Ozzy Osbourne + Geezer Butler: Rock’s Latest Unfortunate Feud
Ozzy Osbourne and Geezer Butler are at odds, and we’d be lying if we said it didn’t bum us out.
Back in June, Butler released his memoir Into the Void. In the book’s epilogue, the bassist shared he and Osbourne don’t speak due to a falling out between their wives. He wrote, “Me and Ozzy are fine; it’s just that we’re both ruled by our wives. He’s got a big heart and was always there for me in times of trouble.” Apparently, a falling out between Sharon Osbourne and Butler’s wife, Gloria, has led to some tension between the Black Sabbath bandmates.
Despite Butler saying he and The Prince of Darkness are “fine,” it appears Osbourne isn’t “fine” at all about their situation.
In a new interview with Rolling Stone UK, Ozzy shares Geezer hasn’t called him at all during his many health struggles of the past five years. He added that Tony Iommi has been very supportive during his health issues. Ozzy also said that Sabbath drummer Bill Ward has been in contact, despite ongoing tension with him.
“We all grew up together, and he can’t pick up the f—ing phone like a man and see how I’m doing,” said Osbourne. He added that the falling out between their wives was between the wives, not them.
“Are you really going to hide behind your wife’s skirt because of that?” noted Ozzy.
The Commonwealth Games Performance
In August 2022, Osbourne gave a surprise performance during the Commonwealth Games. During the performance, he was joined by Iommi, but Butler was noticeably absent.
Following the performance, Iommi told U.K.'s Birmingham Live, “I don’t think he wanted to come over as he hadn’t been well with Covid. He’d been on holiday to Kenya and to Italy and had had an accident on a boat, cracking or breaking a rib about three weeks ago, so he was not quite in fine fettle to come over to play.”
Considering what we know now of Ozzy and Geezer’s feud, this makes us wonder whether Iommi’s reasons for Butler’s absence were true or not.