Black Sabbath drummer Bill Ward has revealed that he’s almost done with his first solo album in 11 years.
Talking to Metal Express Radio, the 78-year-old, whose longstanding heavy metal band retired at a blockbuster show in their hometown of Birmingham in July 2025, says that he’s about to master the 18-track follow-up to 2015’s Accountable Beasts record.
The album will be shopped to labels later this year, with Ward describing the music as “outside the box”.
“I’ve gone into orchestrations, choirs, rhythm groups, different vocal groups,” he says (via Blabbermouth). “And there’s a lot of jazz on the album, as well as just straightforward rock or – I wouldn’t say the word ‘metal’, but I don’t know if I metallised it. But you can hear where I come from.”
The drummer also spills that the album will have “at least 15 to 20” guest performers, including “a choice of at least 10 different bass players”.
“I can’t stop writing!” he explains. “I’ve always written when I was in Black Sabbath. I would interact with [the other members of the band] as a co-writer. But also when I came home from writing with them, I would just continue to write.
“I’ve been like that since I’ve been a kid. I’ve been writing or playing or dithering or whatever. And so when I’m at home, I can’t stop writing. I write lyrics. I’ve got a keyboard. I play keyboards and I write out the parts, record them at home. And I just can’t stop.”
Ward adds that he’s used to interacting with a large number of musicians, including at Sabbath’s swansong last year, making writing for the upcoming album a collaborative process.
“If I’ve got a part, then I’ll bring it to whoever I’m working with, guitar players or bass players, show them the ideas, and we put it together, and it seems to work out,” he says.
He later continues: “I probably work with at least 10 different guitar players on a regular basis. And those guys come in and they go, ‘OK. Well, can you do something here for that?’ And I give them a couple of ideas that I’ve got, and then we just write from that point on. So it’s my favorite thing to do. I love being in the studio and writing with other musicians and writing – period. I just love it.”
Ward hinted just before Sabbath’s final show, dubbed Back To The Beginning, that he was working on two solo albums. He revealed in July this year that he now often needs a wheelchair to get about, as he “can’t walk very far without needing to rest”, casting doubt over the state of these records. He declared that he was “still a drummer” despite his decreased mobility.
Back To The Beginning was Sabbath’s first show since their initial 2017 retirement, and their first performance with Ward on drums since 2005. Held at Villa Park stadium in Aston, it featured a stacked bill of support acts including Metallica, Guns N’ Roses and Tool, with all proceeds going to the local charities Cure Parkinson’s, Birmingham Children’s Hospital Charity and Birmingham Children’s Hospice. 40,000 attended the sold-out event, with an estimated further five million watching via live stream.
Back To The Beginning marked singer Ozzy Osbourne’s final onstage appearance before his death on July 22, 2025, aged 76. Ward paid tribute to his late bandmate one year later during an appearance on the L.A. Radio Sessions show.
“[He is] dearly missed,” he said. “We’re in the month now, the anniversary, of his passing and I wanna say his music was just brilliant. Whatever he’s participated in musically, it’s all been brilliant. His voice is eerie. It’s scary. It’s passionate. It can cross all boundaries. It’s timeless.”
A 147-minute Back To The Beginning concert film hit cinemas on October 28. A home release is set for December 11.
