Original Black Sabbath drummer Bill Ward has responded to reports that he may join the band onstage for the final show of The End tour.
Ward posts on his Facebook page:
“I must respond once again to inaccurate statements made by Geezer. I never received an offer to play the final show of The End tour with Black Sabbath. When the tour was confirmed, my management reached out to the Black Sabbath management to inquire as to whether or not they would like to discuss my participation in the tour. We were told there was no interest. That is last conversation we had with them regarding the tour.
I will say that I wouldn’t want to play only one gig when I am completely capable of touring. I would not validate their untrue statements about my health by playing only one gig. Also, I wouldn’t want to show up for only some of our fans and not for all our fans when I could have played multiple shows.
— Bill”
Geezer Butler reportedly told Radio.com, “It’s been mentioned to him [to play at the final show], But he doesn’t want to do it. He wants to do the whole tour or nothing. We’d love him to come on at the very last gig and be part of the whole thing, but he didn’t want to do that. And I understand: I wouldn’t want to be asked to come out just for the last gig. It’s a shame, but that’s the way it is.”
[Singer] Ozzy [Osbourne] adds, “If he’s there, he’s welcome [to play]. But I don’t really want to talk too much about Bill Ward! Because every time I do, he starts getting pissed off at me! Things are quiet between us right now, you know?”
Butler continues, “It’s a shame that Bill won’t be a part of it, but whatever happened, happened. It’s great that at least the three of us can end it on a high note and be friends together.” But he adds, “I still get on with Bill, I saw him last year at some award show. We got on great, we had a laugh together. It’s not personal, as Bill would say, it’s business.”
Black Sabbath’s The End tour began on January 20th in Omaha, Nebraska. See the remaining dates below.
January:
25 Minneapolis, MN Target Center
27 Winnipeg MN MTS Centre
30 Edmonton, AB Rexall Centre
February:
1 Calgary, AB Scotiabank Saddledome
3 Vancouver, BC Rogers Arena
6 Tacoma, WA Tacoma Dome
9 San Jose, CA SAP Pavilion
11 Los Angeles, CA The Forum
13 Las Vegas, NV Mandalay Bay
15 Denver, CO Pepsi Center
17 Kansas City, MO Sprint Center
19 Detroit, MI The Palace of Auburn Hills
21 Hamilton, ON First Ontario Centre
23 Montreal, QC Bell Centre
25 New York, NY Madison Square Garden
27 New York, NY Madison Square Garden
Australia/New Zealand:
April:
15 Perth, AU Perth Arena
17 Adelaide, AU Entertainment Centre
19 Melbourne, AU Rod Laver Arena
23 Sydney, AU Allphones Arena
25 Brisbane, AU Entertainment Centre
28 Auckland, NZ Vector Arena
30 Dunedin, NZ Forsyth Barr Stadium
Europe:
June:
1 Budapest,Hungary Groupama Arena
8 Berlin, Germany Waldebuhne
11 Donington, UK Download**
13 Verona, IT Arena Di Verona
15 Zurich, Switzerland Hallenstadon
17 Dessel, Belgium Grasspop**
23 Halden, Norway Tons of Rock**
25 Copenhagen, DE Copenhell**
28 Vienna, Austria Stadthalle
30 Prague, Czech Rep. 02 Arena
July:
2 Krakow, Poland Tauron Arena
5 Riga, Latvia Riga Arena
7 Helsinki, Finland Monsters of Rock**
9 Stockholm, Sweden Monsters of Rock**
12 Moscow, Russia Olympisky Arena
**Denotes festival appearance
North America:
August:
17 Wantagh, NY Nikon at Jones Beach Theater
19 Philadelphia, PA Susquehanna Bank Center
21 Washington DC Jiffy Lube Live
23 Holmdel, NJ PNC Bank Arts Center
25 Boston, MA Xfinity Center
27 Uncasville, CT Mohegan Sun Arena
29 Toronto, ON Molson Canadian Amphitheatre
31 Detroit, MI DTE Energy Music Theater
September:
2 Indianapolis, IN Klipsch Music Center
4 Chicago, IL Hollywood Casino Amphitheatre
7 Dallas, TX Gexa Energy Pavilion
9 Albuquerque, NM Isleta Ampitheater
11 Salt Lake City, UT USANA Ampitheater
13 Portland, OR Sunlight Supply Arena
15 Oakland, CA Oracle Arena
17 Las Vegas, NV MGM Grand Garden Arena
19 Hollywood, CA Hollywood Bowl
21 Phoenix, AZ AK-Chin Pavilion
28 Responses
Fuck $haron
Never should have come to this
How do you know it’s Sharon??? In fact, if you read some of the interviews, it’s all three that are on board with not having Bill participate on BILL’S terms. They all know he can’t do it, and even if he was able to pull it off, why should the band be held hostage to that?
