Editing Geezer Butler

{{Short description|English bassist (born 1949)}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=November 2024}}
{{Use British English|date=November 2024}}
{{Infobox musical artist
| name              = Geezer Butler
| image             = 2019 RiP Deadland Ritual - Geezer Butler - by 2eight - 8SC9785.jpg
| caption           = Butler performing with [[Deadland Ritual]] in 2019
| birth_name        = Terence Michael Joseph Butler
| alias             = 
| birth_date        = {{birth date and age|df=y|1949|7|17}}<ref name="gtkg">{{Cite web |last=Geezer Butler|date=2021 |title=Get to Know Geezer|url=http://www.geezerbutler.com/about/ |access-date=22 May 2022 |website=geezerbutler.com |language=en}}</ref>
| birth_place       = [[Birmingham]], England
| instrument        = {{flatlist|
* Bass guitar
}}
| genre             = {{flatlist|
* [[Heavy metal music|Heavy metal]] 
* [[doom metal]]
* [[blues rock]]
* [[hard rock]]
}}
| occupation        = {{flatlist|
* Musician
* songwriter
}}
| years_active      = {{hlist|1967–2025}}
| current_member_of = [[Black Sabbath]]
| past_member_of    = [[Ozzy Osbourne]]<br />[[GZR]]<br />[[Geezer Butler Band]]<br />[[Heaven & Hell (band)|Heaven & Hell]]<br />[[Deadland Ritual]]
| website           = {{url|geezerbutler.com}}
}}

'''Terence Michael Joseph''' "'''Geezer'''" '''Butler''' (born 17 July 1949)<ref name="gtkg"/> is an English musician, best known as the bassist and primary lyricist of the pioneering [[Heavy metal music|heavy metal]] band [[Black Sabbath]]. He has also recorded and performed with [[Heaven & Hell (band)|Heaven & Hell]], [[GZR]], [[Ozzy Osbourne]], and [[Deadland Ritual]].<ref>{{Cite web |last=Blabbermouth |date=10 March 2021 |title=GEEZER BUTLER: 'DEADLAND RITUAL Is Dead' |url=https://www.blabbermouth.net/news/geezer-butler-deadland-ritual-is-dead/ |access-date=22 May 2022 |website=BLABBERMOUTH.NET |language=en}}</ref>

==Early life==
Butler adopted the nickname "Geezer" at an early age. "It came because when I was at school, my brother was in the army, and he was based with a lot of Cockneys. And people in London call everybody a 'geezer.' [It means] just a man — like, 'Hello, mate.' It's just like somebody calling you 'dude' over here (in the United States). In England, it'd be 'geezer.' So my brother used to come home from leave from the army, and he'd be going, 'Hello, geezer. How are you, geezer?' So because I had looked up to my brother when I was about seven years old, I'd go to school calling everybody a geezer. So that's how I got cursed with it."<ref>{{Cite web |last=Polcaro |first=Rafael |date=21 October 2021 |title=Sabbath's Geezer Butler explains the origin of his nickname "Geezer" |url=http://rockandrollgarage.com/sabbaths-geezer-butler-explains-the-origin-of-his-nickname-geezer/ |access-date=9 May 2022 |website=Rock And Roll Garage |language=en-US}}</ref>

Butler grew up in a working-class [[Irish Catholic]] family, the son of James and Mary Butler. He had six siblings.<ref name="2023 autobiography" /> His father had served in the [[Royal Scots Regiment]] and later settled in Birmingham, where he worked for an engineering company. Mary had worked as a nanny in her younger years and became a housewife after marrying James in 1929.<ref name="2023 autobiography" /> Both of his parents were born in [[Dublin]].<ref name="2023 autobiography">{{cite book |last1=Butler |first1=Terence "Geezer" |title=Into the Void |date=2023 |publisher=Harper Collins |location=New York |isbn=978-0-06-324250-0 |pages=4–8}}</ref><ref name="iommibook">{{cite book |last=Iommi |first=Tony |title=Iron Man: My Journey Through Heaven and Hell With Black Sabbath |url=https://archive.org/details/ironmanmyjourney00iomm_0|url-access=registration |year=2011 |publisher=Da Capo Press |isbn=978-0-306-81955-1}}</ref> The family had seven children and were poor, typically having "no money whatsoever".<ref name="reesman" /> He was born in the family house on Victoria Road in the Aston district of Birmingham, a house that had been damaged by [[Luftwaffe]] bombs during the [[Second World War]]. When he was just one day old, his older sister Eileen tried to toss him out a bedroom window in a fit of jealousy.<ref name="2023 autobiography" />  

