Bill Ward is open to the idea of reuniting with his old Black Sabbath bandmates

Bill Ward with Ozzy Osbourne, Geezer Butler and Tony Iommi in 2011 (Image credit: Kevin Winter - Getty)

Bill Ward has recorded a short video message saying he’s “open-minded” about playing with his former Black Sabbath bandmates again at some point in the future.

The drummer bowed out of the Sabbath’s reunion in 2011 – just months after it was announced, reporting he hadn’t been offered a contract he regarded as “signable.” 

This led to a war of words, between him and frontman Ozzy Osbourne, who at one point suggested Ward wasn’t healthy enough to play his role.

However, in May this year, Ozzy said he’d like to do “one last gig” with Ward, after the drummer missed out on Black Sabbath’s final shows in their home town of Birmingham in 2017.

Those comments were recently followed by bassist Geezer Butler, who told Classic Rock: “If it came up I wouldn’t say never. I can’t imagine it ever happening, but then I said that about the Sabbath tour, and it happened, so who am I to know?” 

In the recent Twitter video message, Ward says: “Hi everybody. My name is Bill Ward, and I wanted to say that I love Tony, Geezer and Ozzy very much. 

“I’ve loved them for a long time, and I still do and I would be very open-minded to any ideas about playing together in the future. That's it. Love you all. Thanks.”

Both Ozzy and Tony Iommi have expressed an interest in Black Sabbath possibly reuniting in 2022 to mark the Commonwealth Games in Birmingham, but nothing has been said about the idea since last summer.

Scott Munro
Louder e-commerce editor

Scott has spent 36 years in newspapers, magazines and online as an editor, production editor, sub-editor, designer, writer and reviewer. Scott joined our news desk in 2014 before moving into e-commerce in 2020. Scott maintains Louder’s buyer’s guides, highlights deals, and reviews headphones, speakers, earplugs and more. Over the last 11 years, Scott has written more than 11,000 articles across Louder, Classic Rock, Metal Hammer and Prog. He's previously written for publications including IGN, Sunday Mirror, Daily Record and The Herald, covering everything from news and features, to tech reviews, video games, travel and whisky. Scott's favourite bands are Fields Of The Nephilim, The Cure, New Model Army, All About Eve, The Mission, Cocteau Twins, Drab Majesty, Marillion and Rush.