I don’t know how you can assume that it’s all her and that Tony and Geezer are just running alongside Sharon like little puppy dogs. Ozzy may or may not be part of it because of Sharon, but Sabbath as an entity doesn’t FART without Tony Iommi giving the A-OK.
Of course Ozzy is not part of it , he has no clue as to what day, month or year it is
$haron will drag him out onstage until he stops breathing
Bill was at the original press conference
So everyone it would seem was on board
Until money comes into the picture
It’s not like they are doing 30 songs a night
14 songs , not a big deal
Find me one person outside of Ozzys current band or Zakk that has anything good to say about her
The list is endless
She always has her hand in the pie
Just a few years back she was suing Tony for the Sabbath name
When Ozzys last few tours don’t sell so well and you have Rob Halford opening for you
At Madison Square Garden and it’s half full
You have problems
I think we can all agree that if Dio were still alive , we would never be having this conversation
He would still be playing with them
And Ozzy would be doing theaters
Whatever. It’s easy, convenient, and as someone else said, LAZY, to continue to point fingers at Sharon. As I said before, Sabbath doesn’t take a crap without Tony Iommi’s approval and say-so. Honestly, if you were right, Ward WOULD be there, because she would be milking the “original cow” for all it’s worth. If what you say is right, she’d have no qualms about running Bill Ward into the ground for her “money machine”. That there’s even a shred of musical integrity speaks to Tony and his pride and class.
It takes two to tango, and we’re talking about adults. Bill would be there if he really wanted to be there. I actually think it’s easier for him to sit here and bitch and look like the “hero”/”martyr” than it is to go out and slay a 2 hour and 15 minute set every night for the better part of a year.
And since we’re so concerned about the “fans”, what about all those fans who would have useless, unredeemed tickets when the tour shits the bed after two weeks because one member is in the hospital? I would think if anything the past couple weeks would be proof positive that there comes a time when you just can’t do it anymore.
Bill,
I am not sure if your comment about the fans was directed to me, but since I did mention that subject matter in my comment, I feel I have a right to respond.
Ever hear the phrase, “where there is a will, there is a way?” Let’s just throw caution to the wind and speculate, if Ward couldn’t complete the tour, let alone a show, they could have had an assisting drummer on the tour to back Ward up. Whether he drummed alongside Ward, or relived him on certain songs, they could have found a happy medium.
It is obvious you have disdain for Ward, and while your are certainly entitled to your opinion, it seems you have tunnel vision with your opinions. In “the end,” as I said before, should anything happen to the original members of this band, I think they will live to regret the decision that they did not end their career’s together.
You forgot to add without Michael Anthony its not the true VH…..lazy.
I’m trying not to let this continued back and forth between Bill and Sabbath get me down because I’m excited to see Ozzy, Tony and Geezer play together one last time. Do I want to see Bill play with them? Hell yeah, I do! But it’s probably not going to happen. Even if they can bury the hatchet before the tour ends, it’s obvious Bill wants to be THE drummer, not make a special appearance. I’m sure it’s incredibly tough on him seeing the three guys who he started Sabbath with end the band without him.
neither did I , bill.
I have tickets for the Oracle Arena show in September…doubtful they patch anything up to get Bill back on stage but we can always hope.
Yeah that’s terrible. Nobody cares. The METS got Cespedes back and that’s awesome. Boy that JAMES K. is such a nice, diplomatic kind of guy. Let’s just hope that Eric Singer (who actually was in SABBATH) doesn’t show up in Bill’s CATMAN make-up. WHATTT? Just kidding. I’m listening to DONOVAN as I write this. So wonderful. Move along Bill. The RICHMAN praised you over and over and now your embarrassing yourself. You’re not JOHNNY CASH, you’re Bill Ward for God’s sake.
..tony danza is quite a talent!
…
You know Elliot, that is a good observation but I must tell you with a heavy heart that Danza according to some who have met him is a male reproductive organ. He was known in the NYC theatre district as quite a something that one may apply preparation H to. A major talent but not a nice person. I’m so very sorry. I can only tell you that as bad of a guy as Danza is, the ACCOUNTABLE BEASTS album is worse. I put a few songs on my IPOD and when they come on at random I begin to vomit out of my nose and I want to eat fiberglass and I loved Abe Vigoda. God bless you Tessio. Vigoda was known as a gentleman.
…who’s ready for the Oscars?
Aww, thanks man! Nice of you to say that about me. Eric Singer should take Bill’s place but look like Bill circa 1978: Braided hair, thick out of control beard and 50 lbs overweight.