Geezer Butler of Black Sabbath didn't just lose a bandmate with the death of Ozzy Osbourne - he also lost a friend. In a heartfelt tribute published by The Times on Sunday (July 27) - five days after Osbourne passed away at the age of 76 - the bassist reflected on the first and last times he ever saw the late frontman.

Ozzy Osbourne was the greatest singer heavy metal ever knew, his voice a keening wail that seemed to float above the heaviest of riffs, from his earliest days of laying the foundation for what metal would eventually become at the helm of Black Sabbath to a solo career that somehow held its own against the weight of his own legacy.