Late ’70s saw hectic lineup changes in Black Sabbath, as Dave Walker briefly replaced Ozzy Osbourne, and Bill Ward fired Geezer Butler for two weeks. Butler reflected on how his short departure came to be in a recent chat with Lifeminute’s Joann Butler.
Noting the band’s financial struggles and suspicions about their management, the bassist shared, “I think that just people just wanted a scapegoat for the whole thing. It just happened to be me at the time. Bill Ward came to the house and said, ‘Oh, by the way, you’re fired.’ ‘Oh, thanks very much. Why?’ ‘You don’t seem into it anymore.’ And I was actually relieved because we were under so much pressure at the time.”
“Probably the best two weeks that I’ve had for years [chuckles],” he then said: “because I could just relax and not think about the business, or getting albums together, or anything like that. And then, about two or three weeks later, Bill calls me up and says, ‘Where are you?’”
“I said, ‘What do you mean, where am I?’ He said, ‘We’re here, rehearsing!’ I said, ‘I thought I was fired.’ He said, ‘What do you mean, fired!?’ I said, ‘You told me I was fired from the band!’ [laughs] He said, ‘Oh, yeah, forgot about that.’ So, I went down to rehearsal, nobody said anything about it, just carried on as normal.”
The next year, Black Sabbath released the ‘Never Say Die!’ album and set on a supporting tour. Over three decades and several more albums later, they officially broke up with a farewell tour.
These days, there are talks about a possible reunion for one final show with Bill Ward, who was not part of the band’s final tour. All members are interested in the idea, but Butler has doubts about it ever coming true.
The possibility isn’t completely ruled out, though a full tour seems unlikely. Bill Ward and Ozzy Osbourne’s health issues, which caused the latter’s retirement from touring, prevent them from extensive traveling.
