GEEZER BUTLER Says Success Of BLACK SABBATH's 'Heaven And Hell' Album Felt 'Like Being Revived Again'

Geezer Butler recently spoke to Mark Jeeves of Planet Rock's "My Planet Rocks" about BLACK SABBATH's decision to part ways with the malfunctioning Ozzy Osbourne in 1979 and replace him with Ronnie James Dio. Asked if the band's revamped lineup felt like a "rebirth" for SABBATH at the time, the bassist said (as transcribed by BLABBERMOUTH.NET): "Yeah, 'cause we all knew that the end had come for the original lineup of the band. Ozzy really wasn't into it anymore; I don't think any of us were, really. And we tried to write another album together and it just wasn't happening. Ozzy was in a bad physical and mental shape, and he needed to just go away and get himself together. And he'd already left once the year before. Tony [Iommi, SABBATH guitarist] had met Ronnie, and he came in one day and he says, 'Well, I'm gonna work with Ronnie, this great singer that I just met the other night. He's really enthusiastic about what he wants to do. He's got some great ideas.' And I just thought it was gonna be Tony and Ronnie getting together and doing an album on their own. And then the whole Ozzy thing happened — Ozzy left; well, he was pushed out, for his own good, to go and get help. And Tony said, 'What about listening to this guy that I met, Ronnie?' So Ronnie came over. And we'd been working on 'Children Of The Sea' at the time, but [there were] no vocals on it. And Ronnie came in and just put these vocals to 'Children Of The Sea'. We [just went], 'Wow. This is brilliant.' He got exactly what we were trying to do."

When Jeeves noted that the positive response to Dio's addition to SABBATH must have been "gratifying", Butler said: "Exactly. We were told that there was no way you can go out and not have Ozzy as your singer. So we weren't expecting that much. And then the album came out and it did incredibly well — [it sold] millions. And the gigs sold out straight away. It was like being revived again — it was like from the ashes, the phoenix rises. It was incredible."

Dio joined SABBATH for the first time in 1979 and quickly found kindred spirits in Iommi, Butler and drummer Bill Ward.

With Ronnie at the mic, SABBATH released two consecutive classic metal albums, "Heaven And Hell" and "Mob Rules". Meanwhile, Ozzy had a string of solo hits and became force to be reckoned with in his own right.

When "Heaven And Hell" came out in April 1980, the album was met with effusive reviews for SABBATH's return to form on metal masterpieces like "Neon Knights" and the title track. The album reached No. 9 in the U.K. and No. 28 in the U.S., where it was also certified platinum.

In an interview with Songfacts, Iommi was asked how the songwriting compared to when Dio was the singer in SABBATH as opposed to Osbourne. He responded: "It was different. With Ozz, we tend to jam usually, and then Ozzy would sometimes be in the room, sometimes he wouldn't. And sometimes he'd hear something and go, 'Oh yeah,' and start singing something to it. It depends on what periods. We'd play and come up with a format for a song, and then he'd listen to it and start coming up with a melody. With Dio, he was a little bit more involved because he played an instrument [bass] and was more musical. And that's not knocking Ozzy, because Ozzy was great at what he did, but Dio was a little more involved. I could sit down quietly and play something to Ronnie, and he'd say, 'Yeah, I like that.' He'd start singing, and then go, 'Can I go through a change now? What about that note there? Oh yeah, that's good.' We'd work together and bounce back with each other."

Butler is promoting his autobiography, "Into The Void: From Birth To Black Sabbath – And Beyond", which was released on June 6 in North America via HarperCollins imprint Dey Street Books and on June 8 in the United Kingdom.

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

Butler, Osbourne and 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 is the third member of the original SABBATH lineup to release an autobiography.