Bill Ward on Black Sabbath’s Final Tour: I’d Need a “Signable Contract and an Apology” to Do It

Estranged Black Sabbath drummer Bill Ward spoke with North Carolina radio station 106.5 WSFL recently and during his interview, the drummer talked about the possibility of returning to Black Sabbath for their final tour. Ward says in order to do that he'd need two things: a “signable contract” from the group and a public apology from Ozzy Osbourne regarding some of the things he has said about Ward. During the interview, Ward said he doubted he’ll receive either of those things so he “probably won’t be joining the band in 2016.” You can listen to his full interview below.

Osbourne and Ward have been exchanging fairly public verbal criticisms of each other ever since Ward parted ways with the band going into the recording of their 2013 album '13.' Ward felt he was given “an unsignable contract” by the band and after that Osbourne was extremely critical of Ward, even criticizing his weight and endurance.

Ward told WSFL Radio, "If everybody could get on the same page… my page. I've been quite pronounced about my page, which is a signable contract and an apology over certain issues that Ozzy said about me that weren't true. I'd like him to publicly apologize. He said these things at the public level, so I'd like him to publicly apologize. He's already responded to that, saying that'll never happen. So, as long as that'll never happen, then I probably won't be joining the band in 2016."

Ward went on to say he is saddened by the whole situation and upset that fans are angry about the riff between himself and Osbourne. "Do I love them? Yes, I do. Would I like to play with them? Yes, I would. Am I upset about all the upset? Yes, I am.” He continued, “I'm very, very sad by all the fans' reactions and the way that things have split and gone different ways and everything else. It's not nice at all to be in this position, and it's not an easy responsibility for me to maintain when uncountable amounts of people are angry with my decision-making process, which was that I need a signable contract. And now I need an apology. First, it was, I just need a contract, guys."

Even if he doesn’t participate in the band’s final tour, the drummer will be keeping himself busy. He recently released an album called Accountable Beasts with the Bill Ward Band and revealed he has a new rock trio that has just begun work on their first album.

Listen to Bill Ward Speak About the Final Black Sabbath tour

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