Butler has said that he enjoyed an "incredibly loving, happy childhood".<ref name="2023 autobiography"/> The family home had no telephone, hot water or bathroom, and considered itself lucky to have their own outside toilet.<ref name="2023 autobiography"/> Two of Butler's older brothers had been called upon to serve in the army and Butler feared that he would be next. However, mandatory [[Conscription in the United Kingdom#After 1945|national service]] was ended in the United Kingdom a couple of years before he was due to be conscripted.<ref name="reesman" /> 

At the age of ten, Butler passed the [[Eleven-plus|eleven plus examination]] and was accepted by Birmingham's prestigious Holte Grammar School in 1960. Learning English literature such as [[Shakespeare]] furthered his love of reading, and he says "I never went a day without reading ''something''." He credits this education, along with his vivid imagination, for the composition skills he would later utilise as Black Sabbath's lyricist.<ref name="2023 autobiography"/> He was later heavily influenced by the writing of [[Aleister Crowley]] as a teenager.<ref name="iommibook" /> 

By his late teens, he had stopped attending [[Mass (liturgy)|Mass]]. He cited a loss of belief, and feels that everyone should sooner or later decide for themselves what to believe in. By the end, Butler was "going to Mass every Sunday just to take a look at all the nice girls that were going there", he recalled years later.<ref name="reesman" /> After growing his hair long as a teenager, he would encounter a nun every Sunday at [[Mass (liturgy)|Mass]] who found it humorous to refer to Butler as "miss", and he soon decided to never go back.<ref name="2023 autobiography" />

Butler became obsessed with [[The Beatles]] and [[The Kinks]], and later [[Cream (band)|Cream]] and [[Jimi Hendrix]]. When The Beatles appeared on a Birmingham television program called ''Thank Your Lucky Stars'' in January 1963, Butler waited outside the studio to get a glimpse of them. It was here that he met another Beatles' fan, [[Ozzy Osbourne|John "Ozzy" Osbourne]], for the first time.<ref name="2023 autobiography" />

== Career ==
[[File:Geezer1970.jpg|thumb|left|upright=0.7|Butler in 1970]]
Butler joined his first band, the Ruums,<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.metallian.com/gzr.php |title=Geezer |publisher=metallian |date=10 April 2022 |access-date=27 May 2024}}</ref> named after an [[Arthur Porges]] science fiction story, in 1965. His first professional gig was with the Ruums at the Parochial Hall in [[Erdington]], where they performed covers of various [[Merseybeat]] bands. The Ruums would perform only a handful of local gigs before breaking up, but it was long enough for Butler to decide that he wanted to devote his life to music.<ref name="2023 autobiography" />   

In late 1967, Butler formed the band The Rare Breed, with an acquaintance named Ozzy Osbourne soon joining as lead vocalist. At that time, Butler was dating a girl named Georgina who lived near [[Tony Iommi]], and Iommi's earliest memories of Butler involved seeing him walking past his house every day to visit her. Georgina would later become Butler's first wife.<ref name="2023 autobiography" /> Later, Iommi and Butler became acquainted when their bands played at a nearby nightclub.<ref name="iommibook" /> Separated after The Rare Breed disbanded, Butler and Osbourne reunited to form the blues foursome Polka Tulk, along with guitarist Iommi and drummer [[Bill Ward (musician)|Bill Ward]], both of whom had recently left a local blues band called Mythology. Polka Tulk was soon rebranded as Earth, but a band already existed in the small-time English circuit with the same name, so they were forced to change the name again to avoid confusion. Inspired by the popular [[Boris Karloff]] horror film of the same name, Butler suggested the name [[Black Sabbath (film)|Black Sabbath]] in early 1969.<ref name="allmusic">{{cite web|url={{AllMusic|class=artist|id=p61332/biography|pure_url=yes}}|title=Biography–Geezer Butler|last=Ankeny|first=Jason |publisher=AllMusic|access-date=22 January 2010}}</ref>

