Black Sabbath keyboardist Geoff Nicholls has died at the age of 68 after a long battle with lung cancer. 

He passed away on Saturday, January 28 and his band mates have paid tribute to him in separate posts online. Ozzy Osbourne tweeted: "Geoff Nicholls was a great friend of mine for a long time. He will be greatly missed. I'm very saddened at the news."

Guitarist Tommy Iommi shared a post on Facebook about Nicholls' death and wrote: "I'm so saddened to hear the loss of one of my dearest and closest friends Geoff Nicholls. He's been suffering for a while now with lung cancer and he lost his battle this morning. Geoff and I have always been very close and he has been a real true friend to me and supported me all the way for nearly 40 years. I will miss him dearly and he will live in my heart until we meet again."

Geezer Butler posted the following message on his Facebook page: "Very sad to hear of old friend and Sabbath keyboard player Geoff Nicholls passing. RIP Geoff."

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