Black Sabbath is one of the biggest metal bands ever. But, there was still a time when they were susceptible to being “ripped off”. In 2013, singer Ozzy Ozbourne and bassist Geezer Butler sat down with Howard Stern to talk about Sabbath’s journey. This included their early days and the extra advantage that saved Osbourne’s solo career and life.
During the conversation, Stern noted that a young band in any era would have a tough time managing itself. “You just can’t do it,” Butler replied, “because everybody’s got different opinions of what you’re supposed to be doing.” He added, “None of us were business-wise.”
The legendary bass player then shared what happened as a result of their youthful inexperience. “When we were getting out of [our] first manager, we went to the lawyers, and they started ripping us off,” he said with a laugh.
Osbourne and Butler co-founded Black Sabbath in 1968 with Tony Iommi and Bill Ward
Clearly, the men noticed a disparity between what their management was earning and what they were being paid. Ozzy later joked about when he knew there was “something wrong with this picture.” One day, he realized that their manager was driving a Rolls-Royce, and he was driving a Volkswagen Beetle.
“The worst part was when we got the tax bill for it,” Butler chimed in. Osbourne replied, “We were wiped out before we got the f***ing tax bill.”
Finally, weighing in from a personal perspective, Osbourne credited his wife and manager, Sharon, for keeping him afloat. “If it wasn’t for Sharon, I would have been dead years ago.”
Sadly, Ozzy died in 2025, following years of declining health. His cause of death was ruled as being due to acute myocardial infarction (heart attack) and out-of-hospital cardiac arrest. Associated factors included Coronary artery disease and Parkinson’s disease with autonomic dysfunction.
His final performance was at the Back To The Beginning festival in July, just weeks before he died. During an appearance on the Dumb Blonde podcast, Sharon opened up about Ozzy’s passing. She even shared some background on his health in the months leading up to the concert.
“It’s kind of bittersweet, because, again, we knew. Ozzy had sepsis earlier on last year. Very few people ever walk away from that without losing a limb or their life,” she said. “As soon as he got sepsis, the kids and I, we knew it was time.”
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