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He Wanted To Be There

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The reason why Black Sabbath bassist Geezer Butler didn’t perform with Ozzy Osbourne and Tony Iommi last week at the closing ceremony of the Commonwealth Games in their hometown of Birmingham, England was due to an injury sustained in a recent fall.

Iommi says, “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. It’s a shame because we’d talked for a long time about the possibility of playing at the Commonwealth Games.”

Bass duties were handled by Adam Wakeman, son of former Yes keyboardist Rick Wakeman. Adam played keyboards on Sabbath’s farewell tour.

And, Geezer’s fall, as well as those of other friends, including Ozzy, has Tony being more careful.

“As you get older, you can’t be too careful. As a result of my friends’ injuries I tell my wife, Maria, that it’s not a good idea to come bouncing down the stairs like we used to – that we should always hold on to the handrail! You just never know.”

Iommi was diagnosed with lymphoma in 2012.

REUTERS PHOTO

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