Black Sabbath’s Geezer Butler says The Beatles were a “massive” influence on the band
Black Sabbath bassist Geezer Butler has opened up about the influence of The Beatles on his career.
During a recent interview with Michigan rock radio station WRKR (transcribed via Blabbermouth), Butler explained that, similarly to Ozzy Osbourne, the Beatles were a pivotal band for him.
“They were a massive influence, because there was nobody else like them at the time,” he said. “And up until then, it was, like, my brothers were into like Elvis [Presley] and Eddie Cochran and Buddy Holly, that kind of thing. And there was no real English [rock bands].
“All the English rock and rollers were trying to sound American and copy of an American [band], and they never succeeded. And then when the Beatles came along, they had a completely original sound.”
Nodding to the British invasion, Butler continued: “And they were all literally from Liverpool, which is 90 miles from where we were born. And it just gave us some hope that British musicians could actually become successful.
“And as soon as the Beatles were successful, then you had The Rolling Stones and The Kinks and The Who, Herman’s Hermits, a whole explosion of British pop music.”
Both Butler and Tony Iommi have previously admitted they don’t listen to modern heavy metal, with Butler again mentioning his preference of the Beatles – and Iommi saying: “I tend to listen to the more older stuff really. More the classic stuff than the newer stuff because I relate to that more.”
Their frontman Ozzy is famously a fan of the Liverpudlian band, and earlier this year recalled meeting Paul McCartney, saying that coming face-to-face with the Beatles icon “was like meeting Jesus Christ”.
In a 2020 NME cover feature, he also touched on the moment he knew he wanted to be a musician, which came after hearing the Beatles’ ‘She Loves You’ as a 15-year-old. “My dad knew I was an avid, fucking freaked-out Beatles fan,” he said. “I loved them. They were the reason why.”
Elsewhere, Butler recently shared that Ozzy “desperately wants” to play one final show with the band.
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Poppy Burton
NME
