Terence “Geezer” Butler was born July 17, 1949, in Birmingham, England. Not only a stand alone amazing musician that was one of the founders of what we now call Metal, but an elite song writer/lyricist that in our opinion is under-rated . The name “Black Sabbath” and all the dark story telling themes of the band can be traced directly to the mind of Geezer Butler.
As a teen Geezer formed his first band, Rare Breed, with schoolmate John “Ozzy” Osbourne; in the fall of 1968, the two reunited in the blues quartet Polka Tulk, which also featured guitarist Tony Iommi and drummer Bill Ward. After briefly re-christening themselves Earth, the foursome adopted the Black Sabbath name in early 1969, at Geezer’s suggestion. While Black Sabbath’s 1970 debut laid the foundations for their deafening, sludgy hard rock attack, the follow-up Paranoid was their creative and commercial breakthrough, selling four-million copies in the U.S. alone on the strength of fan favorites like “War Pigs,” “Iron Man,” and the title track; though Osbourne was the band’s focal point, Geezer wrote the songs’ lyrics, drawing heavily upon his fascination with the black arts to explore recurring themes of death and destruction. During the latter half of the 1970s, Black Sabbath’s popularity dwindled, and in 1979 Geezer briefly left the band; his return to the lineup coincided with Osbourne’s departure, although the group continued on with new front man Ronnie James Dio. Geezer again exited in mid-1984, forming the Geezer Butler Band before reuniting with Osbourne in 1987. Geezer re-joined Sabbath for 1992’s Dehumanizer, but again quit the group two years later; after another fling with Osbourne, he formed G/Z/R, issuing Plastic Planet in 1995. The solo Black Science followed in 1997, and Ohmwork in 2005. It was around 1997 that Geezer returned again to Black Sabbath, for the Ozzfest 97 tour, and has been involved with Black Sabbath since this point on various Ozzfest tours through till “The End” in 2016. Geezer continues in the new band Deadland Ritual starting in 2019.
Rock Hard Geezer !
