Bill Ward: ‘Ozzy Has Never Reached Out to Me’ Since 2012

Black Sabbath’s original drummer Bill Ward has responded to comments made by singer Ozzy Osbourne during an interview with Rolling Stone earlier this week.

In the RS interview, Osbourne said, “I’m sad that Bill never came through” for the band’s reunion. The pair has been feuding over a reunion contract for years.

On Thursday, Ward wrote a Facebook post where he claimed that the last time the pair spoke was in late January of 2012. “Since that last phone call, he has never reached out to me, and I have not reached out to him,” he wrote.

Ward goes on to discuss the long-disputed contract. “The contract was impossible to sign; the group rhetoric of 2012, 2013 and throughout, was fault-finding, condemning and full of dishonest evaluations of me as a person, including my so-called health issues,” Ward continued. “Had I signed the contract, I suspect I wouldn’t have been labeled as having poor health or having all the other judgmental character references.” 

Ward maintains that in 2015 a Black Sabbath representative told him “no” when he asked if there was a possibility to play with the band again. “It’s hard to come through when you receive a ‘no,'” he said.

Osbourne was asked during the RS interview if Ward would be invited to join the band for their final reunion show in the band’s hometown of Birmingham, England in February. “I don’t know. Every time I reach out to Bill I get yelled at for something,” he responded. “If something can be worked out, great. Tommy [Clufetos, Black Sabbath’s touring drummer] is doing a great job.”

Ward seems less open to the possibility. In Ward’s post, he writes that a one-off show would be “discriminating and elitist toward our other fans all over the world” and adds that it has been “heartbreaking enough not to record and tour.”

“Had any of you had to choose to sign a contract which undermined and devalued you, I think most of you with some dignity and self-respect would have walked away, too. My absence at the current shows and the future Birmingham shows reflects an undeniable and unseen misadventure that my accusers won’t bear,” he concludes. “It’s called selfishness and self-centeredness; dishonesty and disloyalty. These are the culprits of Sabbath’s original lineup’s demise.”

Black Sabbath’s farewell North American tour runs through November. It wraps with a two-night stint at Genting Arena in Birmingham, England, February 2nd and 4th, 2017.

Read Ward’s full Facebook post below.