Happy Birthday today (July 17) to Geezer Butler. The bass player and primary lyricist for Black Sabbath is 69.

Black Sabbath formed out of Birmingham, England in 1968 with Ozzy Osbourne on vocals, Tony Iommi on guitar, Geezer Butler on bass, and Bill Ward on drums. The band has often been cited as pioneers of heavy metal music. They helped define the heametal genre with albums like Black Sabbath, Paranoid, and Masters of Reality. Rolling Stone magazine ranked the band number 85 on their list of the “100 Greatest Artists of Hard Rock”. Black Sabbath have sold over 70 million records worldwide and were inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2006. The band kicked off The End Tour (farewell tour) in January 2016.

Metallica bassist Jason Newsted has cited Geezer Butler as his number one influence. He’s said, “All true metal bassists look up to Geezer as a pioneer and Godfather of our chosen instrument. The best, ever”. Cheers to the great Geezer Butler on his birthday today!

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