BLACK SABBATH DRUMMER BILL WARD DISCUSSES VISITING THE 9/11 MEMORIAL AND MUSEUM AND SAYS “I SAID PRAYERS AND CRIED, IT’S HARD NOT TO CRY”

During Bill Ward‘s September 2026 show on LA Radio Sessions with Mike Stark,  Black Sabbath drummer reflected on his recent visit to the National September 11th Memorial & Museum at the World Trade Center in New York.

Ward said (as transcribed by blabbermouth.net), “Well, we went there. And the reason why I wanted to go there was to see — because I hadn’t been to the museum, which is fantastic, the way that they have put things together so that we will never forget. It’s marvelous. I felt very sad, obviously, going through there, and it had very dark moments in there. I was with family members who — that helped a lot, passing through there.”

“The biggest thing that I felt brought me peace of mind was seeing how they’ve built the waterfalls that fall into infinity,” Ward explained. “They fall into infinity. And I think that’s such a wonderful grace because if they didn’t look like they fell into infinity or they landed somewhere else, there wouldn’t have been a stopping point for me. But whoever designed that designed these small waterfalls, these small waterfalls, and then the large waterfall that just goes into infinity. And they did that exactly for the first and second tower.”

“To be honest with you, I stayed there for some time and I said prayers and I cried,” he added. “It’s hard not to cry. But I came back from New York with some peace of mind because I had no idea how they would resolve that. How can you resolve something like that? And I know it can’t be fully resolved, but at least I think, as New Yorkers always do, they do their best. They really come through, there’s no doubt about it. And so what gave me some solace finally was seeing the two Twin Towers grave sites with the waterfalls falling into infinity. And I felt like I’d accomplished my journey finally to go there and see what actually happened.”

Located on eight acres of the 16-acre World Trade Center complex, the National September 11th Memorial & Museum is a place of remembrance and contemplation within the bustle of lower Manhattan.

The Memorial opened on September 11, 2011, 10 years after the 9/11 attacks.

The focal points of the Memorial are two pools, each nearly an acre in size, that sit in the footprints of the former North and South Towers. The pools contain the largest manmade waterfalls in North America, each descending 30 feet into a square basin. From there, the water in each pool drops another 20 feet and disappears into a smaller, central void.

The names of the 2,983 people who were killed in the 2001 and 1993 terrorist attacks are inscribed on bronze parapets edging the memorial pools. The names are grouped by the locations and circumstances in which victims found themselves during the attacks. The North Pool parapets include the names of those who were killed at the North Tower, on hijacked Flight 11, and in the 1993 bombing. The South Pool parapets include the names of first responders as well as victims who were killed at the South Tower, on hijacked Flight 175, at the Pentagon, on hijacked Flight 77, and on hijacked Flight 93.