Geezer Butler Details Black Sabbath’s Stonehenge ‘Fiasco’

Geezer Butler has shared his memories of Black Sabbath‘s infamous Stonehenge incident.

It was 1983 when the group briefly welcomed former Deep Purple singer Ian Gillan into their ranks. Together, they recorded Born Again, an album which was roundly panned by fans and critics alike. Still, the bigger embarrassment came with its associated tour.

Inspired by other artists on his roster — including Electric Light Orchestra and Ozzy Osbourne — manager Don Arden sought to mix theatrical elements into Black Sabbath’s concerts.

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“ELO had a flying saucer landing on stage at their gigs,” Butler recalled during a recent appearance on the Bob Lefsetz podcast. “[Arden] put on the most spectacular shows you could imagine and, he was doing [them] with Ozzy as well.”

“Don Arden came up with this idea of having Stonehenge as the backdrop,” Butler continued. “As we were playing, the sun would gradually rise behind the Stonehenge like normal Stonehenge.”

What Went Wrong With Black Sabbath’s Stonehenge?

Unfortunately, the stage production Arden dreamt up for Black Sabbath didn’t go to plan. The manager mistakenly wrote down the design in meters rather than feet, creating an oversized problem.

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“They got all the dimensions wrong,” Butler recalled, laughing. “So when we finally went on tour with it, it was too big to put it in any of the gigs, so we had to leave it on the docks in New York. So that was a total fiasco.”

Black Sabbath’s Stonehenge faux pas would inspire a famous scene in 1984’s This Is Spinal Tap. Meanwhile, Sabbath continued suffering through a tumultuous time period. The band went on hiatus after Gillan departed to rejoin Deep Purple. Sabbath eventually returned for 1986’s Seventh Star, however only Tony Iommi remained from the group’s original lineup.

Watch the ‘Spinal Tap’ Stonehenge Scene