: he reportedly refused to sing any of the material that Black Sabbath had worked up with Dave Walker. For a band already drowning in personal and creative tension, that was another headache stacked onto an already unstable situation.
For decades, this whole episode lived mostly as rumor and footnote. Some read read about Dave Walker’s stint, maybe saw a photo or a passing mention, but actually hearing him with Black Sabbath was nearly impossible. No official releases. No easy bootleg. Just whispers about what might have been.
That’s why a recent upload by YouTube user Brian Schaefer hit the heavy music world like a long-delayed transmission from an alternate timeline.
The footage captures Black Sabbath on the UK television programme “Look! Hear!”, with Dave Walker out front. It’s not some polished live album or box-set centerpiece — it’s a TV appearance from a messy era — but for us fans, it’s gold. In the video, the band slides into the intro to “War Pigs” before unveiling an early version of the Never Say Die! track “Junior’s Eyes”.
“Junior’s Eyes” is where things get really intriguing. As an early take on a Never Say Die! cut, it hints at how that material might have evolved if Dave Walker had stayed. The phrasing, the feel, even the emotional center of the song shifts when it’s not filtered through Ozzy’s uniquely haunted delivery. You can almost sense another version of Never Say Die! taking shape — one that never got the chance to exist.