Inspired by [[John Lennon]], Butler played rhythm guitar in his pre-Sabbath days, including with The Rare Breed. When Sabbath was formed, Iommi made it clear that he did not want to play with another guitarist, so Butler moved to bass.<ref name="ampeg">{{cite web |url=http://www.ampeg.com/artists/artist.php?artistID=43 |title=Artist profile-Geezer Butler |publisher=[[Ampeg]] |access-date=22 January 2010 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100826044611/http://www.ampeg.com/artists/artist.php?artistID=43 |archive-date=26 August 2010 }}</ref> According to Butler, "I'd never played bass until I was on stage at the first gig that we played. Borrowed the bass guitar off one of my friends and it only had three strings on it."<ref name="gazette">{{cite web |url=https://montrealgazette.com/entertainment/music/Black+Sabbath+goes+back+roots/9711274/story.html |title=Black Sabbath goes back to its roots |publisher=Montrealgazette.com |date=7 April 2014 |access-date=24 August 2014 |archive-date=12 July 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200712044058/http://www.montrealgazette.com/entertainment/music/Black+Sabbath+goes+back+roots/9711274/story.html |url-status=dead }}</ref> Butler lists [[Jack Bruce]] of [[Cream (band)|Cream]] as his biggest influence as a bassist. Iommi described Butler as being "from another planet" in the band's early days; he took [[LSD]], wore Indian hippie dresses, and was very peaceful.<ref name="iommibook" /> At the time Black Sabbath was formed, Butler had been hired by a Birmingham steel company to train in the accounting department, and this business experience resulted in him managing the band's finances in the early days.<ref name="iommibook" />

In the summer of 1977, drummer Bill Ward visited Butler at his [[Worcestershire]] home to inform him he had been fired from Black Sabbath after a band meeting, telling him that Iommi and Osbourne questioned his commitment. Butler said he was "pissed off" yet relieved, and spent the following two or three weeks resting and getting healthy, not giving much thought to what he would do next. He then received a phone call from Ward inviting him to rehearsals which were starting the next day. Upon returning to the band, Butler says Iommi and Osbourne both denied any involvement in his firing, with Ward claiming he had merely been the messenger. He says he was never offered an explanation. The event changed Butler's attitude towards Black Sabbath and he was never able to completely trust his bandmates again, saying "a little bit of me died back then". He has said that he did not really want to return but did so only because he had nothing else going on musically.<ref name="2023 autobiography" />   

After Black Sabbath fired Osbourne in 1979, Butler also briefly left the band to deal with the divorce from his first wife. The 1980 album ''[[Heaven and Hell (Black Sabbath album)|Heaven and Hell]]'' was recorded with bassist [[Craig Gruber]] but Butler returned to the band at the last minute and re-recorded the bass parts prior to release.<ref name="hotten">{{cite web|author=Hotten, Jon |title=The Dio Years |url=http://images.radcity.net/6340/2165303.pdf |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090124161532/http://images.radcity.net/6340/2165303.pdf |archive-date=24 January 2009 |url-status=dead |access-date=13 June 2013 }}</ref> He again left the band in 1984 after touring in support of their 1983 album, ''[[Born Again (Black Sabbath album)|Born Again]]'', although he returned months later as the band attempted a comeback with vocalist [[David Donato (singer)|David Donato]].

In 1988, Butler joined the backing band of his former Sabbath bandmate Osbourne to take part in the ''[[No Rest for the Wicked (Ozzy Osbourne album)|No Rest for the Wicked]]'' World Tour. He rejoined Black Sabbath in 1991 for the reunion of the ''[[Mob Rules (album)|Mob Rules]]'' line-up, but again quit the group after the ''[[Cross Purposes]]'' tour in 1994.<ref name="allmusic" />

