In response to drummer Bill Ward’s statement about his current relationship with his former Black Sabbath bandmates, Ozzy Osbourne writes via his Facebook page:
“I never wanted to discuss this in a public forum but Bill’s statements left me no option to but to respond honestly.
Wow Bill,
What the f–k are you on about? I cannot apologize for comments or opinions I may have made about you in the press during Sabbath’s 13 album and tour– physically, you knew you were f–ked. Tony, Geezer and myself didn’t think you could have done a two hour set with a drum solo every night, so we made the decision to move on. With Tony’s condition we felt that time was not on our side.
Bill, stop this smokescreen about an ‘unsignable contract’ and let’s be honest. Deep down inside you knew you weren’t capable of doing the album and a 16 month tour. Unfortunately for you, our instincts were correct as you were in hospital several times during 2013. Your last hospitalization was for a shoulder surgery that you now say you’ve only just recovered from. This would have meant that our world tour would have been canceled. So, how is all of this my fault? Stop playing the victim and be honest with yourself and our fans.
Bill, we go back a long way, let’s stop this now before it gets out of hand.
God bless you.
Love.
Ozzy”
5 Responses
Ozzy and Bill, two grumpy old men.
Meanwhile, $haron is laughing her ass all the way to the bank.
Boom.
I think it’s time for Black Sabbath to hang it up, either way.
13 was ok at best, and certainly not nearly as great as everyone said it was.
THOUGHTS ON SABBATH ENDING IT’S CAREER ON A SOUR NOTE… WITHOUT THE GREAT BILL WARD.
Why leave Bill out?… it’s all about the money, even though Ozzy and Sharon Osbourne would like the fans to believe otherwise.
Ozzy’s voice sounded great on the last studio record and Bill Ward’s drumming could have been made to sound great in the studio just as easily as Ozzy’s voice was made to sound great.
Live is a whole different issue… which is why the bulls–t that Sharon and Ozzy Osbourne said about Bill Ward was inexcusable and leads one only to think this was plain and simply a money grab – at the expense of Sabbath fans everywhere and of course at the expense of Bill Ward.
If one thinks back we might remember that Bill Ward was not treated like a fully fledged member of Sabbath during planning for the previous round of tours… he was given an insulting contract and would not sign it so the band went on without him. There was no reason for him to be treated this way! Look at the 2005 live video for evidence and give a good listen. Bill Ward has a shakey moment here and there but for the most part sounds basically like his old self. Awesome! Ozzy IMHO has far more shakey moments than Bill, and has been doing so for years. I saw the original lineup in 99 and 2000 and it was exactly thus. The weak link wasn’t Bill… it was Ozzy.
This is the thing… if you watched any of the dozens of live concerts of Sabbath posted on youtube from the latest tour (without Bill Ward) you heard the f–king obvious… Ozzy sounded like dogs–t the whole time. On the good nights he sounded like rat turds. And for the most part, the fans didn’t care, they just want to see Sabbath onstage together and get wasted and have a good time. Becauase of this nobody got cheated… anyone with half a brain would not buy a ticket and go to one of their shows expecting to see Ozzy the young man. If you did… YOUR bad. You’ve got no one else to blame. Sabbath was not striving for perfection, they had no good reason to diss Bill Ward this way. Ozzy and Sharon plainly lied about Bill – and it was all a smokescreen.
So involving Bill Ward in the studio would have been just as easy. Bill could have been augmented in the Studio if needed, and even helped out live if needed… sharing the stool with another drummer or however it might work. But here is an ABSOLUTE truth: Bill Ward’s contributions to a new Sabbath project would have been AT LEAST as good as anything Ozzy brought to the table. Everyone’s getting older… we should support each other as brothers, not fuckin screw someone we’ve known for years.
The substitute drumming on 13 may have worked well enough for that project to to be very listenable, but it could never have been as good as Bill Ward’s own work. Bill’s trademark heavy-jazz drum style would have made the record a thing of beauty… now it will always be flawed and incomplete in the eyes of any true Sabbath fan.
Bottom line is the recent talk about Bill Ward makes Ozzy Osbourne a complete f–kin hypocrite, and proves Sharon Osbourne is greedily manouvering behind the scenes rather than letting her husband have a band-of-brothers type end to his career. Tony and Geezer obviously went along because their payday might have been f–ked if the Osbournes didn’t get their way. Sad. So instead of the band ending it’s history as brothers, it all had to end on a sour note. Ozzy can take that to his grave and roast on it.
i agree, it is a shame,that money and women always get in the way.tony although i know has had serious health issues,should have either stood up,and put a stop to the bullshit,its his band.ozzy is the 4th man out here,he was the one fired ,and then let back in,just like in kiss,when they reunited it was gen and pauls show,and they dictated what was and was not,so for ozzy to have so much say over a life long member of the band is a puzzle to me,if sharon ants to lead ozzy around by the nose,thats fine,but who the fuck is she to dictate to black sabbath anything about the way things go,she should be lucky that they would even want him back,he sounds like an old girl scretching his songs now, smd!!!