Did Black Sabbath copy this Brazilian singer?

You don’t need a music degree to hear it: The guitar riff in “Sabbath Bloody Sabbath,” one of Black Sabbath’s most iconic tracks, sounds uncannily similar to a song recorded months earlier by Vanusa, a singer best remembered in Brazil for her sweeping romantic ballads.

Released in December 1973, “Sabbath Bloody Sabbath” helped re-establish the band’s creative footing after a period of writer’s block and internal struggles. But four months earlier, Vanusa had released her self-titled album, which included a single English-language track titled “What to Do.” When played side by side, the similarity in the opening riffs — and parts of the vocal melody — borders on the absurd.

What makes the resemblance especially puzzling is the obscurity of Vanusa’s track beyond Brazilian borders. In her home country, Vanusa was a household name in the 1970s and 1980s, known more for her blonde bombshell image and emotional delivery than for proto-metal riffs. That she recorded a track that could pass for early Sabbath surprised even longtime fans.

Some biographical details have fueled speculation. At the time Sabbath was preparing to record their fifth studio album, guitarist Tony Iommi (who had a Brazilian grandmother) was facing creative burnout. “I panicked because I didn't have a single idea about what to write,” he said in a 2013 interview. “It might have been the drugs, it could have been the pressure, but either way I felt it was my fault.”

Then, inspiration returned. “We almost thought that we were finished as a band,” bassist Geezer Butler recalled in 2001. “Once Tony came out with the initial riff for Sabbath Bloody Sabbath, we went, ‘We’re baaaack.’”

Coincidence? Or something more?

Rather than sue, Vanusa (who died in 2020, aged 73) decided to celebrate. The rediscovery of “What to Do” breathed new life into her stage performances. “This song has never made it into my set; it was somehow lost,” she said. “But a lot of people are now asking me to play it. And do you know what? I love it! My band and I are rehearsing it and we should play it live soon.”

For now, the mystery remains unresolved — another curious echo in rock history.

As a music powerhouse, it is no surprise that Brazilian rhythms have inspired artists from around the world. Some cases, however, go beyond mere inspiration.

• Gotye vs Luiz Bonfá: If you were alive in 2012, you heard the Gotye song “Somebody That I Used To Know.”  The song uses notes from 1967 track “Seville” by Brazilian guitarist Luiz Bonfá. Gotye agreed to pay USD 1 million to settle a claim by Bonfá's family.

• Jorge Ben Jor vs Rod Stewart: In 1979, Brazilian music legend Jorge Ben Jor accused Rod Stewart of copying the melody of the chorus from his song “Taj Mahal.” Stewart confessed and described it in his autobiography as “unconscious plagiarism.”

• Jorge Ben Jor vs Black Eyed Peas: Twenty years later, Ben Jor sued the Black Eyed Peas for the use of unauthorized samples in three of the group’s songs. According to UOL, he was credited in all of them.