Black Sabbath bass icon Geezer Butler has written his first memoir. The autobiography titled Into the Void: From Birth to Black Sabbath and Beyond is out June 6, as the 73-year-old British rocker and founding Black Sabbath member revealed this week.
“After spending my entire life creating memories, to eventually set aside how reserved I am, I have put pen to paper (or fingers to keyboard),” Butler said.
The Black Sabbath bassist who has also played with Heaven & Hell, GZR and Ozzy Osbourne continued, “The recollection of my life (thus far) is coming out 6/6/23. Yes I know that 2×3=6. Although unintentional, having that as a release date suits me fine.”
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Into the Void is a “rollicking, effusive and candid memoir by the heavy metal musician … 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,” according to its publisher, Dey Street Books (HarperCollins).
In his announcement, Butler explained that the autobiography was available to pre-order on Amazon. A signed edition of Into the Void will be available through Coles Books in the U.K., he added.
With over 70 million records sold, Black Sabbath, dubbed by Rolling Stone ‘The Beatles of heavy metal,’ helped create the genre itself, with their distinctive heavy riffs, tuned down guitars, and apocalyptic lyrics. Bassist and primary lyricist Geezer Butler played a gigantic part in the band’s renown, from suggesting the band name to using his fascination with horror, religion, and the occult to compose the lyrics and build the foundation of heavy metal as we know it.
In ‘Into the Void,’Butler tells his side of the story, from the band’s beginnings as a scrappy blues quartet in Birmingham through the struggles leading to the many well-documented lineup changes while touring around London’’ gritty clubs (Eric Clapton, Jimi Hendrix, Frank Zappa and The Who make notable appearances), and the band’s important later years. He writes honestly of his childhood in a working-class family of seven in Luftwaffe-battered Birmingham, his almost-life as an accountant, and how his disillusionment with organized religion and class systems would spawn the lyrics and artistic themes that would resonate so powerfully with fans around the world.
‘Into the Void’ reveals the softer side of the heavy metal legend and the formation of one of rock’s most exciting bands, while holding nothing back. Like Geezer’s bass lines, it is both original, dramatic and forever surprising.
Geezer Butler, Into the Void: From Birth to Black Sabbath and Beyond
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