In a recent interview with Matt Pinfield on 95.5 KLOS’s “New & Approved” show, Geezer Butler discussed the potential for a final BLACK SABBATH concert featuring the band’s original lineup. When asked if there had been any discussions between him, Tony Iommi, Ozzy Osbourne, and Bill Ward about such a performance, Butler responded, “Yeah, we’d all love it to happen, obviously, but it’s beyond our sort of control.”
Butler’s comments come shortly after he told SiriusXM’s “Trunk Nation With Eddie Trunk” that he was open to the idea of reuniting with the original SABBATH members. “Of course there’s an interest [on my part to do it], but there’s a big ‘but’ — you’d have to speak to Bill about it,” he explained. “Everybody wants to do it [but I don’t know if he is] capable [of pulling it off].”
When asked if Bill Ward could participate in a concert or a new recording project, Butler was uncertain. “I don’t think so. Maybe, I don’t know. I mean, the way technical things happen these days, maybe a couple of songs, but who knows? There wouldn’t be any traveling involved. We wouldn’t be actually all in the studio at the same time together. So it could be done that way — maybe.”
Referring to Ozzy’s recent comments about wanting to play one final SABBATH show in Birmingham, UK, Butler said, “Ozzy was hoping to finish it all off next year back in Aston, at the Aston Villa [football stadium in Aston, Birmingham]. I’m definitely up for it, to finish the whole thing off.”
When asked if there had been any discussions among the original band members about a final show, Butler said, “Me and Ozzy have agreed, but I’m not sure about anybody else.”
Butler also revealed that he has been in regular contact with Osbourne. “There was a lot of miscommunication [before]. 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 just ignoring him. And then the weird way I had to go through SABBATH’s accountant to tell Ozzy I’d 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 accountant, and he got in touch with Ozzy and said, ‘He’s just been sending you stuff. He wants to talk to you.’ And we’ve been fine since that.”
When asked if he is in contact with Ward, Butler replied, “He’s not on e-mail and I hate the phone. So, I send e-mails to his wife, who passes it on to Bill.”
Butler added that he would definitely be interested in reuniting SABBATH’s original lineup for one final performance, even if it was for just a short set. “I’d love to do it. I’d absolutely love to do it,” he said.
When asked if he misses playing live, Butler said, “With [the SABBATH guys], yeah.” He went on to say that he still practices his playing regularly. “It’s like part of my daily exercise. I don’t get down to the gym. I just go up to my studio.”
BLACK SABBATH’s Tony Iommi also addressed Ozzy Osbourne’s recent desire for a final reunion concert with original drummer Bill Ward during an interview on SiriusXM’s “Trunk Nation With Eddie Trunk.” Iommi said, “It’s a funny old thing, really. I mean, God, we’ll be 90 by the time we do that. [Laughs] It’d be a nice idea, but you’re gonna get everybody going, ‘Oh, they’re doing it for the money. They’re doing it for this, they’re doing it for that, they’re doing it…’ Well, it wouldn’t be. I mean, it’d be something that’d be a nice thing to actually do, but whether it happens will be another thing. But we’ll see. I mean, who knows?”
When asked if he misses performing live, Iommi said, “It’s great to see the audience. I love to play live. But I have been playing. You obviously know about the BLACK SABBATH ballet. And it was great for me to go on at the end — I was playing on the end of the show, which was really good to get out and play live again.”
He added, “And then I did a gig with Johnny Depp when he came over [with HOLLYWOOD VAMPIRES]; I played on one of their shows, which was great. It’s really good to be able to do that. But, yeah, for me, I’ve always loved playing live. But I have to look at it realistically at my age. I can’t go out and do a two-year tour like we were doing before. And to put something together like the original SABBATH or this or that or the other, you’ve gotta do it a long time because of the cost of everything. But it would be nice, yes, to do a one-off, if that ever happens, yeah.”
Ozzy recently discussed the making of BLACK SABBATH’s final album, “13,” on the new web series, “The Madhouse Chronicles,” which he hosts with musician Billy Morrison. Released in 2013, the “13” LP marked a historic reunion for BLACK SABBATH’s core lineup of Ozzy, Tony Iommi, and Geezer Butler – their first studio album together in 35 years. However, original drummer Bill Ward was not part of its creation, leaving many fans feeling somewhat unfulfilled.
Ozzy said of the album’s creative sessions: “[Producer] Rick Rubin, I had met him a long time ago, before he did the album. And he would say, ‘Listen, if you ever get back together again, you’ve gotta let me produce the album.’ … And when we reformed to do that [1997] tour, we recorded the live album, [1998’s] ‘Reunion’. He actually walks into the studio and he goes — we’d had two [studio] bonus tracks [that were included on the album] — he says, ‘I like that track,
