Biography
Geezer Butler earned his reputation chiefly through his work as Black Sabbath's bassist and chief supplier of lyrics, establishing himself among heavy metal's most pivotal bassists. The singular low-tuned textures and tuneful phrasing he developed helped define the approach of respected low-end players such as Billy Sheehan, Iron Maiden's Steve Harris, and Metallica's Cliff Burton, along with countless others. Across more than forty years with Black Sabbath he also recorded and toured with Heaven & Hell, Ozzy Osbourne, and Deadland Ritual, while issuing three solo albums credited to GZR.
Terence "Geezer" Butler entered the world on July 17, 1949, in Birmingham, England. During his teenage years he launched Rare Reed alongside school friend John "Ozzy" Osbourne; by autumn 1967 the pair had regrouped inside the blues quartet Polka Tulk, completed by guitarist Tony Iommi and drummer Bill Ward. After a short spell under the name Earth, the quartet settled on Black Sabbath in early 1969, taking the title from a Butler composition inspired by his interest in occult novelist Dennis Wheatley. Their self-titled 1970 debut established the group's crushing, murky hard-rock template, yet Paranoid delivered the artistic and commercial breakthrough, moving four million copies in the U.S. alone thanks to staples such as "War Pigs," "Iron Man," and the title track. Although Osbourne remained the visual centerpiece, Butler supplied the lyrics, channeling his fascination with the black arts into persistent motifs of death and ruin.
Black Sabbath's commercial fortunes declined through the second half of the 1970s, prompting Butler's brief exit in 1979; his return aligned with Osbourne's departure, after which the band continued with new vocalist Ronnie James Dio. Butler left again in mid-1984 to form the Geezer Butler Band, then rejoined Osbourne in 1990. He returned to Sabbath for Dehumanizer in 1992 and Cross Purposes in 1994. Following another stretch with Osbourne he created GZR, releasing Plastic Planet in 1995 and Black Science two years later. In 1998 the original four members reconvened for the live album Reunion, securing the band's first Grammy Award.
Butler unveiled his third GZR album, Ohmwork, in 2005, then united with Iommi and former Black Sabbath and Dio colleagues Ronnie James Dio and Vinny Appice as Heaven & Hell. The project issued Live from Radio City Music Hall in 2007 and the studio set The Devil You Know in 2009 before disbanding after Dio's death in 2010; the concert recording Neon Nights: 30 Years of Heaven & Hell appeared in tribute. Osbourne, Iommi, and Butler revived Black Sabbath in 2013, delivering the Grammy-winning, Rick Rubin-produced 13, the group's last studio album. The 2016 EP The End supplemented it with previously unreleased material from those sessions plus several live tracks. Two years afterward Butler joined the hard-rock supergroup Deadland Ritual with Franky Perez of Apocalyptica, guitarist Steve Stevens of Billy Idol and Michael Jackson, and drummer Matt Sorum of the Cult and Guns N' Roses. Their debut single "Down in Flames" surfaced in 2018, followed by "Broken and Bruised" in 2019. The 2021 anthology Manipulations of the Mind: The Complete Collection gathered every Butler solo album alongside unreleased demos, studio outtakes, and live recordings.
Terence "Geezer" Butler entered the world on July 17, 1949, in Birmingham, England. During his teenage years he launched Rare Reed alongside school friend John "Ozzy" Osbourne; by autumn 1967 the pair had regrouped inside the blues quartet Polka Tulk, completed by guitarist Tony Iommi and drummer Bill Ward. After a short spell under the name Earth, the quartet settled on Black Sabbath in early 1969, taking the title from a Butler composition inspired by his interest in occult novelist Dennis Wheatley. Their self-titled 1970 debut established the group's crushing, murky hard-rock template, yet Paranoid delivered the artistic and commercial breakthrough, moving four million copies in the U.S. alone thanks to staples such as "War Pigs," "Iron Man," and the title track. Although Osbourne remained the visual centerpiece, Butler supplied the lyrics, channeling his fascination with the black arts into persistent motifs of death and ruin.
Black Sabbath's commercial fortunes declined through the second half of the 1970s, prompting Butler's brief exit in 1979; his return aligned with Osbourne's departure, after which the band continued with new vocalist Ronnie James Dio. Butler left again in mid-1984 to form the Geezer Butler Band, then rejoined Osbourne in 1990. He returned to Sabbath for Dehumanizer in 1992 and Cross Purposes in 1994. Following another stretch with Osbourne he created GZR, releasing Plastic Planet in 1995 and Black Science two years later. In 1998 the original four members reconvened for the live album Reunion, securing the band's first Grammy Award.
Butler unveiled his third GZR album, Ohmwork, in 2005, then united with Iommi and former Black Sabbath and Dio colleagues Ronnie James Dio and Vinny Appice as Heaven & Hell. The project issued Live from Radio City Music Hall in 2007 and the studio set The Devil You Know in 2009 before disbanding after Dio's death in 2010; the concert recording Neon Nights: 30 Years of Heaven & Hell appeared in tribute. Osbourne, Iommi, and Butler revived Black Sabbath in 2013, delivering the Grammy-winning, Rick Rubin-produced 13, the group's last studio album. The 2016 EP The End supplemented it with previously unreleased material from those sessions plus several live tracks. Two years afterward Butler joined the hard-rock supergroup Deadland Ritual with Franky Perez of Apocalyptica, guitarist Steve Stevens of Billy Idol and Michael Jackson, and drummer Matt Sorum of the Cult and Guns N' Roses. Their debut single "Down in Flames" surfaced in 2018, followed by "Broken and Bruised" in 2019. The 2021 anthology Manipulations of the Mind: The Complete Collection gathered every Butler solo album alongside unreleased demos, studio outtakes, and live recordings.
Albums
Singles
