On July 5, 2025, Ozzy Osbourne and Black Sabbath performed together live for last time. Ozzy could no longer walk because of Parkinson's. Ozzy died about two weeks later—Tuesday, July 22. That was the end.
Guitar player Tony Iommi, drummer Bill Ward, bassist Geezer Butler, and singer Ozzy Osbourne formed Black Sabbath in Birmingham, 1968. Osbourne was fired in 1979. The band carried on a while with other singers—including Ronnie James Dio—but Ozzy-era Sabbath is the real Sabbath.
I listened to “We Sold Our Soul for Rock 'n' Roll”—a compilation album originally released in 1976—over and over when I was young. My appreciation and knowledge of the music has only grown since.
Fans like me are familiar with the stories, but I still wanted to read Geezer Butler’s memoir, Into the Void: From Birth to Black Sabbath—And Beyond, released in 2023. I’d heard it was good, and it is. I enjoyed reading his firsthand account of the legends. Some notes:
- Ozzy’s dad supported his son’s interest and ambition. The family was dirt poor, but dad bought Ozzy a PA system—crucial for a singer!
- Ozzy was always crazy. He was probably even crazier than people think.
- The drug and alcohol use are a huge part of the band’s story. Butler was less prone to addiction than his band mates, and probably consumed the least drugs and alcohol. That said, he consumed a lot. If you watch video of the 1974 California Jam, for example, you’ll see Butler performing while out of his mind on cocaine.
- They could perform even if they were really messed up. Butler says a lot of that is “muscle memory.”
- Fans know Tony Iommi bullied Ozzy in school and could hardly stand him at first, but it sounds like Bill and Ozzy physically fought the most during their time as a band.
- When Tony was holding it together, he was the most business-like.
- The making of “Vol. 4” is one of the legends. Butler describes a hill of cocaine being poured on the table, with more cocaine continually flown in. Butler writes, “that record cost $70,000 to make—and the cocaine bill was $75,000.” He also describes bowls of marijuana lying around and heroin being available. The band was always wired and up all night. They wanted to call the album “Snowblind,” but the record company said no. Butler writes, “However, the record company did turn a blind eye to the liner notes, in which we thanked ‘the great COKE-cola company of Los Angeles.’ And we meant it, because all that cocaine had fueled the creation of a great album.”
- Sabbath partied with everyone. Zappa’s parties sounded next-level, with him giving girls champagne enemas and so on.
- Toward the late 70s with Ozzy, the band flagged, and opening bands like Kiss and Van Halen would blow them away on tour.
- Butler cites a few reasons for firing Ozzy. They were all messed up on drugs and alcohol, but Ozzy was hardly functional, missing rehearsals and shows. He also stopped contributing lyrics.
- The other reason for firing Ozzy is that he would refuse to sing if he didn’t like what Butler and Iommi came up with. Well, why should he sing something he doesn't like? But if he wasn’t contributing, then I can understand how that might be frustrating.
- Bill was tasked with firing Ozzy and apparently never got over it.
- They co-headlined a tour with Blue Oyster Cult, and BOC apparently were jerks.
- Sharon Osbourne, as a businessperson and Ozzy’s manager, is known to be ruthless. Butler confirms this but says it in a pretty complimentary way.
- Ozzy sounds like a sweet guy who genuinely cared for friends and reached out during hard times, even when relationships were on life support.
- The original Sabbath lineup tried to record with Rick Rubin in the 2000s, but Butler—and the others, presumably—were underwhelmed.
Butler’s youth and the Ozzy–Sabbath years comprise more than half the book. He also talks about his depression, being a vegetarian (a challenge when touring in the early days), his relationship with the supernatural, and his wide-ranging personal tastes in music.
In his closing remarks, he notes that rock and roll excess “is largely a thing of the past.” He cites the band’s tough upbringing as key to their endurance. Sabbath could never happen again, he says, because the odds of four gritty working-class kids making it today are “slim to none. They wouldn’t look ‘right,’ they wouldn’t sound ‘current’ and they’d be too much of a risk for major record companies.”
A shame.
More notes:
- A lot of the anecdotes are known.
- Sabbath still had some success with Ronnie James Dio. Friction started when he asserted himself, wanting his due.
- I sampled Butler's solo albums, didn't like the singer.
- Original band lineups are usually the best. Does post-Syd Barrett Floyd count as an exception?
- Sabbath played one previous farewell, in 2005.
- I read this in May 2025. The farewell concert in Birmingham happened on July 5. (Proceeds were donated to charity.) Ozzy died just over two weeks later. He and Sharon must have known the end was near.
- Freelance writer and journalist Ben Dirs contributed research and helped Butler tell his story in an easy, plain voice. In acknowledging Dirs, Butler also notes that "Some of my original manuscript was deemed unsuitable for modern readers—times have changed was the excuse I was given, but I suppose as publishers they know more of what is acceptable these days."
Postscript: I have other book reviews to "publish," of books I read before I read Void, but Ozzy is still front of mind. Last week, I tried to comment on Ozzy's passing.
