During a recent episode of Ozzy Osbourne‘s new Madhouse Chronicles podcast with Billy Morrison, the “Prince of Darkness” shared his biggest regret from his time with Black Sabbath. That would be that the band finished their run without original drummer Bill Ward behind the kit.
Bill Ward Exits Black Sabbath Reunion
In November 2011, the original Black Sabbath foursome of Ozzy Osbourne, Tony Iommi, Geezer Butler and Bill Ward held a press conference to announce their pending reunion with a 2012 tour on the books. But in May 2012, Ward officially backed out of the reunion, citing issues over his contract for the reunion.
The band continued on, getting Tommy Clufetos to handle drums during their touring, while Rage Against the Machine’s Brad Wilk assisted on their 13 studio album.
What Ozzy Said Was His Biggest Black Sabbath Regret
When asked by Billy Morrison if he was satisfied with the “arc of the legend of Black Sabbath,” Osbourne answered definitively, “No.”
He then elaborated, “Because it wasn’t Black Sabbath that finished it. It’s unfinished.”
The singer then added, “If I wanted to do one more gig with Bill, I’d jump at the chance.”
As the episode was coming to a close, Osbourne told Morrison, “You know what would be cool? If we just went to a club somewhere unannounced and just got up and did it out,” before recalling, “We started up in a club.”
READ MORE: Bill Ward Still Wants to Make One More Black Sabbath Album
In the midst of the conversation, Osbourne spoke of the band’s final performance and touring noting, “I was sad that Bill wasn’t there. Tommy [Clufetos] did a great job, but it ain’t Bill Ward.”
Ozzy Osbourne Reflects on Black Sabbath on The Madhouse Chronicles Podcast
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Black Sabbath’s Farewell
Black Sabbath concluded their farewell tour with a Feb. 4, 2017 show in their hometown of Birmingham, England. On March 7, 2017, the group made it official announcing that they had disbanded on their social media platforms.
While there had been talk of potentially doing more or a one-off here or there, no further appearances featuring the trio of Osbourne, Iommi and Butler together have taken place (Osbourne and Iommi have reunited onstage at the Commonwealth Games), and Ward has not reconnected with the other three musicians in a live setting either.
