Metal Is Here To Stay Says Black Sabbath Icon

(Classic Rock) Black Sabbath bassist Geezer Butler believes heavy metal "is here to stay" and that festivals will continue to be vital to the genre. Taking the opposite view to artists such as Gene Simmons - who famously said "rock is dead" - Butler insists there is still an appetite for metal and that there will always be a demand.

He tells Tulsa World: "I think metal is here to stay, in some form or other. The metal festivals in Europe are massive events, attracting 100,000 plus audiences. And I think that is the future for metal - huge gatherings with several bands."

Earlier this year, Metallica bassist Robert Trujillo said he and Butler had discussed the state of metal and that they both feared that there might be no big acts to carry the torch once Sabbath and Metallica call it quits.

Trujillo said: "I ran into him on a flight from London and he was like, 'Who's going to carry the torch? When Metallica's done and we're done, who will it be?' I was like, 'Let me think about that.'" Read more here.

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