In 1995 Butler again joined Osbourne's band to perform on the ''[[Ozzmosis]]'' album.<ref name="black science">{{cite web|url={{AllMusic|class=album|id=r889168|pure_url=yes}}|title=Overview ''Black Science''|publisher=AllMusic|access-date=22 January 2010}}</ref> After recording ''Ozzmosis'', he formed [[G/Z/R]], issuing ''Plastic Planet'' in 1995.<ref name="plastic planet">{{cite web|url={{AllMusic|class=album|id=r224098|pure_url=yes}}|title=Overview ''Plastic Planet''|last=Jeffries|first=Vincent |publisher=AllMusic|access-date=22 January 2010}}</ref> His next solo album, ''Black Science,'' followed in 1997. Butler returned to Sabbath once more 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, along with [[Tony Iommi]], would be reforming the ''[[Dehumanizer]]''-era Black Sabbath line-up with [[Vinny Appice]] and Ronnie James Dio, under the name [[Heaven & Hell (band)|Heaven & Hell]] to differentiate between the reunited touring band fronted by Osbourne, and the Dio-fronted version of the band.<ref>{{cite web|url={{AllMusic|class=artist|id=p916527/biography|pure_url=yes}}|title=Biography-Heaven & Hell|last=Monger|first=James Christopher |publisher=AllMusic|access-date=22 January 2010}}</ref>

He rejoined Iommi and Osbourne to record ''[[13 (Black Sabbath album)|13]]'' and [[Black Sabbath Reunion Tour|toured in support]] of the album from 2012 to 2014. He and Black Sabbath later embarked on their [[The End Tour|final tour]] which began in January 2016, and concluded in February 2017.

In 2023, Butler published his autobiography ''Into the Void: From Birth to Black Sabbath—And Beyond''. He also provided the narrating voice for the audio-book version.<ref>{{cite web |title=Black Sabbath Bassist Geezer Butler's 'Into The Void' Autobiography: Book Cover Unveiled |url=https://blabbermouth.net/news/black-sabbath-bassist-geezer-butlers-into-the-void-autobiography-book-cover-unveiled |website=Blabbermouth.net |access-date=18 June 2023 |language=en |date=30 March 2023}}</ref> Later, he made a brief appearance during Foo Fighter's performance in Birmingham in June 2024.<ref>{{Cite news |last=Flash |first=Oprah |date=28 June 2024 |title=Surprise as Black Sabbath star joins Foo Fighters at Birmingham gig |url=https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cd1xlwqw54vo |access-date=30 June 2024 |website=BBC News |language=en-GB}}</ref>

== Style and legacy==
[[File:Geezer Butler Black Sabbath (51412969437).jpg|left|thumb|Butler with [[Black Sabbath]] in 1983.]]
Butler learned guitar as a teenager on an old acoustic that had only two strings. He could not afford the new strings needed to play chords, so he taught himself to play melody lines on the two strings. He says that due to this limitation he developed a "very strange style" which would later serve him well when he switched to bass guitar after forming Black Sabbath.<ref name="2023 autobiography" /> Later, his older brother Jimmy gave him a brand new Rosetti acoustic guitar that cost him two weeks salary, an act of kindness that Butler says changed his life forever. With a proper instrument, Butler learned chords from the [[Bert Weedon]] book ''Play in a Day'' and saved enough money for a new [[Höfner]] Colorama electric guitar and Bird Golden Eagle amplifier. Soon after, he joined his first band.<ref name="2023 autobiography" />

Butler is noted for his melodic playing, and as being one of the first bassists to use a [[wah pedal]] and to down-tune his instrument (from the standard E-A-D-G to the lower C#-F#-B-E), as exemplified on Black Sabbath's ''[[Master of Reality]]'' album, to match Iommi who had started tuning his guitar to C# (a minor third down).<ref name="ampeg" /> During the band's Ozzy Osbourne era, Butler wrote most of the band's lyrics, drawing heavily upon his fascination with religion, science-fiction, fantasy and horror, and musings on the darker side of human nature that posed a constant threat of global annihilation.<ref name="allmusic" />

Butler is regarded as one of the most influential bassists in [[heavy metal music|heavy metal]]. [[Billy Sheehan]] of [[Mr. Big (American band)|Mr. Big]] said: "He's a founding father of a whole genre of music and a man who really set the bar early on to be such an integral part of the sound and song structure of Sabbath".<ref name="loudwire">{{cite web|url=http://loudwire.com/black-sabbath-geezer-butler-respect-metal-peers/|title=Black Sabbath's Geezer Butler Inspires Respect Among Peers at Bass Player Live Event|date=12 November 2013 |publisher=loudwire.com|access-date=26 January 2014}}</ref> In Mick Wall's biography of [[Iron Maiden]] entitled ''Run to the Hills'', founder [[Steve Harris (musician)|Steve Harris]] recalls: "I distinctly remember trying to play along to Black Sabbath's "Paranoid" – at first I just could not get it. I threw the guitar on my bed and walked out in a huff, but the next day I came back, picked it up and played it all the way through note-for-note! Once I got going, I started getting into bass-lines with a bit more subtlety to them."

