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.
