Geezer Butler Opens up About the Profound Influence The Beatles Had on Black Sabbath…

The Birmingham quartet would go on to create a rock ‘n’ roll sound far removed from their earliest influences, but without them, some members of the band don’t think Black Sabbath would have existed at all.

A Fellow Group Of Brits Inspired Black Sabbath

Sonically and aesthetically speaking, Black Sabbath and the Beatles couldn’t be more different. Nevertheless, the Fab Four served as a crucial inspiration to the heavy metal band when they were finding their footing in the late 1960s. As bassist Geezer Butler explained to Michigan radio station WRKR, “They were a massive influence because there was nobody else like them at the time” (via Blabbermouth).

Up until then, it was, like, my brothers were into Elvis and Eddie Cochran and Buddy Holly, that kind of thing,” Butler continued. “There was no real English [rock bands]. All the English rock and rollers were trying to sound American and copy of an American [band], and they never succeeded. And then when the Beatles came along, they had a completely original sound.

Butler said the fact that the Beatles were from Liverpool, roughly 90 miles from Black Sabbath’s hometown of Birmingham, was another important source of inspiration. “It just gave us some hope that British musicians could actually become successful. As soon as the Beatles were successful, then you had The Rolling Stones and the Kinks and The Who, Herman’s Hermits, a whole explosion of British pop music.

While the Beatles had their fair share of rock ‘n’ roll debauchery, the tales of their time fall short of the wild antics Ozzy Osbourne became famous for, from biting the head off a bat to lapping up urine while touring with    . Still, Osbourne is of the same mind as Butler: the Beatles changed the world and, in turn, changed the Birmingham natives’ lives forever.

I knew I wasn’t built to do a 9-to-5 job,” Osbourne said in a 2019 Blabbermouth interview. “When I heard the Beatles, I knew what I wanted to do. I remember it like it was yesterday; I was walking around with a transistor radio on my shoulder, and “She Loves You” came on. And, I don’t know, it just went, ‘Bang!’”

It was like going to bed in a black and white world and waking up, and it turned to color,” Osbourne recalled a few years later in a 2024 episode of The   Podcast (via  ). “You don’t forget, we came out of World War II and the whole thing. We had strict rules to live by. And it was that [the Beatles] broke the  doors down for so many people, and they gave freedom to the world.

Black Sabbath’s career began as the Beatles’ career was ending, releasing their eponymous debut in 1970, the same year as ‘Let It Be.’ However, Osbourne was able to meet his idols even after their band’s famous break-up. “When I met Paul McCartney, it was the highlight of my life,” he said (via Express). “I also met Ringo Starr, what a great bloke. They always had the best melodies. All I’ve tried to do in my career is put a melody to a dark riff.