BLACK SABBATH's GEEZER BUTLER Tests Positive For COVID-19 Again

BLACK SABBATH bassist Geezer Butler has tested positive for COVID-19, the disease caused by the SARS-CoV-2 coronavirus.

Earlier today (Wednesday, June 8),the 72-year-old British-born musician shared a photo of his positive test on social media, and he included the following message: "I'm not pregnant so guess I have Covid (again)."

It is not clear when Butler previously contracted the novel coronavirus.

Back in May 2021, Geezer's wife, Gloria Butler, recounted her husband's experience traveling to the United Kingdom earlier that month from their then-house in Los Angeles. Speaking on the "On The RAGS" podcast, she said: "My husband flew to England where they're having to quarantine still. When you land, you have to tell them where you're staying. He gave them our house address. My husband, for those of you that don't know, is reclusive; he doesn't answer phones or answer doors or anything… But all of a sudden, there's a knock at the door. He would never, ever, ever answer a door. And he's jetlagging so badly that it's shocking he wasn't even sleeping or he could have been in the shower. But he actually answered the door. And they were checking up on him. It was the COVID police. How funny is that? I mean, how funny, but how scary, because he maybe wouldn't have answered the door. So he had to show his ID so they knew it was really him. They asked if he was there on his own, which he was. And they asked — which I thought was lovely — they said, 'I know this is really hard doing this, isolating. Is there anything I can get you? Are you okay here?'"

Asked what would have happened if Geezer hadn't answered the door, Gloria said: "He would have been in trouble. He would have been fined."

On May 14, 2021, Geezer tweeted about his U.K. lockdown experience, writing: "Nice to be back in England, but stuck in quarantine & need 3 COVID tests, even tho I've had my jabs. #COVID #LifeGoesOn #ofcourseitisraining".

Geezer received his second dose of the COVID-19 vaccine on February 12, 2021. At the time, the musician took to his Instagram to share that he got the final regular dose of the vaccine. He posted a photo of him wearing a face mask and sporting sticker on his left arm that read: "I got my COVID-19 vaccine!" He wrote in an accompanying caption: "Second vaccination completed. Can I go to England now? #please #missingtherain #longestivebeenaway".

A founding member of BLACK SABBATH, Geezer is also the lyricist of such SABBATH classics as "War Pigs", "Iron Man", "Paranoid" and others.

Geezer, singer Ozzy Osbourne and guitarist Tony Iommi reunited in late 2011 and released a comeback album, "13", in June 2013.

In February 2017, SABBATH finished "The End" tour in Birmingham, closing out the quartet's groundbreaking 49-year career.

"The End" was SABBATH's last tour because Iommi, who was diagnosed with cancer in 2012 and is currently in remission, can no longer travel for extended amounts of time.

Geezer recently completed work on his autobiography for a tentative early 2023 release.

Butler is the third member of the original SABBATH lineup to release an autobiography. Ozzy's memoir, "I Am Ozzy", debuted at No. 2 on the New York Times' "Hardcover Nonfiction" best-seller list. The book was published on January 25, 2010 in the U.S., nearly two years after it was first expected to arrive. Iommi's memoir, "Iron Man: My Journey Through Heaven And Hell With Black Sabbath", was released in hardback in November 2011. It landed at position No. 35 on the New York Times' "Hardcover Nonfiction" best-sellers list.