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Oct 11, 2023

Geezer Butler on "lunatic" who tried to sacrifice Tony Iommi

Black Sabbath bassist Geezer Butler has recently recounted a strange incident where his bandmate Tony Iommi found himself on the brink of being “sacrificed” by a “lunatic” during a live performance.

Black Sabbath bassist Geezer Butler has recently recounted a strange incident where his bandmate Tony Iommi found himself on the brink of being “sacrificed” by a “lunatic” during a live performance.

Butler recollects the initial barrage of harsh criticism from the media following the release of Black Sabbath’s debut album. However, they were elated when they received the news that their follow-up album, Paranoid, had reached a number one position on the UK charts.

However, by this point, Sabbath’s Satanic imagery garnered extreme reactions – from those who could care less to those who sent threats. “Generally, nobody in the UK or Europe cared that much about our Satanic imagery,” Butler told Reader’s Digest.

“In the US, though, people would threaten us and turn up at our gigs with crosses and bibles,” he continued. “In Nashville, someone jumped on stage and went for Tony with a knife. Fortunately, Tony had turned around to kick his faulty amp at that point, saw the attacker and got out of the way”.

He added: “The police arrested the attacker, though we don’t know what happened to him. But he wanted to sacrifice Tony. Lunatic.”

Elsewhere, Butler also recalls his first meeting with the eccentric Ozzy Osbourne. “I contacted someone who’d put a note in a guitar shop saying they wanted to join a band. He was called ‘Ozzy Zig’ and the next day, there was a knock on the door.

“Stood there was a skinhead with no shoes on, carrying a chimney brush over his shoulder and pulling a training shoe on a dog lead. He was obviously a complete nutter. I burst out laughing and said, ‘OK, you’re in.’”