Geezer Butler Recalls ‘Heartbreaking’ Decision to Fire Ozzy
· Ultimate Classic RockWhen Ozzy Osbourne was fired from Black Sabbath in 1979, it marked the end of the original lineup's classic era.
During a recent appearance on the Bob Lefsetz podcast, bassist Geezer Butler detailed the difficult decision to dismiss the Prince of Darkness.
“It was heartbreaking because we'd all grown up together. We fought against the odds together,” the bassist explained. "We performed miracles, making the band successful. And it was heartbreaking. It's like cutting your arm off.”
Despite agonizing over the decision, Butler still believes it was the right move for all involved.
READ MORE: The Day Black Sabbath Fired Ozzy Osbourne
“He definitely needed a change of lifestyle at the time,” the rocker noted, pointing to Osbourne’s increasingly dangerous substance abuse habits. “We were all doing drugs and boozing and stuff like that, but we could still function. Whereas Ozzy, he wasn't functioning anymore. And we got this house in Bel Air to write an album. Ozzy just wasn't interested in the music that we were doing.”
According to Butler, the initial suggestion to fire Ozzy came from Black Sabbath’s guitarist, Tony Iommi.
“Eventually Tony says, ‘Ozzy's got to go. He's just not interested. The band's not going to go anywhere if we keep on like this.’ And he says, ‘Actually I was a party the other night and I got talking to this guy called Ronnie James Dio, and he's got an absolutely brilliant voice, and I think we should give him a go.’”
“So Tony came to the decision to get rid of Ozzy,” Butler continued. “We we hated doing it, but it had to happen for our sake and his sake. And it all worked out great in the end. And Ronnie James Dio came along… He sang to some of the stuff that we'd written and he was brilliant, absolutely just exactly what it needed. And that was the end of the Ozzy era.”
Getting Fired From Black Sabbath Hit Ozzy Osbourne ‘Like a Ton of Bricks’
As you’d expect, Osbourne was stunned when the band told him he was fired.
“He couldn't believe it. I mean, it's like a ton of bricks coming down on him,” Butler recalled, noting that Ozzy was suddenly alone. “I mean, we had each other, but Ozzy didn't have anybody. And luckily that's when Sharon came along and saved him.”
Following his dismissal, Osbourne rebounded with one of the greatest second acts in rock history. The singer branched out with a hugely successful solo career, which recently earned him a second induction into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame.
READ MORE: Ozzy Osbourne Celebrated With All-Star Performance at Rock Hall
“It surprised me how fast he turned himself around,” Butler admitted, looking back. “And we were totally, really glad that he was successful and he turned his whole life around. It was great because he was successful and we were successful. We were, had one of the biggest selling albums ever of the Sabbath era, and he probably became bigger than Sabbath.”
20. 'Forbidden' (1995)
The original Black Sabbath lineup’s last man standing, Tony Iommi, was clearly grasping at straws on 1995’s dismal 'Forbidden,' which yielded no songs to write home about and was inexplicably produced by Body Count guitarist Ernie C. Luckily, the long-awaited reconciliation with Ozzy Osbourne was just two years away, albeit for touring, not recording purposes ... for the moment.
19. 'Tyr' (1990)
The third Black Sabbath album fronted by the criminally undervalued Tony Martin, and second powered by the formidable rhythm section of drummer Cozy Powell and bassist Neil Murray, 1990’s 'Tyr' was expected to capitalize on the creative (if not commercial) comeback of recent years. But the songs just weren’t there and Tony Iommi’s guitar was unusually quiet in the mix, resulting in major letdown all around.
18. 'Cross Purposes' (1994)
Recorded in the wake of Black Sabbath’s second, heartbreaking falling out with singer Ronnie James Dio, 'Cross Purposes' was a patchwork of inconsistent songs and lineups, matching charter members Tony Iommi and Geezer Butler with a returning Tony Martin and former Rainbow drummer Bobby Rondinelli. The album could have been a lot worse, but that's little consolation to fans.
17. 'Seventh Star' (1986)
Black Sabbath had effectively crumbled by 1985, but Tony Iommi managed to snatch survival (if not exactly victory) from the jaws of defeat with the following year’s 'Seventh Star,' featuring erstwhile Deep Purple singer Glenn Hughes. The album’s eclectic songs proved a little too unconventional for most Sabbath fans to stomach, but, in fairness, it had originally been intended to serve as Iommi’s solo debut.
16. 'Dehumanizer' (1992)
For all the hype and understandable excitement, Black Sabbath’s second go-round with Ronnie James Dio and Vinnie Appice fell significantly short of the glorious benchmark set a decade before. Be that as it may, 1992’s 'Dehumanizer' still undertook a daring modernization of Sabbath’s sound and launched a triumphant world tour, only to be cut short by Ozzy Osbourne’s infamous “retirement” concert.
15. 'Born Again' (1983)
The musical partnership that looked so good on paper (Deep Purple legend Ian Gillan joining Sabbath? Yes!), it could only prove disappointing once the rubber hit the road, 1983’s 'Born Again' became a case study in incompatible songwriting styles producing inconsistent, but occasionally thrilling, results. Add that awful cover art and a troubled tour (complete with an oversized Stonehenge stage set) and it obviously couldn’t last.
14. '13' (2013)
Proof that miracles can really happen now and then, 2013’s '13' finally presented the longtime-coming reunion with Ozzy Osbourne reunion -- with convincingly “vintage” sound policed over by producer Rick Rubin. One slight bump: drummer Bill Ward’s last-minute exclusion from the record.
