Update – January 25th 2:00pm:
Bill Ward himself has now responded to the story, stating that he had never received such an offer:
“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 one only 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“
Original Story:
Black Sabbath‘s ongoing estrangement with their drummer Bill Ward remains a sticking point for diehard fans and with the farewell tour in full swing, there doesn’t appear to be any closure in sight. A recent interview with Radio.com reveals that the band had asked Ward to sit in on the eventual final stop of the trek, but he declined. Bassist Geezer Butler said:
“It’s been mentioned to him, 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.”
Frontman Ozzy Osbourne added:
“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 then concluded:
“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. 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.”
Ward‘s grievances with the band of course include the lack of a signable contract and a war of words with Osbourne that broke out over allegations regarding his health. Ozzy‘s solo drummer Tommy Clufetos is once again behind the kit for the farewell tour. In other news, Butler mentioned that he hopes to do another GZR album once the farewell tour concludes.
