Geoffrey James Nicholls (29 February 1944 – 28 January 2017)
was a British guitarist and keyboardist, and longtime member of the heavy metal band
Black Sabbath
Black Sabbath were an English rock music, rock band formed in Birmingham in 1968 by guitarist Tony Iommi, drummer Bill Ward (musician), Bill Ward, bassist Geezer Butler and vocalist Ozzy Osbourne. They are often cited as pioneers of heavy met ...
until 2004. Nicholls also played in the
NWOBHM
The new wave of British heavy metal (commonly abbreviated as NWOBHM) was a nationwide musical movement that started in England in the mid-1970s and achieved international attention by the early 1980s. Journalist Geoff Barton coined the term i ...
band
Quartz
Quartz is a hard, crystalline mineral composed of silica (silicon dioxide). The atoms are linked in a continuous framework of SiO4 silicon-oxygen tetrahedra, with each oxygen being shared between two tetrahedra, giving an overall chemical form ...
before joining Black Sabbath. In the 1960s/early 1970s, Geoff played lead guitar for the Birmingham bands The Boll Weevils, The Seed, Johnny Neal and the Starliners, and played keyboards for
World of Oz
The World of Oz was an English psychedelic pop band from the 1960s. The band released a self-titled LP record, LP in 1968 and two charting singles, "The Muffin Man" and "King Croesus", before fading into relative obscurity. The album gained wid ...
.
Black Sabbath
![Geoff Nicholls 1986](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/d/d6/Geoff_Nicholls_1986.jpg)
Nicholls was originally brought in as a second guitarist when Black Sabbath doubted whether they would even continue under that name. Nicholls then switched to bass when
Geezer Butler
Terence Michael Joseph "Geezer" Butler (born 17 July 1949) is a English musician and songwriter. He is best known as the bassist and primary lyricist of the heavy metal band Black Sabbath. He has also recorded and performed with Heaven & Hell ...
left briefly, and then became the band's keyboardist upon Butler's return and the decision to keep the Sabbath name. Nicholls' first appearance on a Black Sabbath album was on ''
Heaven and Hell'' (1980), and he was credited as keyboardist on every Sabbath release from that time until ''
13'' (2013), although he was not an official member until 1986. He remained an official member until 1991, then regained member status from 1993 to 1996. He was an unofficial member once again since the reunion with
Ozzy Osbourne
John Michael "Ozzy" Osbourne (born 3 December 1948) is an English singer, songwriter, and television personality. He rose to prominence during the 1970s as the lead vocalist of the heavy metal band Black Sabbath, during which period he adop ...
in 1997. Although his main role with Sabbath was on the keyboard, Nicholls also played some rhythm guitar on the reunion tours, e.g., during
Iommi's solo in "
Snowblind" and a few tracks during the ''
Headless Cross'' (1989) and ''
Forbidden'' (1995) tours.
Nicholls' touring involvement with the band ended when
Adam Wakeman
Adam Wakeman (born 11 March 1974) is an English musician and the current keyboardist and rhythm guitarist for Ozzy Osbourne's band; he also played keyboards and guitar off-stage for Black Sabbath. Wakeman has also worked with Annie Lennox, T ...
(a member of Ozzy Osbourne's solo band) was chosen to play keyboards during Sabbath's 2004 and 2005 tours as part of
Ozzfest
Ozzfest is an annual music festival tour of the United States and sometimes Europe and later Japan, featuring performances by many heavy metal and hard rock musical groups. It was founded by Sharon Osbourne and her husband Ozzy Osbourne, both ...
, and Scott Warren (
Dio) handled keyboard duties on the 2007
Heaven & Hell tour.
Until his death, Nicholls played keyboards with former
Black Sabbath
Black Sabbath were an English rock music, rock band formed in Birmingham in 1968 by guitarist Tony Iommi, drummer Bill Ward (musician), Bill Ward, bassist Geezer Butler and vocalist Ozzy Osbourne. They are often cited as pioneers of heavy met ...
singer
Tony Martin, in his band Tony Martin's Headless Cross.
Nicholls has performed on Martin's first two solo albums
Back Where I Belong
''Back Where I Belong'' is the first solo album by English rock and roll singer Tony Martin. It was recorded after Martin was briefly replaced in Black Sabbath by Ronnie James Dio in the early nineties, and was released in 1992. When recordin ...
and
Scream
Scream may refer to:
*Screaming, a loud vocalization
Amusement rides
* Scream (Heide Park), a gyro drop tower in Soltau, Germany
* Scream! (ride), a tower ride at Six Flags Fiesta Texas and Six Flags New England
* Scream! (roller coaster), at ...
, and their support tours.
Death
Nicholls died from
lung cancer
Lung cancer, also known as lung carcinoma (since about 98–99% of all lung cancers are carcinomas), is a malignant lung tumor characterized by uncontrolled cell growth in tissue (biology), tissues of the lung. Lung carcinomas derive from tran ...
on 28 January 2017, aged 72, surrounded by his family.
"Geoff was a real true friend and supported me all the way for nearly forty years," said
Tony Iommi
Anthony Frank Iommi () (born 19 February 1948) is a British musician. He co-founded the pioneering heavy metal band Black Sabbath, and was the band's guitarist, leader and primary composer and sole continuous member for nearly five decades. I ...
. "I will miss him dearly and he will live in my heart until we meet again."
Albums
Studio albums with Black Sabbath
Live albums
Compilation albums
Singles
Videos
References
External links
* Images of Geoff Nichols at the Jonny Neal and the Starliners reunion.
* Black Sabbath Online fan site tribute.
{{DEFAULTSORT:Nicholls, Geoff
1944 births
2017 deaths
Deaths from lung cancer in England
English heavy metal keyboardists
Black Sabbath members
Musicians from Birmingham, West Midlands
20th-century English musicians
21st-century English musicians