Geezer Butler: ‘I’m Up For a Black Sabbath Reunion Show’

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The band posted this on March 7, 2017 on their Facebook and Twitter accounts

In recent weeks, Ozzy Osbourne—who has been beset with a variety of health issues, most notably Parkinson’s disease, which ultimately caused him to postpone his farewell solo tour—has talked about a possible “final” Black Sabbath reunion show. The band completed their final reunion tour with a Feb. 4, 2017 concert in their hometown of Birmingham, U.K., but it was without their founding drummer, Bill Ward, due to a contract squabble. On May 29, 2024, the band’s founding bassist, Geezer Butler, was a guest of Eddie Trunk on Sirius XM’s Trunk Nation and was asked directly by the host whether he was interested in participating with the original four members, including guitarist Tony Iommi and Ward. Butler’s response couldn’t have been any clearer. “I’m definitely up for it,” he said adding, “Me and Ozzy have agreed.” He was pressed further by Trunk who noted, “in your book you say that you had not talked to Ozzy.”

“Oh, yeah. Every day practically,” was the reply. “Really?,” said Trunk, “Oh, wow, that’s a development. So, you guys are… everything’s cool?”

Butler, who turned 75 on July 17, explained that there had been “a lot of miscommunication. He didn’t think I was asking about his health ’cause I know he’s been going through a lot of health problems. And I was sending all these messages to him and they weren’t being passed on to him. So he thought I was ignoring him. And then the weird way, I had to go through Sabbath’s accountant to tell Ozzy (laughs) I sent him all these things ’cause he did this thing in Rolling Stone saying that I hadn’t been in touch with him about his health. So I went through the account and he got in touch with Ozzy and said ‘He’s been sending you stuff. He wants to talk to you.’ And that we’ve been fine since that.”

Trunk then asked, “Would you, if everyone could do it at a decent level, because you gotta throw Ozzy in that equation too. He’s got a ton of health issues. But if everyone could do it even for a short set, would you like to do what Ozzy suggested? The original four guys for even a few songs?”

“I’d love to do it,” said Butler, who retired from touring in 2023. “Absolutely love to do it.”

“Do you miss playing,” asked Trunk. “With them, yeah,” replied Butler.

In April, Osbourne talked about getting the four original members together one last time. “If they wanted to do one more gig with Bill, I would jump at the chance,” he said. “I was sad that Bill wasn’t there. I mean Tommy Clufetos, my drummer, did a great job. But he ain’t Bill Ward.” The drummer turned 76 on May 5.

Watch Butler’s interview on SiriusXM’s Trunk Nation

Iommi, who turned 76 on February 19, had told Trunk just days earlier that a Sabbath reunion would “be a nice thing to actually do, but whether it happens will be another thing. But we’ll see. I mean, who knows? It’s a funny old thing, really. I mean, God, we’ll be 90 by the time we do that.”