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REVEALED: Geezer butler | Vintage Vibes

Tony Iommi reveals why he rejected chance to make final Black Sabbath album with original line-up

Tony Iommi "didn't like the idea" of making a final Black Sabbath album with the original line-up, partly because the wannabe producer was " very keen and a bit too excited".

BANG Premier

“Equal amounts extreme anxiety and unbelievable pleasure”: Mastodon look back on the pressure and delight of playing Black Sabbath’s final show

The Atlanta metal band opened the last gig before Ozzy Osbourne’s death in July 2025

Metal Hammer

Watch a young Black Sabbath confuse the hell out of stoned European hippies one week before Paranoid became a hit single

Black Sabbath’s performance of Paranoid at Jazz Bilzen festival in August 1970 is a sweet snapshot of metal history

Metal Hammer

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“I lost the tips of two fingers in an accident when I was 17. Doctors told me that I had no hope of playing guitar again. I refused to accept that”: The life and times of Tony Iommi, metal’s indestructible dark lord

If it wasn’t for Black Sabbath’s Tony Iommi, the world would sound very, very different

Metal Hammer

“I was convinced I wasn’t playing well, but they kept calling me back. Before I knew it I was playing bass on the entire album”: How Becky Baldwin landed her dream gig playing bass for Tony Iommi

When Tony Iommi comes calling, there’s only one answer. But for Black Sabbath super-fan Becky Baldwin, saying yes was the easy part

Guitar World

“In the very early ‘70s, he was in one studio, and I was in another. And we just hit it off”: Tony Iommi reveals Brian May’s lead guitar cameo on his new solo album – and why the Queen guitarist is its only guest

Iommi's solo album From The Dark is out on 23 October and features a star turn from old friend Brian May

MusicRadar

“A celebration of legendary bass tone”: Geezer Butler gets a limited-edition combo and Dingwall honors a modern metal great in July’s biggest bass releases

From classic heavy-metal thunder to the soulful tones of reggae, these are the bass releases putting some serious weight behind July’s gear calendar

Guitar World

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‘He liked to get people’s blood boiling’: metal masters Mastodon on the loss of bandmate Brent Hinds – and his shocking words before his death

The Grammy-winning band had an acrimonious rift with Hinds – then he died in a motorbike crash. They explain how they’re paying tribute on their new album, and why their love for each other never ended

The Guardian - UK

"I still can’t believe that he’s not with us. There will never be another Ozzy." Black Sabbath's Tony Iommi, Geezer Butler and Bill Ward share reflections on Ozzy Osbourne on the first anniversary of their friend's passing

"Gone in body, but his legend lives on"

Metal Hammer

“We’d just played the Black Sabbath farewell show and I thought, ‘What’s the worst that can happen if we ask Geezer to guest on our album?’” How Troy Sanders landed one of metal’s greatest bassists for a guest spot on Mastodon’s new album

Marrow Deep features an unexpected low-end hero – and according to Troy Sanders, it's the album’s defining bass performance

Guitar World

"We thought, 'What the hell is going on around here?' They thought he was some lunatic who got into the castle." How a ghostly apparition ended Tony Iommi's writer's block and inspired one of Black Sabbath's greatest riffs

With Tony Iommi suffering from writer's block, Black Sabbath did the most logical thing: They hired a haunted castle

Metal Hammer

"Ozzy signed the book plates months before the final show." Black Sabbath announce first ever official book, featuring rare photographs and memorabilia, plus in-depth interviews with all four original band members

The Masters of Reality - Why Black Sabbath Matter is now available to pre-order

Metal Hammer

“One of the customs guys in Canada decided he hated Black Sabbath, so he smashed the neck with a hammer”: How Geezer Butler’s P-Bass survived a Sabbath hater’s attack – and ended up on the band's most iconic tracks

Butler’s iconic tone – sculpted by blasting his bass through a blown guitar cabinet – was made possible thanks to a beat-up 1968 Fender Precision Bass

Guitar World

“A few others were singing about the underside of life, but we had the heaviness to hammer the subjects home.” The inside story of Black Sabbath’s stoned masterpiece Master Of Reality

How Black Sabbath pushed metal to ever heavier levels on their immortal third album

Metal Hammer

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Guitar World

“The bass you think of when you go to pick a bass. It’s magic and it really has no limits”: Fender celebrates 75 years of the Precision Bass with three stunning anniversary models

We've got bling with the AmPro PJ Bass, OG mojo with the American Vintage II 1951 Precision Bass, and a super-glam Player II P Bass in Diamond Dust Sparkle...

MusicRadar

“This is like the center of gravity for the bass world”: Geezer Butler, Tal Wilkenfeld and Nate Mendel hail the legacy of the P Bass, as Fender celebrates its 75th anniversary

Fender unveils the 75th Anniversary P Bass Collection featuring a a stunning American Professional PJ Bass, a Player II P Bass in Diamond Dust Sparkle, and a retro American Vintage II 1951 model

Louder

"Substitute any Vietnam reference with any current war and the lyrics still stand up. I think the lyrics on Paranoid are timeless." How themes of war, madness and nuclear holocaust shaped Black Sabbath's second album

Black Sabbath ditched the hippy dream and faced brutal reality on Paranoid

Metal Hammer

"Seeing these dogs finally get a chance at freedom and loving homes is deeply moving." Black Sabbath's Geezer Butler backs rescue of 1500 beagles from Wisconsin breeding facility

Geezer Butler attended the beagle liberation alongside pop star Debbie Gibson

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Metal Hammer

Watch Slipknot’s Corey Taylor and Halestorm’s Lzzy Hale sing Black Sabbath covers at Geezer Butler and Paul Rodgers tribute show this week

Taylor sang Paranoid and Hale took on lead vocals for a version of Neon Knights, with Butler playing bass for both performances

Guitar World

“They said, ‘You're playing heavy metal.’ I said, ‘Heavy metal… what's that?’” Why Tony Iommi shunned the heavy metal tag during Black Sabbath's early days

The Godfather of Heavy Metal was trying to channel the horror films he and bassist Geezer Butler used to watch – and that, in turn, would give birth to an entire genre

Guitar World

“Those cleaner tones are very characterful and usable, evoking classic tube-driven bass amps”: Ashdown Geezer Butler Pedal of Doom review

Geezer Butler helped invent heavy metal. Here’s a slab of heavy metal bearing his name.

Guitar World

“There was an advert saying, ‘Ozzy Zig requires gig.’ I said to Bill, ‘I know an Ozzy but it can't be him. He can't sing’”: Tony Iommi looks back at the birth of Black Sabbath – and their “horrible” first jam

The legendary riff lord is the subject of a new multi-part documentary from Gibson TV

Metal Hammer

"In 2026 I shall have definitely, definitely have my solo album out": Tony Iommi films New Year message, reflects on the "Summer of Sabbath"

The Riff Lord has spoken

Metal Hammer

“The Alamo incident, bat-biting, dove head-biting, snorting ants”: Ozzy Osbourne was at his “wildest” during early days of solo career, says Black Sabbath bandmate Geezer Butler

Butler has penned a moving tribute to the late Prince Of Darkness, who died in July

Metal Hammer

"Who would you rather sleep with, Ozzy or Geezer?": Smuggling, private jets, and expecting the unexpected with the Osbournes

Witnessing the warmth and wit of Ozzy and Sharon Osbourne

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