DRUMMER BILL WARD SAYS, “OZZY FANS HATE ME, BUT THEY HAVE EVERY RIGHT TO DISLIKE ME”
Bill Ward accepts that many fans of Ozzy Osbourne hate him – and says he “supports them” in their attitude.
The drummer has been the focus of rage since he demanded a public apology from the singer over claims he was too ill to take part in Black Sabbath’s reunion of 2012.
He insists those claims are untrue – and that they were only made after he’d refused to agree to a contract he regarded as “unsignable.”
Ward tells Classic Rock Revisited, “The sickness agenda started after I wouldn’t sign the contract. In 2011, nobody said anything to me about that – they all seemed to be quite happy that I was there. My health was really good.”
He underwent shoulder surgery in 2013, and admits it was “serious shit.” But he adds, “They say, ‘He couldn’t have done it anyway because he got sick.’ That’s a bunch of bullshit. These things are unforeseeable. Ozzy has had to cancel on multiple occasions because of unforeseeable events since all this has happened.”
Asked if the dispute simply boils down to money, Ward replies, “In my particular case, yes.”
He says one of his biggest regrets is that Sabbath supporters have been split by the argument. “I am really saddened,” he continues. “All the Ozzy fans f–king hate me. My team are very concerned about the people who dislike me – but they have every right to dislike me. I actually support them in their right to dislike me. They’re entitled to their opinions. I don’t necessarily agree with them that I’m an a–hole, but if they want to call me an a–hole I will support their right to do that.”
Ward released his solo album Accountable Beasts last month and he’s nearing completion on another record, Beyond Aston. Sabbath were expected to deliver their final album and tour this year, but Ozzy recently revealed it wouldn’t happen until 2016.
source: classicrock.teamrock.com
I’m an Ozzy fan but I don’t dislike Bill, not at all. I’m a diehard Black Sabbath fan, which means I’m also a Bill Ward fan. The only thing I dislike is this situation with Bill and Ozzy and Sabbath. The great bands like Black Sabbath are getting closer to calling it quits, Sabbath being the greatest and most important band in the history of heavy metal. Is this how it’s going to end for Black Sabbath, with them in a war of words and not working together? I applaud Bill for being honest that it’s a money issue but there has to be a way these guys can put their differences aside and give the fans what we want and also give themselves what they deserve and that’s to see the band the four of them started close to 50 years ago get the respectable end it deserves.
Wards babbling and his admittance that it’s over money shows he’s a little nuts because he keeps changing his comments on the issues with Sabbath…we will never know what the money situation was and I don’t hear Geezer or Tony standing up for Ward, so I’m sure Ozzy and more importantly Sharon have something to do with the money offered to Bill, but his constant banter and changing what he says the problem is makes me wonder if it’s not just a money ploy. Ozzy and the others have said many times in interviews that Bill wasn’t prepared to tour physically and Bill even admits he was not in great playing shape.
I don’t hate Bill Ward at all. I appreciate his significant contributions to the genre of music. Sharon Osbourne on the other hand, I can’t forgive what she and Ozzy did to Jake E Lee.
Maybe when Bill and Ozzy graduate from the 2nd grade all of this back and forth will stop.
Boring. Who cares. Go retire in privacy.