Black Sabbath’s Bill Ward ‘Open-Minded’ About Reuniting With Classic Lineup
Estranged Black Sabbath drummer Bill Ward released a short video statement earlier this month revealing his open-mindedness about a possible reunion with his former bandmates Ozzy Osbourne, Tony Iommi and Geezer Butler. Ward hasn't played drums with the heavy metal pioneers since 2011.
But that didn't stop the musician from making the public announcement July 2 regarding his willingness to perform in Sabbath's classic lineup again, even though Ozzy drummer Tommy Clufetos manned the kit during the group's last tour in 2017, and Prophets of Rage's Brad Wilk recorded drums on final Black Sabbath album 13. Watch Ward's video down toward the bottom of this post.
"Hi everybody, my name is Bill Ward, and I wanted to say that I love Tony, Geezer and Ozzy very much," he relays in the quick clip. "I've loved them for a long time, and I still do. And I would be very open-minded to any ideas about playing together in the future. That's it. Love you all, thanks."
Last month, Butler seemed to indicate another reunion of Sabbath's core quartet wasn't out of the question. Even more, Ward appeared with Black Sabbath members during a Grammy event earlier this year.
Three years ago, differing opinions emerged on his participation in Sabbath's final hurrah. Iommi seemed to think the drummer wasn't up to the task for a full tour, although the guitarist acquiesced, "Even if he'd have played a couple of shows, it would've been great." (Around that same time, Ward apparently refused to be involved in anything more than the full run, saying he didn't want to fill the "elitist position" of occasional drummer.)
But Osbourne betrayed an air of slight regret after the fact, revealing his belief that Ward should've been onstage during the band's closing performances. The singer also left the door open for a future reunion.
"Tommy did great, but the four of us started this, and it should have been the four of us ending it," Ozzy offered. He noted the final concerts "were bittersweet because you think of how far we came, and how much we did, and it would have been good to have shared that together. … Maybe one day there’ll be one last gig, I don't know."
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