Geezer Butler

Infobox musical artist
Name = Geezer Butler

---

Img_capt = Geezer Butler, on stage with Heaven and Hell in 2007.
Img_size = 250
Landscape = Yes
Background = non_vocal_instrumentalist
Birth_name = Terence Michael Joseph Butler
Alias =
Born = birth date and age|1949|7|17
Birmingham, England
Died =
Instrument = Bass, Guitar
Genre = Heavy metal
Occupation = Musician, Songwriter
Years_active = 1966 to Present
Label = Sanctuary, TVT
Associated_acts = Black Sabbath, GZR, Ozzy Osbourne, Heaven and Hell
URL = [http://www.geezerbutler.com/ geezerbutler.com]
Notable_instruments =

Terence Michael Joseph "Geezer" Butler (born 17 July, 1949 in Aston, Birmingham, England) is the founding bassist for the heavy metal band Black Sabbath. He is currently involved in Heaven and Hell.

Career

Butler formed his first band, "Rare Breed", with schoolmate John "Ozzy" Osbourne in the autumn of 1967. Separated for a time, Ozzy and Geezer reunited in the blues foursome, "Polka Tulk", along with guitarist Tony Iommi and drummer Bill Ward. They renamed their band "Earth", but after finding a band in the small-time English circuit with the same name, soon adopted Black Sabbath in early 1969.

Butler played rhythm guitar in his pre-Sabbath days, including with Rare Breed, but when Sabbath was formed, Iommi made it clear that he wouldn't want to play with another guitarist, so Butler moved to bass.

Butler is noted as being one of the first bassists to use a Wah-wah pedal on his bass, as showcased at the beginning of "N.I.B." which inspired many later bassists, such as Cliff Burton who cited him as an influence. He was also one of the first bassists to de-tune (from the standard EADG to the lower C#F#BE), in order to match Iommi who had started tuning his guitar to C# (one and a half steps down). De-tuning was soon adopted as a standard in many heavy metal bands to follow.

While Ozzy Osbourne was the focal point of the band, Butler wrote most of the band's 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, although the group continued on in the early 1980s with ex-Rainbow frontman Ronnie James Dio and then with ex-Deep Purple frontman Ian Gillan. Butler quit the band in the middle of 1984, forming the Geezer Butler Band. In 1988 he joined Ozzy Osbourne to take part in the "No Rest For The Wicked" World Tour. Butler re-joined Black Sabbath in 1991 for the reunion of the "Mob Rules" lineup, but again quit the group after the Cross Purposes tour of 1994.

By 1995, Butler was back together with Osbourne, to play on the "Ozzmosis" album. After recording "Ozzmosis", he formed G/Z/R, issuing "Plastic Planet" in 1995. His next solo album, "Black Science" followed in 1997. Butler returned to Sabbath one more time for the 1997 edition of Ozzfest, and has remained with the band since. In 2005, he released "Ohmwork", his third solo album. In October 2006 it was announced that Butler would be reuniting with Tony Iommi, Vinny Appice and Ronnie James Dio for a tour under the moniker Heaven and Hell - the latest incarnation of Black Sabbath.

He currently plays Lakland basses. [http://www.lakland.com/artists/geezer_butler.htm Welcome to Lakland ] ]

Discography

;Solo
* 2005 - "Ohmwork" (as "GZR")
* 1997 - "Black Science" (as "geezer")
* 1995 - "Plastic Planet" (as "g//z/r")

;Black Sabbath
* 2007 - ""
* 2007 - ""
* 2004 - ""
* 2002 - ""
* 2002 - "Past Lives"
* 1998 - "Reunion"
* 1996 - "The Sabbath Stones"
* 1995 - "Cross Purposes Live"
* 1994 - "Cross Purposes"
* 1992 - "Dehumanizer"
* 1983 - "Born Again"
* 1982 - "Live Evil"
* 1981 - "Mob Rules"
* 1980 - "Heaven and Hell"
* 1980 - "Live at Last!"
* 1978 - "Never Say Die!"
* 1976 - "Technical Ecstasy"
* 1975 - "We Sold Our Soul for Rock 'n' Roll"
* 1975 - "Sabotage"
* 1973 - "Sabbath Bloody Sabbath"
* 1972 - "Black Sabbath, Vol. 4
* 1971 - "Master of Reality"
* 1970 - "Paranoid"
* 1970 - "Black Sabbath"

;Ozzy Osbourne
* 1995 - "Ozzmosis"
* 1990 - "Just Say Ozzy"

;Heaven and Hell
* 2007 - "Live from Radio City Music Hall"
* 2009 - Heaven and Hell's first studio album

;Non-Album Compilations
* 1994 - "Nativity in Black" (with Bullring Brummies)
* 1989 - "Stairway To Heaven/Highway To Hell" (with Ozzy Osbourne)

References

External links

* [http://www.geezerbutler.com Official Website]