Geezer Butler reveals how he’s using AI singer for his new album: “A lot of people think it’s cheating”
Black Sabbath bassist Geezer Butler has revealed he’s using an AI singer to help him pitch songs to vocalists for his new solo album.
Butler, who reunited with the original Black Sabbath line-up last summer at Villa Park for Ozzy Osbourne’s farewell show, is currently in the process of making his first solo record in more than 20 years.
During a Q&A session at the Steel City Con in Monroeville, Pennsylvania, in December, Butler opened up about his ongoing project, sharing (via Blabbermouth), “Oh, gosh, I’ve got tons of stuff.”
He added, “Since we finished the last Sabbath show, I’ve just been going through all the stuff that I’ve written since the ’80s onwards and updating everything.”
Butler then explained how he’s using artificial intelligence to help bring his creations to life, sharing, “And what held me back before, I didn’t have a singer when I’m at home, but AI came along. So all my songs now, I’ve updated them all and I’m using an AI singer to bring all the lyrics out.”
Thankfully, Butler does not intend on releasing these songs with an AI vocalist, and it is merely being used as a stepping stone in the creative process, noting, “So, now I can take it to singers that I’m gonna be working with and go, ‘This is what I want on the album,’ so they’ve got a better idea. Before I was just, like, playing them a bass riff or something, going, ‘Can you sing to this?’ And they’d be going, ‘Yeah.’”
Heaping further praise on AI as a resource for music-making, Butler said, “But it’s so much better now, ’cause you can sit in your studio and do everything on AI, and then take it to proper musicians and let them take over. It’s really helped me. A lot of people think it’s cheating.”
He also touched upon how Black Sabbath used to work in the studio, stating, “Ozzy would sing his vocal line, then I’d write the lyrics. So, it mainly came from jamming.”
Butler isn’t the only member of Black Sabbath who has been in the studio to create a new solo album; Tony Iommi also confirmed plans to release a new record in 2026 during his annual New Year’s Day message on YouTube.
He told fans, “There’s a Gibson documentary coming out very, very soon and then, of course, in 2026, I shall have, definitely, definitely, my solo album out.”
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