Former [[Metallica]] bassist [[Jason Newsted]], who defined him his "number 1 influence," stated: "All true metal bassists look up to Geezer as a pioneer and Godfather of our chosen instrument. The best, ever."<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.blabbermouth.net/news/hartke-brings-together-musics-finest-for-all-star-tribute-to-geezer-butler/|title=Hartke Brings Together Music's Finest For All-Star Tribute To Geezer Butler|date=14 November 2013|publisher=blabbermouth.net|access-date=26 January 2014}}</ref> [[Rex Brown]] of [[Pantera]] and [[Kill Devil Hill (band)|Kill Devil Hill]] asserted: "He's a legend. He's everything. Geezer is so much of an influence on me.<ref name="loudwire"/> Other bassists such as [[Type O Negative]]'s [[Peter Steele]],<ref>{{cite web |title=Peter Steele Type O Negative late interview (12:22) | date=7 December 2019 |url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o5__lnrHmAc  |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/varchive/youtube/20211212/o5__lnrHmAc| archive-date=12 December 2021 |url-status=live|publisher=YouTube |access-date=9 April 2021 |language=en}}{{cbignore}}</ref> [[Minutemen (band)|Minutemen]]'s [[Mike Watt]],<ref>{{Cite web |last=Edwards |first=Briony |date=October 13, 2016 |title=Mike Watt's Top 5 Bassists |url=https://www.loudersound.com/features/mike-watt-top-five-bassists-minutemen-firehose-stooges |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20241210043726/https://www.loudersound.com/features/mike-watt-top-five-bassists-minutemen-firehose-stooges |archive-date=December 10, 2024 |access-date=May 2, 2025 |website=Louder Sound |quote=Some people are like 'yeah, it’s all me, it was always me'. To say, like, 'No, you know what, this guy taught me stuff', [[John Entwistle]], that was very kind of you. I have to say John Entwistle, he was one of those five. Actually, it was the England records – like Geezer Butler and Black Sabbath, [[Trevor Bolder | Trevor Boulder]] (sic) and [[David Bowie]], John Entwistle and [[The Who]] – ''[[Live At Leeds]]'', or any of those records, you can hear him so loud. These are my teachers!}}</ref> and [[Metallica]]'s [[Cliff Burton]]<ref>Joel McIver, ''To live is to die: The Life and Death of Metallica's Cliff Burton'', p.86</ref> have also listed Butler as an influence.

In 2020, he was ranked 21st in [[Rolling Stone]]'s list ''50 Greatest Bassists of All Time''.<ref>{{Cite magazine |last1=Vozick-Levinson |first1=Jonathan Bernstein,David Browne,Jon Dolan,Brenna Ehrlich,David Fear,Jon Freeman,Andy Greene,Kory Grow,Elias Leight,Angie Martoccio,Jason Newman,Rob Sheffield,Hank Shteamer,Simon |last2=Bernstein |first2=Jonathan |last3=Browne |first3=David |last4=Dolan |first4=Jon |last5=Ehrlich |first5=Brenna |last6=Fear |first6=David |last7=Freeman |first7=Jon |last8=Greene |first8=Andy |last9=Grow |first9=Kory |date=1 July 2020 |title=The 50 Greatest Bassists of All Time |url=https://www.rollingstone.com/music/music-lists/50-greatest-bassists-of-all-time-1003022/ |access-date=1 June 2024 |magazine=Rolling Stone |language=en-US}}</ref>

==Personal life==
[[File:GeezerHeavenAndHell .jpg|thumb|Butler performing with [[Heaven & Hell (band)|Heaven & Hell]] in 2007]]
Butler met his first wife Georgina at a school dance at Holte Grammar School in Birmingham as a teenager.<ref name="2023 autobiography" /> The couple divorced in 1980. Butler had already met his second wife, Gloria, on 16 September 1978 just prior to Black Sabbath's concert at the [[St. Louis Arena|Checkerdome]] in [[St. Louis|St. Louis, Missouri]]. Gloria later served as manager for [[Heaven & Hell (band)|Heaven & Hell]].<ref>{{Cite book |last=Butler |first=Terence "Geezer" |title=Into the Void |date=2023 |publisher=Harper Collins |isbn=978-0-06-324250-0 |location=New York |pages=159–160}}</ref> The Butlers also share their Los Angeles home with several cats, of whom he has posted pictures on his website.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.geezerbutler.com/photos |title=Photos :: The Official Geezer Butler Website |publisher=Geezerbutler.com |date=5 December 2012 |access-date=9 December 2012}}</ref> 

