Black Sabbath‘s bassist got into some trouble recently and spent some hours in a jail cell.
The 65-year-old Geezer Butler, whose given name is Terrence Michael Joseph Butler, was arrested just after midnight on January 27th. The incident occurred at a bar in Death Valley National Park called the Corkscrew Saloon, part of the Furnace Creek Resort. Apparently Butler got involved in an argument which escalated into a fight. Among the charges against him were misdemeanor assault, public intoxication and vandalism due to a window broken during the fracas. Butler was booked into the Inyo County jail then released after detox and citation.
Butler sounded a bit chagrined when he tweeted,
“Thx for your messages & support following the unfortunate altercation that occurred.”
This is not behavior we usually link with AARP-age individuals who are vegan.??However, this is not the first time a member of the noted heavy metal band has found himself on the wrong side of the law. Prior to this, there was the notorious incident of lead singer Ozzy Osbourne being arrested for urinating on the Alamo memorial back in 1984.
To some extent, this is a humorous event on a few levels. Do we expect senior citizens to get so rip-roaring drunk that they get arrested for fighting and window bashing? Do we expect heavy metal musicians who are senior citizens to get so drunk that they get into fights and are arrested? Maybe more so than the typical elder statesman. Has Butler played into a debauched stereotype, or is this just an unfortunate incident? What was Butler fighting about at the Corkscrew Saloon to begin with? Did someone insult his musical ability which has been highly praised by so many in the music business, or was it a more mundane reason? None of the stories that covered this have reported the spark of this fight.
Here’s my advice to Butler.?Lay off the sauce, okay?
