Black Sabbath’s Geezer Butler has been diagnosed with pneumonia
Black Sabbath bassist Geezer Butler has come down with pneumonia, his wife confirmed over the weekend.
In a post shared to Instagram on Christmas Day (December 25), Gloria Butler jokingly explained that Geezer’s diagnosis came after two days of analysis, following negative tests for the flu, COVID-19, strep and tonsillitis: “I said, ‘Well, he’s positive for being a pain in my arse,’” she quipped. “Day [two] at [the doctor’s], he was told he has pneumonia. Although still positive for being a pain, I now feel guilty for thinking that.”
Butler himself has not yet addressed his illness, though he has been active online, sharing a Christmas message of his own on Instagram.
The iconic bassist has kept a relatively low profile since Black Sabbath disbanded in 2017, though in March of this year, he linked up with Apocalyptica to perform on their standalone single ‘I’ll Get Through It’. He later appeared at the Taylor Hawkins tribute concert in Los Angeles, performing two Sabbath tracks – ‘Supernaut’ and ‘Paranoid’ – with Sebastian Bach, Lars Ulrich and the surviving Foo Fighters.
Sabbath had a micro-reunion at this year’s Commonwealth Games in Birmingham, however Butler was not present. Explaining why after the gig, Tony Iommi said: “I don’t think he wanted to come over as he hadn’t been well with COVID. He’d been on holiday to Kenya and to Italy and had had an accident on a boat, cracking or breaking a rib about three weeks ago, so he was not quite in fine fettle to come over to play.”
The post Black Sabbath’s Geezer Butler has been diagnosed with pneumonia appeared first on NME.
Ellie Robinson
NME