His oldest son, Biff Butler, was the vocalist for [[nu metal]] band [[Apartment 26]]. Butler has stated that Biff is very religious and brings up his children in the Catholic faith.<ref name="reesman" /> Butler's other son James earned a degree in social sciences from [[University of Oxford|Oxford University]] and resides in London. Butler describes him as "very politically minded". "My youngest is extremely left-wing, and I think it's because he was brought up knowing wealth and money, whereas I was brought up having no money whatsoever. That's where the church came in and made up for the lack of money because everybody knew each other in the street and everybody used to help each other out", Butler said.<ref name="reesman" />

Due to his love of animals, Butler became a strict vegetarian as a child and later became a [[Veganism|vegan]] in the 1990s.<ref name="reesman" /><ref name="guitarworld peta ad" /> He had a pet dog named Scamp in the 1950s who he "got to love more than any human friend" and the family house was "full of pets". Upon discovering where meat came from, he resolved to never eat it again.<ref name="2023 autobiography"/> His mother was also a vegetarian.<ref name="reesman" /> Butler appeared in a promotional ad for [[People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals]] in 2009<ref name="guitarworld peta ad">{{cite web | url=http://www.guitarworld.com/geezer-butler-appears-peta-ad-confirmed-vegan | title=Geezer Butler Appears in Peta Ad as a Confirmed Vegan | work=[[Guitar World]] | date=28 April 2009 | access-date=30 September 2011 | quote=[...] teamed up with peta2 [...] to shoot a brand-new pro-vegetarian ad featuring Butler [...] next to the tagline "I'm Geezer Butler, and I'm a Vegan."}}</ref> and later urged fans to boycott [[Fortnum & Mason]] until they remove [[foie gras]] from their shelves. Butler said, "I've seen some outrageous things in my time, but watching those poor birds suffer simply so that their diseased livers can be sold on your shop floor is horrific!"<ref>"[http://www.kerrangradio.co.uk/music/news/geezer-butler-foie-gras-boycott/ Black Sabbath's Geezer ButlerCalls for Foie Gras Boycott]," Karrang Radio, 1 March 2013.</ref> 

Butler is a lifelong supporter of [[Aston Villa Football Club]], and during Black Sabbath's induction to the [[Rock and Roll Hall of Fame]], Butler is heard shouting "Up the Villa" as the members of the band left the stage. He has referred to AVFC as his "second religion" (after Catholicism) in his younger days<ref name="reesman">{{cite web|url=http://www.bryanreesman.com/2014/03/27/geezer-butler-discusses-veganism-religion-politics-surveillance-and-life-lessons/ |title=Geezer Butler Discusses Veganism, Religion, Politics, Surveillance, and Life Lessons |publisher=bryanreesman.com |date=27 March 2014 |access-date=1 September 2019}}</ref> and in 2023 he said that the team had become his "only religion", having become disillusioned with the Catholic church.<ref name="2023 autobiography"/> From the family house on Victoria Road in Aston, Butler could hear the roar of the crowd at nearby Villa Park, and he has said that hearing such cheering every week had a profound effect on him as a small child. He started attending games anytime he could and lists former Aston Villa star [[Peter McParland]] as his "all-time hero".<ref name="2023 autobiography"/>

According to Black Sabbath bandmate [[Ozzy Osbourne]], Butler "never uses foul language".<ref name="IAmOzzy">{{Cite book |author=Osbourne, Ozzy |year=2011 |title=I Am Ozzy |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=yNzCgAEkW8cC&pg=PT134 |publisher=I Am Ozzy |page=134 |isbn=978-0-446-57313-9 |access-date=24 May 2013}}</ref> A bin-man (refuse collector) had called him an "Irish cunt" when he was a small child, and he repeated the word at the family dinner table that evening, asking what it meant. His father told him that only ignorant people swear, and Butler was subsequently beaten with a belt. He says that to this day he seldom swears "despite spending thousands of days in the company of Ozzy Osbourne".<ref name="2023 autobiography"/>

