Ozzy Osbourne Wants One Last Black Sabbath Show With Bill Ward
After years of mudslinging, Ozzy Osbourne is now expressing regret that Black Sabbath's farewell tour did not include a reunion with founding drummer Bill Ward. In new interview, he said their last shows in February 2017 in their hometown of Birmingham, England was "bittersweet" because it wasn't the original foursome, and hoped that there could be "one last gig" with him.
Osbourne was speaking with Kerrang! about previous admissions that he didn't enjoy himself on that last spin around the world. While he had previously put it down to conflicts with guitarist Tony Iommi, he now said that the missing piece of the Black Sabbath puzzle was also part of the reason.
“I didn’t like the fact that Bill Ward wasn’t there, for a start," he revealed. "People put that down to me, but it wasn’t me, honestly. We didn’t have the fucking time to hang around, we had to get going, but I’m sorry it didn’t work out with Bill."
Although it was announced in 2011 that Ward would participate in the reunion, Ward didn't appear on 13, the album Black Sabbath put out in 2013, or the tour. He claimed it was the result of a contract dispute, while Osbourne frequently said that Ward wasn't in shape to meet the physical demands of recording and touring, which Ward has vehemently denied. Instead, Brad Wilk from Rage Against the Machine drummed on 13, while Tommy Clufetos, who plays in Osbourne's solo band, occupied the drum stool on the road.
"Tommy did great," Osbourne added, "but the four of us started this, and it should have been the four of us ending it. Those final gigs in Birmingham 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.”