Geezer Butler disputes Ozzy Osbourne's claim that he didn't reach out during Ozzy's illness: "Sharon responded but I didn’t hear back from Ozzy."

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Geezer Butler insists he tried to contact former Black Sabbath bandmate Ozzy twice but never got a reply

A picture of Geezer Butler performing live
(Image credit: Getty Images)

Geezer Butler insists he tried to reach out to his former Black Sabbath bandmate Ozzy Osbourne as the singer battled illness.

Ozzy called Butler a "fucking arsehole" in a recent interview, saying the bassist hadn't checked in on him through a number of health worries.

Most recently, Ozzy had to come to terms with a diagnosis of Parkinson's Disease last year.

Butler's alleged lack of contact was very different to how Sabbath guitarist Tony Iommi handled the news, according to the Prince of Darkness. Iommi, Ozzy said, spoke with him regularly.

But now Butler has refuted Ozzy's claims.

In a post on Instagram, Butler says: "Rumour has it Ozzy is upset, saying he never received my get well messages.

"I made two different attempts at getting in touch during his illnesses. My first email (8 Feb, 2019) went through his office because I didn’t have Ozzy’s new number to text him. Sharon responded but I didn’t hear back from Ozzy.

"Eleven months later (21 Jan, 2020), I emailed Sharon to check on Oz. That email went unanswered.

"I don’t want to engage in a tit for tat. Having made two attempts to wish Ozzy well without a reply, I figured it best to privately keep him in my thoughts."

Butler has previously admitted the pair are not as close as they once were. In his autobiography Into The Void, Butler wrote: "Me and Ozzy are fine, it's just that we're both ruled by our wives.

"He's got a big heart and was always there for me in times of trouble.. We might not be as close as we were, but we'll always be brothers."

Stef Lach

Stef wrote close to 5,000 stories during his time as assistant online news editor and later as online news editor between 2014-2016. An accomplished reporter and journalist, Stef has written extensively for a number of UK newspapers and also played bass with UK rock favourites Logan. His favourite bands are Pixies and Clap Your Hands Say Yeah. Stef left the world of rock'n'roll news behind when he moved to his beloved Canada in 2016, but he started on his next 5000 stories in 2022.