Over the years, Butler has become disillusioned with politics, saying "For me, it's almost pointless voting anymore because it seems to be the same no matter what party or politics you stand for. It all seems corrupted to me. It's all the same old people that rule the world."<ref name="reesman" /> He has also expressed concern over the increasing level of control government has in people's lives. "Every time I go back to England, there are things that totally surprise me that you never think would happen in England, just all the [[Closed-circuit television|CCTV]] everywhere. There seems to be so much control over people these days", he said in 2014.<ref name="reesman" /> He has similarly become completely disillusioned with religion, calling it "inherited brainwashing".<ref name="2023 autobiography"/>  

In January 2015, Butler was briefly detained after a bar brawl in [[Death Valley]], California and charged with [[misdemeanor assault|misdemeanour assault]], [[public intoxication]] and vandalism. He was released following detoxification and a citation.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://loudwire.com/black-sabbaths-geezer-butler-arrested-bar-brawl/ |title=Black Sabbath's Geezer Butler Arrested Following Bar Brawl |website=Loudwire.com |date=29 January 2015 |access-date=24 January 2016}}</ref> In 2016 he opened up about the event: "This guy started mouthing off about something. He was, like, some drunken Nazi bloke. He [...] started going on about Jews and everything – Jews this, Jews that. My missus is Jewish and I'd just had enough, and me hand sort of met his chin. I whacked him one."<ref name="LoudwireJune2016">{{cite web|author=Graham Hartmann|url=https://loudwire.com/black-sabbath-geezer-butler-2015-arrest-punching-a-drunken-nazi-bloke/|title=Black Sabbath's Geezer Butler Reveals 2015 Arrest Was For Punching A 'Drucken Nazi Bloke'|publisher=[[Loudwire]]|date=8 June 2016|access-date=20 March 2019}}</ref>

In June 2023, he announced his retirement from performing.<ref>{{Cite web |last=BraveWords |title=BLACK SABBATH Bassist GEEZER BUTLER On Deciding To Retire - "I Didn't Realize How Hard Starting From Scratch Is; It Just Didn't Suit Me" |url=https://bravewords.com/news/black-sabbath-bassist-geezer-butler-on-deciding-to-retire-i-didn-t-realize-how-hard-starting-from-scratch-is-it-just-didn-t-suit-me |access-date=18 June 2023 |website=bravewords.com |date=13 June 2023 |language=en}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |last=Laing |first=Rob |date=15 June 2023 |title=Geezer Butler rules out future gigs with Black Sabbath and explains retirement from touring in general |url=https://www.musicradar.com/news/geezer-butler-rules-out-future-gigs-with-black-sabbath-and-explains-retirement |access-date=18 June 2023 |website=MusicRadar |language=en}}</ref> He initially ruled out a Black Sabbath reunion, saying the band was "put to bed",<ref>{{Cite news |last=Colothan |first=Scott |date=14 June 2023 |title=Geezer Butler confirms his retirement and says Black Sabbath is still 'put to bed' |work=planetradio.co.uk |url=https://planetradio.co.uk/planet-rock/news/rock-news/geezer-butler-retired/ |access-date=18 June 2023}}</ref> though a one-off show was later announced in February 2025 to take place in July of that year.<ref name="Blabbermouth.net">{{cite web|url=https://blabbermouth.net/news/original-black-sabbath-to-play-final-show-in-july-with-metallica-slayer-pantera-others-supporting|title=Original BLACK SABBATH To Play Final Show In July, With METALLICA, SLAYER, PANTERA, Others Supporting|publisher=[[Blabbermouth.net]]|access-date=5 February 2025|date=5 February 2025}}</ref>

==Equipment==
Butler endorses [[Lakland]] basses and has his own signature model,<ref name="lakland">{{cite web|url=http://www.lakland.com/geezer_butler.htm|title=Artist profile-Geezer Butler|publisher=[[Lakland]]|access-date=22 January 2010|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120218133034/http://www.lakland.com/geezer_butler.htm|archive-date=18 February 2012|url-status=dead}}</ref> as well as [[DR Handmade Strings|DR Strings]], [[EMG, Inc.|EMG pick-ups]], and Hartke amplifiers.<ref>{{cite web |last1=EMG Inc. |title=Geezer Butler talks to EMGtv about new album, gear and Sabbath |url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LmzuiRLcD2E |website=YouTube |date=26 March 2014 |access-date=11 June 2024}}</ref>