13. 'The Devil You Know' (2009)
Pretty much Black Sabbath by another name, Heaven and Hell paid due (with accumulated interest) on the 'Dehumanizer' era’s moderate disappointment on 2009’s uniformly stellar 'The Devil You Know.' For fans tired of waiting for Ozzy Osbourne to make up his mind about a Sabbath reunion, this album doubled as a proud final will and testament for Ronnie James Dio, who passed on just one year after its release.
12. 'Never Say Die!' (1978)
The final album of Sabbath’s original-lineup era wasn’t without highlights, like the energetic title cut, "Johnny Blade” and “A Hard Road.” But even these paled next to the colossal metal anthems recorded just a few years earlier … and what does that say about the abundant weak songs? Adding insult to injury, the subsequent tour found Sabbath routinely blown offstage by a hungry Van Halen, sending Ozzy Osbourne on his way.
11. 'Headless Cross' (1989)
Arguably the most underrated LP of Black Sabbath’s entire career, 'Headless Cross' arrived at the absolute nadir of the group’s career downturn in the U.S. (where it barely made it into record stores), but it stunned fans elsewhere with its consistent and memorable songs. Some fans may never accept it as a true Sabbath LP, but that’s their loss.
10. 'Technical Ecstasy' (1976)
A bold but ill-fated attempt to mature and explore novel musical directions, 'Technical Ecstasy' could have turned out like 'Sabbath Bloody Sabbath Part Two,' if not for the largely unimpressive songs to carry those innovations to fruition. As it stands, Sabbath’s seventh effort deserves a few gold stars for effort (in the face of daunting personal demons) and sporadic highlights like “Back Street Kids” and “Dirty Women.”
9. 'The Eternal Idol' (1987)
Often cited as the finest Black Sabbath album not fronted by Ozzy Osbourne or Ronnie James Dio, 'The Eternal Idol' was essentially recorded by Tony Iommi solo, with the aid of assorted studio hands, some of whom never lasted long enough to tour (or, like singer Ray Gillen, to finish the sessions -- he was replaced by Tony Martin). But this only underscores the surprisingly quality of the songs composed for the occasion, including a Sabbath hall-of-famer in “The Shining.”
8. 'Mob Rules' (1981)
Black Sabbath’s career-reviving collaboration with singer Ronnie James Dio proved it wasn't a onetime fluke with the arrival of 1981’s spectacular 'Mob Rules,' which packed such riff-mongering heavyweights as “Falling Off the Edge of the World” and “The Sign of the Southern Cross.” Shame it couldn’t last, and that Dio would soon leave to pursue a solo career, returning Sabbath to another period of uncertainty.
7. 'Sabotage' (1975)
Arguably the final concrete slab of genuine, unadulterated vintage Black Sabbath, 'Sabotage' arrived in 1975 and put off the band’s looming decline a little while longer with monumental nuggets like “Megalomania” and “Symptom of the Universe.” But there was also no ignoring the growing chinks in the band’s armor, as evidenced by deeper album cuts that lacked the power of earlier efforts.
6. 'Sabbath Bloody Sabbath' (1973)
The state-of-the-art Black Sabbath LP released during the group’s original '70s incarnation, 'Sabbath Bloody Sabbath' survived a difficult recording process -- the band couldn’t come up with a single tune for months -- to successfully upgrade its signature studio sophistication. As such, “Killing Yourself to Live," the title track and other standouts offered not only brawn, but beauty too.
5. 'Heaven and Hell' (1980)
How amazing was Black Sabbath’s first album with Ronnie James Dio? As amazing as their very best efforts with Ozzy Osbourne — that’s how amazing. 'Heaven and Hell' managed the rare feat of remaining true to the group’s fundamental metal sound while simultaneously applying a much-needed modernizing sheen to the proceedings.
4. 'Vol. 4' (1972)
A bona fide heavy metal masterpiece, featuring 10 songs that span the breadth of the original quartet’s formidable talents: 'Vol. 4'’s track listing ranges from the post-psych sprawl of “Wheels of Confusion” to the galloping immediacy of “Tomorrow’s Dream” to the piano ballad “Changes” to the acoustic “Laguna Sunrise” to doom tracks like “Snowblind,” “Supernaut” and “Under the Sun.”
3. 'Black Sabbath' (1970)
Now properly recognized as the musical watershed that it is, Black Sabbath’s eponymous debut exceeded all commercial expectations upon release, yet it merely hinted at breakthroughs still ahead. Likewise, most of its songs, beyond the title track and “N.I.B.,” were clearly formative in nature, but this has only rendered them more distinctive to some fans.
2. 'Master of Reality' (1971)
If not for the fact that it contains only six fully formed songs (plus two brief instrumentals, “Embryo” and “Orchid”), 'Master of Reality' might well be Sabbath’s finest hour. This down-tuned tour de force and influential stoner-rock boiler plate boasts the apocalyptic crawl of “Children of the Grave,” the ultimate weed anthem in “Sweet Leaf” and doom standards in “After Forever” and “Into the Void.”
1. 'Paranoid' (1970)
'Paranoid' is not only the definitive Black Sabbath album (and a U.K. chart-topper, to boot!), 'Paranoid' may be the ultimate heavy metal LP. Three of its songs -- the title track, “War Pigs” and “Iron Man” -- have become concert staples, and even secondary selections like “Fairies Wear Boots,” “Hand of Doom” and “Planet Caravan” are beyond reproach.