Black Sabbath Founding Member Bill Ward Makes Surprising Admission About Future Music With Band

The members of Black Sabbath may have closed out their concert career together with the Back to the Beginning farewell show on July 5, but that doesn’t mean they are ready to retire from music for good.

In an interview with Classic Rock, Sabbath founding member and drummer Bill Ward admitted he’d “love” to record another album with original bandmates Ozzy Osbourne, Tony Iommi, and Geezer Butler.

“I’d love to do another album,” Ward, 77, told the outlet. “I’ll be direct about that.”

Ward has an on-and-off history with Black Sabbath and was the only original band member who did not play on their final album, 13, which was released in June 2013. The album, which was the English rock band’s first studio release in 18 years, featured Osbourne, Iommi, and Butler with drummer Brad Wilk of Rage Against the Machine.

At the time, the Los Angeles Times reported that Ward bowed out of the band due to a contract dispute. In a statement, Ward claimed the agreement he was given was “unsignable” and would cause him to lose his “rights, dignity, and respectability” as a rock musician. Ward also didn't participate in The End, the band’s final arena tour in 2017. 

Osbourne told Mojo he was sorry that Ward was not part of The End. He also hinted that Back to the Beginning wouldn’t have happened if Ward hadn’t agreed to it. “It’s very important that Bill is a part of this show,” Osbourne said of the farewell concert at Villa Park in Aston. “My career started with Bill, and I’d really like to finish with Bill by my side.”

While the Black Sabbath members have not committed to recording another album, Ward is keeping busy on his own. The drummer recently told Long Beach radio station 99.1 KLBP-FM that he has “nearly finished” recording two new solo albums.

“We’ve been in the studio. We’ve been living in the studio is what we’ve been doing. And we’ve got two albums that are nearly finished. And we will put them out. And we are finishing up,” the drummer said, per Babbermouth.net. “I’ve just let everything go,” he added. “I basically don’t give an F, and I think it shows up in the record. I don’t have anything to swagger about. I wanted to play something that plays in my heart and then comes out of my soul. I wanted to play some things that keep me awake at night.”

Ward’s last solo album was Accountable Beasts in 2015.

Related: Ozzy Osbourne Has Huge Plans Following Final Black Sabbath Show