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 band formed in Birmingham in 1968 by guitarist Tony Iommi, drummer Bill Ward, bassist Geezer Butler and vocalist Ozzy Osbourne. They are often cited as pioneers of heavy metal music. The band helped def ...

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 ...

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 f ...

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.

Black Sabbath

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

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, 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 tissues of the lung. Lung carcinomas derive from transformed, mali ...

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. "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