It had been a year since Ronnie James Dio had died, and Osbourne and Iommi had recently settled a lawsuit over the Black Sabbath name. One of the more fascinating entries in the book is Butler’s account of the group’s final reunion, which started with the original four Sabbath members holding a press conference in 2011. “But it’s things that were happening at the time, and we’ve all grown up and got through it all since then.” Will Osbourne, Iommi, or Ward be upset with anything they read in the book? “Probably, yeah,” Butler says. So I had to do it all again in proper lowercase.”) “I don’t usually write in capital letters,” he says. His publisher rejected the first version of the book because it was in all capital letters and in a format other than MS Word, so he had to resubmit it. (He’s especially sure of his opinion of things, he says, since he wrote the book twice. “We’ve gone through so many ups and downs, finally, we came out of it all reasonably healthy and happy,” he says. Looking back on his life now, Butler feels lucky. “I don’t think Ozzy’s up for it anyway,” he says. He’s also ruling out any new activity with Black Sabbath. “It just didn’t suit me.” Other than working on one-off projects - he recently sent a song to former Guns N’ Roses drummer Matt Sorum - and special gigs like the Taylor Hawkins tribute, his touring days are over. “I didn’t realize how hard starting from scratch is, especially when you’re used to your own plane and staying at the Four Seasons and the Ritz Carlton … and then you’re back in little clubs and getting on a bus together,” he says. “I don’t want to do anything anymore,” he jokes with Rolling Stone while discussing his just-released memoir, Into the Void: From Birth to Black Sabbath and Beyond.īutler came to his decision before the pandemic while on the road with the supergroup Deadland Ritual. After more than half a century of defining and redefining “heavy” with his bands Black Sabbath, Heaven and Hell, and Deadland Ritual, as well as his own solo projects, the bassist, lyricist, and songwriter now lives a much quieter existence.

Black sabbath going through changes