Geezer Butler Open to One-Off Black Sabbath Reunion

Geezer Butler said he’d be open to a single concert reunion with Black Sabbath.

“If it was worth doing and we were all into it, yeah I’d do a one-off,” the bassist admitted during a recent appearance on the Rock Experience podcast. “I couldn’t do a tour though anymore.”

Butler noted that a reunion with Ozzy Osbourne and Tony Iommi almost took place at the 2022 Commonwealth Games.

“Tony and Ozzy did ‘Paranoid’ to finish the Commonwealth Games, and I was supposed to be part of that,” the bassist explained. “But, unfortunately, I’d broken my rib. And as I was recovering I got COVID. And I called Tony up, and I said, ‘Tony, I’m really sorry, man. I just can’t do it. They’re not going to let me on the plane anyway with COVID.’ So ... Tony and Ozzy went ahead with it without me.”

Another opportunity popped up with the Power Trip festival, scheduled for October. Iommi previously confirmed that Black Sabbath was offered a slot but turned it down due to Osbourne’s poor health. (The singer later agreed to play the festival as a solo act, only to again pull out due to health problems.)

Black Sabbath’s final concert took place on Feb. 4, 2017, in the band’s hometown of Birmingham, England. Butler and Osbourne no longer talk, though it’s reportedly not due to any animosity. “Me and Ozzy are fine, it's just that we're both ruled by our wives," Butler wrote in his memoir Into the Void. "He's got a big heart and was always there for me in times of trouble."