“We had our ups and downs over the years – I hadn’t spoken to Ozzy since 2017. But I always knew if I reached out, he’d be there for me”: Geezer Butler remembers the genius and humor of his friend and Black Sabbath bandmate Ozzy Osbourne

Geezer Butler, Tony Iommi, Bill Ward and Ozzy Osbourne in the 1970s.

When Black Sabbath founder Geezer Butler thinks about his old friend and bandmate, Ozzy Osbourne, he doesn’t mince words: “I’ll remember him as a very dear friend and a true genius.”

Butler and Osbourne first joined forces back in 1968 and were known to be particularly close – perhaps the inevitable result of the tight relationship between the group’s vocalist and chief lyricist.