The Time Black Sabbath Forgot They Fired Geezer Butler

The history often shows that Geezer Butler‘s first stretch with Black Sabbath ran from 1968 through 1979, but according to the bassist he was actually fired from the band in 1977. However the group quickly forgot they had let him go.

Why Did Geezer Butler Get Fired in 1977?

The ’70s were a wild time for Black Sabbath as has been widely documented, and apparently Butler says he was let go from the group for about two weeks back in 1977. So why did that happen?

In speaking with LifeMinute TV (as viewed below), the bassist recalled, “Everybody was totally out of their brains all the time. We’d sold millions and millions of albums and sold out thousands of gigs around the world. We still hardly had any money to show for it, and we’d sort of realized that we were being ripped off by the management.”

“I think people just wanted a scapegoat for the whole thing – it just happened to be me at the time,” Butler continued.

Geezer Butler’s Firing and Un-Firing

Reflecting on the period he was let go, the bassist recalled, “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 any more.’”

Butler says he wasn’t upset and actually initially found comfort with his break from the group.

“I was actually relieved because we were under so much pressure at the time. [It was] probably the best two weeks that I’d had for years! I could just relax and not think about the business, or getting albums together, or anything like that,” the bassist revealed.

But his break didn’t last as the bassist says his bandmates actually forgot they fired him.

“About two or three weeks later, Bill calls me up and says, ‘Where are you?’ I said, ‘What do you mean?’ He said, ‘We’re here, rehearsing!’” he explained. “I said, ‘I thought I was fired… You told me I was fired from the band!’ He said, ‘Oh, yeah – forgot about that.’ So I went down to rehearsal, nobody said anything about it, [and we] just carried on as normal.”

Geezer Butler Speaks With LifeMinute TV

Geezer Butler’s History With Black Sabbath

Though his 1977 firing didn’t seem to count, Geezer Butler did leave the group for a brief period in 1979, but by 1980 he returned as the band forged forward with Ronnie James Dio leading the band in place of the recently exited Ozzy Osbourne.

The bassist would exit again in 1984 but would briefly return in 1987 before taking another break. Butler would then intermittently remain with Black Sabbath through the remainder of their run, serving stints from 1990-1994, 1997-2006 and 2011-2017.

READ MORE: Black Sabbath Albums Ranked From Worst to Best

He also took part in the Sabbath offshoot, Heaven & Hell, which featured Butler and Tony Iommi paired up with early ’80s era Sabbath members Ronnie James Dio and Vinny Appice.