In a touching and humorous tribute to his late friend, Black Sabbath bassist and lyricist Geezer Butler has shared a vivid story of his very first, fateful meeting with Ozzy Osbourne—a bizarre and hilarious moment that he says sparked “the most incredible journey of our lives.”
Writing in a new essay for The Sunday Times, Butler painted a picture of the improbable encounter that brought together two of the founding fathers of heavy metal. It began after Butler, a long-haired “hippy” at the time, saw an advert in a local Birmingham music store that read: “Ozzy Zig needs a gig,” complete with an address. After an initial visit to the house proved fruitless, he left his own address with Osbourne‘s sister.
What happened next became the stuff of legend. “Later that evening,” Butler wrote, “as the Butler family were sitting down to dinner, there was a knock at the door. My brother answered it and said to me, ‘Hey, there’s something at the door asking for you’. I said, What do you mean by ‘something’?” He said: ‘You’ll see.’”
The “something” at the door was the future Prince of Darkness, though he looked anything but. Butler described the sight: “It was the cropped-hair mod I’d seen walking home from the all-nighters… except he didn’t have a suit on — he had his dad’s brown work gown on, a chimney brush over his shoulder, a shoe on a dog leash and no shoes on his bare feet.”
The strange figure simply introduced himself: “I’m Ozzy.”
Butler‘s reaction was immediate. “After I’d stopped laughing, I said: OK, you’re in the band. So began the most incredible journey of our lives,” he recalled.
In the essay, Butler also reflected on the final chapter of that journey, admitting he “wasn’t prepared” for how frail his old friend was when they reunited for rehearsals ahead of their final concert on July 5. “He was really quiet compared with the Ozzy of old,” Butler remembered, a poignant contrast to the vibrant, shoeless character who had appeared on his doorstep more than 50 years earlier.
The detailed essay follows Butler‘s initial, heartfelt tribute released shortly after Osbourne‘s death on July 22. In that statement, he reflected on their shared history and impossible success.
“Goodbye dear friend- thanks for all those years- we had some great fun. 4 kids from Aston- who’d have thought, eh?” Butler wrote. “So glad we got to do it one last time, back in Aston. Love you.”
Prior to his death, on July 5, Ozzy Osbourne made a poignant return to his native Birmingham for “Back To The Beginning.” This landmark event featured a reunion of Black Sabbath‘s original lineup—Osbourne, guitarist Tony Iommi, bassist Geezer Butler, and drummer Bill Ward—sharing a stage after nearly two decades. From a distinctive black, bat-winged throne, Osbourne performed a potent five-song set for the capacity crowd at Villa Park, forging a profound connection with his fans in what became a touching final public performance.
