Black Sabbath legend Geezer Butler sets release date for memoir, ‘Into The Void’
Black Sabbath’s Geezer Butler has set a release date for his upcoming memoir, Into The Void: From Birth To Black Sabbath.
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The memoir will trace the founding Black Sabbath bassist’s personal and professional life. The latter topic will include a recount of Black Sabbath’s multiple line-up changes and internal struggles, as well as the band’s “beginnings as a scrappy blues quartet”, according to the book’s synopsis.
The book will be released this year on June 6 2023, something Butler described on Instagram as “6/6/6” as “2×3=6”.
In the full post, which you can see below, Butler wrote: “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).
“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.”
The official synopsis for the book adds: “Into The Void sees Geezer tell his side of the Sabbath story for the first time, from early days as a scrappy blues quartet through to the many lineup changes, the record-breaking tours and the international hell-raising with Ozzy Osbourne, Tony Iommi and Bill Ward.
“Featuring Geezer’s candid reflections on his working-class childhood in Luftwaffe-battered Birmingham, his almost-life as an accountant and his fascination with horror, religion and the occult, Into the Void will also include 30 photos from Geezer’s personal collection – some never-before-published.”
In a statement about the book, Butler said: “I’m incredibly lucky to have spent the last five decades making music and playing to fans all over the world. From my early days in Aston to adventures and antics with Black Sabbath, this book has brought up memories I thought were gone forever.”
Speaking about the release to The Bookseller, HarperNonFiction publishing director Kelly Ellis added: “Geezer Butler’s story is one of the last great rock ‘n’ roll stories to be told and I am glad to be the lucky editor who gets to publish it.
“As a founding member of Black Sabbath, Geezer has lived through some of music history’s most extraordinary moments. In many ways it reads like a fairy tale of how four unassuming lads from Aston, Birmingham went on to conquer the world. It’s one hell of a read.”
Into the Void marks the third memoir written by a member of Black Sabbath’s original line-up. Ozzy Osbourne’s I Am Ozzy arrived in 2009, while Iron Man: My Journey through Heaven and Hell with Black Sabbath by Tony Iommi was released in 2011. Ronnie James Dio – who first served as the band’s vocalist between 1979 to 1982 – had his memoir, Rainbow in the Dark: The Autobiography, posthumously released in 2021.
News of Butler’s autobiography first emerged in March 2021. In April of last year, the bassist revealed he had completed the first draft.
