<time data-reactid="123" datetime="2019-05-25 14:57:21 +0000">by Dave Lifton May 25, 2019
Ultimate Classic Rock</time>
<time data-reactid="123" datetime="2019-05-25 14:57:21 +0000">
</time>After years of mudslinging,
Ozzy Osbourne is now expressing regret that
Black Sabbath's farewell tour did not include a reunion with founding drummer
Bill Ward. In new interview, he said their
last shows in February 2017 in their hometown of Birmingham, England was "bittersweet" because it wasn't the original foursome, and hoped that there could be "one last gig" with him.
Osbourne was speaking with
Kerrang! about previous admissions that he didn't enjoy himself on that last spin around the world. While he had previously
put it down to
conflicts with guitarist
Tony Iommi, he now said that the missing piece of the Black Sabbath puzzle was also part of the reason.
“I didn’t like the fact that Bill Ward wasn’t there, for a start," he revealed. "People put that down to me, but it wasn’t me, honestly. We didn’t have the ****ing time to hang around, we had to get going, but I’m sorry it didn’t work out with Bill."
Although it was announced in 2011 that Ward would participate in the reunion, Ward didn't appear on
13, the album Black Sabbath put out in 2013, or the tour. He claimed it was the result of a
contract dispute, while Osbourne f
requently said that Ward
wasn't in shape to meet the physical demands of recording and touring, which Ward has
vehemently denied. Instead, Brad Wilk from
Rage Against the Machine drummed on 13, while Tommy Clufetos, who plays in Osbourne's solo band, occupied the drum stool on the road.
"Tommy did great," Osbourne added, "but the four of us started this, and it should have been the four of us ending it. Those final gigs in Birmingham were bittersweet because you think of how far we came, and how much we did, and it would have been good to have shared that together. Maybe one day there’ll be one last gig, I don’t know.”
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