68-year-old Geoff Nicholls has passed away this weekend after a long battle with lung cancer. The multi-instrumentalist joined Black Sabbath in 1979 as the band’s second guitarist until switching to bass when Geezer Butler took a brief departure. When the bassist returned, Nicholls filled the role of the band’s full-time keyboard player until 2004.
Nicholls is featured on nine Black Sabbath studio albums. He is also known for composing the bassline for the band’s 1980 classic title track Heaven and Hell. The band’s guitarist Tony Iommi wrote in a Facebook post,
Check out this footage of Black Sabbath in 1980 at Nassau Memorial Coliseum: