'It's the ideal way to finish': Geezer Butler of Black Sabbath on their final gig

He describes Irish Villa legend Peter McParland, who died last week at the age of 91, as an "instant hero" during what turned out to be a second baptism of fire.

"The first match I ever saw was the 1957 Cup Final against Manchester United, the Busby Babes. My dad bought, or rented, a tiny black and white TV, as they all were in 1957, to watch it on. The excitement in Aston was at fever pitch. Peter McParland was Irish, so he was an instant favourite in our house, and he scored both goals to win the cup for a then-record seventh time," recalls Butler.

Ozzy Osbourne is said to be in "endurance training" after a series of health issues including a Parkinson's diagnosis in 2019. The 76-year-old front-man absorbed much of Black Sabbath's fame but it was Butler's lyrics that helped put heavy metal on the map. Mass, prayer cards and rosary beads were part of everyday life. They also helped Butler's vision of the world when putting words to Sabbath's potent riffs.

"Yes, Catholicism was a massive influence on my lyric writing", he explains. "Coming from a very strict Catholic family, I firmly believed in Satan and Hell, as well as the Holy Trinity, and of course the Virgin Mary."

Conflict in Northern Ireland was also a daily concern. "The Troubles in Ireland broke my heart to see people from the same country deeply divided by religion and politics ruled by religion. I used to hear about the Catholic martyrs like Kevin Barry and the horrors bestowed upon Irish civilians by the Black and Tans after the 1916 uprising.

“I decided to write a song called After Forever, which is on the Master Of Reality [1971] album based on the Troubles. Hopefully all that hatred and resentment and double standard politics is behind us now."

Despite the band being described as Satanic in some quarters, tracks such as After Forever suggested listeners take a deeper look at Christ while questioning sectarian hatred. Did Butler experience anti-Irish prejudice in Birmingham? "I didn't endure much racism growing up, apart from the dustbin man . He called me a ‘little Irish c**t’ when I was only eight-years-old.”

 The area of Birmingham where Butler grew up was heavily populated by immigrants. “I was born in Aston, but my neighbours were Indian, Scottish, Jamaican, Italian, Irish and Pakistani, and one of my best friends was from South Africa.

“I saw some racist incidents, as there was a very rough pub across the road from our entryway. I saw a Jamaican have his head caved in by an Irish bloke, a Pakistani man stabbed by a Jamaican, and lots of fighting. But once at the Villa, we were all as one, until the skinheads took over the Holte End."

Butler lives in the US, but still goes to Villa home games when he’s back in Birmingham. He was pleased to see gigantic ‘tifo’ display of Black Sabbath’s front-man raised in the Holte End at the Aston Villa v Celtic Champions League match in January.

"The Ozzy tifo was a surprise, especially as he's never been to a match! But he's probably Aston's most famous person. People were saying it should have been me on the banner since I've been a Villa fanatic since I was a toddler, but unless you were a die-hard Sabbath fan, you wouldn't have had a clue who I was!"

As well as his beloved Aston Villa, the bassist is a fan of the Republic Of Ireland team, “I went to see them in the World Cup in the USA when three Villa players were on the team," he recalls of the 1994 side that included Andy Townsend, Paul McGrath and Ray Houghton. "I flew over from England but had to sit with a plane load of Holland supporters on the way back from Miami, quietly sitting in my seat with my Ireland shirt on."

These days the Sabbath classic Paranoid,  and Osbourne's solo song Crazy Train, are played regularly at Villa Park but it's taken some years for the band to be added to the pre-match playlist. Several years ago, the club had even asked Butler for suggestions on which tunes should be played. “I said Iron Man. They said, Heavy Boots of Lead? No thanks. I said War Pigs - they said no, even though the Cleveland Browns did a great job with War Pigs as their opening matchday video. I suggested Paranoid, and they said 'can't have a team being paranoid' so I gave up.”

 There seems to be quite a network of sports fans in the music world, and Butler recalls watching Wolves games with members of Led Zeppelin. "Apart from that, I've been to NFL games with Tom Morello from Rage Against the Machine, and I was in a box at last year's Super Bowl with Billy Gibbons from ZZ Top.” 

Butler will take up the bass with Sabbath for one last time at Villa Park in the summer. That gig will allow Sabbath's original line-up to take a final bow with drummer Bill Ward who last played with the band in 2005.

"I always missed doing the Sabbath shows without Bill. We built up a unique playing style between us in the old days, he vastly improved me as a bass player playing along to his drumming. There's never been anyone like him, a heavy hitter but with a jazz swing.

“To finish with the original four will be the perfect happy ending. To start and end in the place we all grew up in and forged our future in, against all odds, is the ideal way to finish. Not many bands can say that. To end my career in the place I loved and spent my early years in, some of the greatest memories and times of my life, it's the dream ending".

• Black Sabbath will headline Back to the Beginning on July 5. Profits will be donated to the following charities Cure Parkinson’s, Birmingham Children’s Hospital and Acorn Children’s Hospice, a Children’s Hospice supported by Aston Villa