==Discography==
{{col-begin}}
{{col-2}}
;Studio albums
* 1995: ''[[Plastic Planet]]'' (as "[[g//z/r]]")
* 1997: ''[[Black Science (GZR album)|Black Science]]'' (as [[GZR|"geezer"]])
* 2005: ''[[Ohmwork]]'' (as "[[GZR]]")

===Ozzy Osbourne===
;Studio albums
* 1995: ''[[Ozzmosis]]''

;EPs and live albums
* 1990: ''[[Just Say Ozzy]]''
* 1993: ''[[Live & Loud]]'' ("[[Black Sabbath (song)|Black Sabbath]]")

===Heaven & Hell===
;Studio albums
* 2009: ''[[The Devil You Know (Heaven and Hell album)|The Devil You Know]]''

;Live albums
* 2007: ''[[Live from Radio City Music Hall (Heaven & Hell album)|Live from Radio City Music Hall]]''
* 2010: ''[[Neon Nights: 30 Years of Heaven & Hell]]''

{{col-2}}
===Black Sabbath===
;Studio albums
* 1970: ''[[Black Sabbath (album)|Black Sabbath]]''
* 1970: ''[[Paranoid (album)|Paranoid]]''
* 1971: ''[[Master of Reality]]''
* 1972: ''[[Vol. 4 (Black Sabbath album)|Vol. 4]]''
* 1973: ''[[Sabbath Bloody Sabbath]]''
* 1975: ''[[Sabotage (Black Sabbath album)|Sabotage]]''
* 1976: ''[[Technical Ecstasy]]''
* 1978: ''[[Never Say Die!]]''
* 1980: ''[[Heaven and Hell (Black Sabbath album)|Heaven and Hell]]''
* 1981: ''[[Mob Rules (album)|Mob Rules]]''
* 1983: ''[[Born Again (Black Sabbath album)|Born Again]]''
* 1992: ''[[Dehumanizer]]''
* 1994: ''[[Cross Purposes]]''
* 2013: ''[[13 (Black Sabbath album)|13]]''
;EPs and live albums
* 1982: ''[[Live Evil (Black Sabbath album)|Live Evil]]''
* 1995: ''[[Cross Purposes Live]]''
* 1998: ''[[Reunion (Black Sabbath album)|Reunion]]''
* 2013: ''Live... Gathered in Their Masses''
* 2016: ''[[The End (Black Sabbath EP)|The End]]''
* 2017: ''[[The End: Live in Birmingham]]''
{{col-end}}

==References==
===Citations===
{{Reflist}}

===Sources===
* {{cite book |last1=Butler |first1=Geezer |title=Into the Void: From Birth to Black Sabbath—And Beyond |date=2023 |publisher=HarperCollins |isbn=978-0-06-324252-4 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=2PGWEAAAQBAJ&q=geezer+butler+into+the+void+book |language=en}}

==External links==
{{Commons category}}
{{Wikiquote}}
* {{Official website|http://www.geezerbutler.com}}
*{{allmusic}}

{{Black Sabbath}}
{{Heaven & Hell}}
{{GZR}}
{{Ozzy Osbourne}}
{{2006 Rock and Roll Hall of Fame}}

{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Butler, Geezer}}
[[Category:1949 births]]
[[Category:20th-century English bass guitarists]]
[[Category:21st-century English bass guitarists]]
[[Category:Black Sabbath members]]
[[Category:English blues rock musicians]]
[[Category:English male bass guitarists]]
[[Category:Deadland Ritual members]]
[[Category:English autobiographers]]
[[Category:English heavy metal bass guitarists]]
[[Category:English pacifists]]
[[Category:English people of Irish descent]]
[[Category:English rock bass guitarists]]
[[Category:Former Roman Catholics]]
[[Category:GZR members]]
[[Category:Heaven & Hell (band) members]]
[[Category:Living people]]
[[Category:Musicians from Birmingham, West Midlands]]
[[Category:The Ozzy Osbourne Band members]]