Founding Black Sabbath bassist Geezer Butler will be his own Master of Reality when he releases his autobiography Into the Void: From Birth to Black Sabbath—And Beyond on June 6th via HarperCollins imprint Dey Street Books.
The book will follow Butler’s life story, from growing up in working-class Birmingham to Black Sabbath’s “beginnings as a scrappy blues quartet,” through the internal quarrels that led to the group’s many lineup changes and tribulations.
The publisher describes the book as “a rollicking, effusive, and candid memoir by the heavy metal musician and founding member of Black Sabbath, covering his years as the band’s bassist and main lyricist through his later-career projects, and detailing how one of rock’s most influential bands formed and prevailed.”
Butler confirmed the completion of his book back in April 2022, telling rock DJ and TV personality Eddie Trunk “[It’s] finished. I sent the manuscript in three weeks ago, so now I’m just waiting for the edited version to come back so I can go nuts.”
He added: “The trouble is ever since I sent in the manuscript I thought about seven things I’ve left out. So I’m gonna probably drive them nuts now.”
Butler marks the third original Black Sabbath member to put forth a tell-all autobiography, following Ozzy Osbourne‘s I Am Ozzy in 2010 and guitarist Tony Iommi‘s Iron Man: My Journey Through Heaven and Hell with Black Sabbath the following year. I Am Ozzy debuted at #2 on The New York Times‘ “Hardcover Nonfiction” best-seller list.
In a 2021 interview with Cleveland.com, Butler said that he was inspired to write the book because he knew so little of his own parents.
“When my parents died, I always wished I’d asked them a lot more things than I knew about,” he said. “I don’t really know much about my mum and dad, ’cause they were always just there. So, I started writing a memoir for my grandkids to read, and that’s been fun going through stuff — old times and growing up in Birmingham and all that.”
Black Sabbath officially called it quits in 2017 following the conclusion of The End tour in the band’s hometown of Birmingham. The End came about after Iommi was diagnosed with lymphoma in 2012 making him unable to travel for extended periods of time. Ozzy himself recently announced his retirement from touring citing numerous health conditions including Parkinson’s disease. In his announcement last month, however, he did note that “My team is currently coming up with ideas for where I will be able to perform without having to travel from city to city and country to country.”
Related: Ozzy Osbourne & Tony Iommi Reunite For “Paranoid” At Birmingham Commonwealth Games [Videos]
The Geezer Butler autobiography Into the Void: From Birth to Black Sabbath—And Beyond is available here for pre-order.
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