Geezer Butler thinks Rob Trujillo is the best metal bassist.
The musician recently joined an interview with Songfacts and revealed who is the best metal bass player for him:
“Robert Trujillo from Metallica is a fantastic bass player. I’m not really sure about anybody else.”
Trujillo and Butler Met Before
During a 2020 appearance on The Vinyl Guide, Trujillo talked about Butler’s guest appearance at their 2011 anniversary show in San Francisco. Geezer played with them on ‘Sabbra Cadabra,’ which includes a part from ‘A National Acrobat.’ The musician recalled:
“I was helping Geezer [Butler, Black Sabbath bassist] play through their songs, we did a medley with them. And Geezer, I remember he was like, ‘It’s not the right key,’ and I was like, ‘I know, I know, but Metallica plays it in this key.’ ‘But that’s not the right key.’ ‘I know, I know, but Metallica plays it in this key.’”
Rob continued:
“And we do this transition into it, and he was like, ‘Okay.’ And he pulled it off. I remember we’re up there playing, but we had to review it, I had to explain why it’s different than the Sabbath version, just things like that, but we got through it. In my mind, I was thinking, ‘Well, you know, the Metallica version is the Metallica version, but these guys coming on stage to play this song, they’re gonna be used to their version.’”
Trujillo also previously named Butler among his favorite bass players. He also added jazz bassist Jaco Pastorius and Anthony Jackson from The O’Jays to his list.