Geezer Butler confirms release date for his tell-all memoir
Geezer Butler is set to release his "candid" autobiography this summer.
The Black Sabbath bassist has announced that 'Into the Void: From Birth to Black Sabbath – and Beyond' will be released on June 6.
The synopsis promises: “A rollicking, effusive, and candid memoir by the heavy metal musician and founding member of Black Sabbath, covering his years as the band’s bassist and main lyricist through his later-career projects, and detailing how one of rock’s most influential bands formed and prevailed."
As well as his working-class upbringing, the heavy metal musician will discuss his “disillusionment with organised religion and class systems."
Geezer revealed in April last year that he had completed the first draft of his autobiography.
The Black Sabbath bassist previously revealed he was penning the tome for his grandkids, and while giving an update on his progress, the 73-year-old rocker asked his followers to help him choose a title for the tome, with 'Into the Void' one of the options.
He explained that the book is "about growing up in Aston, Birmingham and how Sabbath came about."
Speaking about the memoir, he said: “I started out because when my parents died, I always wished I’d asked them a lot more things than I knew about.
“I don’t really know much about my mum and dad, ’cause they were always just there. So, I started writing a memoir for my grandkids to read, and that’s been fun going through stuff — old times and growing up in Birmingham, and all that. I’m right in the middle of doing that at the moment.”
The tell-all tome will likely be filled with tales about Ozzy Osbourne and co's cocaine-fuelled antics.
On the time the 'Paranoid' rockers lived together in Los Angeles in 1972, Geezer recalled: “We used to have bucket loads of cocaine there, and we had this big bowl in the middle of the table, full of cocaine.
“One day Ozzy noticed this button below one of the windows; He kept pressing it, ‘I wonder what this does?’ The next thing, the police turned up - it was a panic button. And there was us with this great big bowl of cocaine in the middle. So, we dumped all the cocaine down the toilet and ran upstairs to get rid of our own stashes. The coppers went ,‘What’s the problem?’ Oh, nothing... ‘OK, see ya...’ And we’d dumped about five grams of cocaine down the bog!"
The band were notorious for their wild live shows and Geezer previously recalled how he was "nearly blinded" when a Sabbath fan threw a giant cross on stage.
He shared: "I'll never forget that. I think it was in San Francisco. Somebody threw this massive bloody brass cross at us, about 18 inches.
"It hit me in the eye. Nearly blinded me. But I kept it.
"There's also a painting someone gave us in Russia, with us as Samurai warriors. Gloriously hideous. We look like four versions of Ken Dodd.
"They found the jacket I wore on our 'Vol. 4' album sleeve. And my silver six-inch platform boots, with red crosses up the sides. God knows how I wore them."
Black Sabbath - which was also made up of guitarist Tony Iommi and previously drummer Bill Ward - formed in 1968 and bid farewell with their final gig in their hometown of Birmingham's Genting Arena in 2017.
Frontman Ozzy has just retired from touring completely due to his poor health.
