Black Sabbath officially put an end to their story in 2017 when they concluded their farewell tour with a hometown show at Birmingham Arena, but now Ozzy Osbourne has hinted that there’s still more to come from the heavy metal titans.
The final concert was a fitting way for the group to bid farewell to fans. It took place on the same streets where Black Sabbath cut their teeth, honed their sound, and helped devise a plan to bring heavy metal to the masses. However, Osbourne has now shared his regrets that Bill Ward wasn’t able to play the show with them, and he’d happily do it all over again with the drummer in tow.
For their final album and tour, Ward was absent over a contractual dispute. Last year, he rebuffed claims made by Geezer Butler that he was invited to join the band for their final performance in Birmingham, stating, “When the tour was confirmed, my management reached out to the Black Sabbath management to inquire as to whether or not they would like to discuss my participation in the tour. We were told there was no interest. That is last conversation we had with them regarding the tour.”
Ward continued: “I will say that I wouldn’t want to play only one gig when I am completely capable of touring. I would not validate their untrue statements about my health by playing one only gig. Also, I wouldn’t want to show up for only some of our fans and not for all our fans when I could have played multiple shows.”
Osbourne has previously spoke dotingly about the final show, once remarking to Kerrang, “I thought, ‘Fucking Hell, when we started this thing, we had no idea it was gonna be as successful as it is, or last as fucking long!’ We never thought that there’d be this fucking folk-hero thing about it. We were four lads from Birmingham who reached this great height
Now, during his podcast, The Madhouse Chronicles with Billy Morrison, the pair reflected on the concert with Osbourne sharing his regret that Ward wasn’t able to join them for their swan song, explaining, “Yeah, but I was sad that Bill wasn’t there. I mean Tommy Clufetos, my drummer, did a great job. But he ain’t Bill Ward.”
This remark prompted Morrison to query whether Osbourne was happy with the “arc of the legend of Black Sabbath,” to which the frontman responded, “No, because it wasn’t Black Sabbath that finished it. It’s unfinished. If they wanted to do one more gig with Bill, I would jump at the chance.”
While he didn’t expand on whether it was a possibility to reunite with Ward for a one-off appearance in the future, the prospect would certainly be of interest to the Black Sabbath frontman.
However, one stumbling block could be Osbourne’s health. Earlier this year, the singer who has Parkinson’s and recently had several back operations, explained: “My singing voice is fine. However, after three operations, stem cell treatments, endless physical therapy sessions, and most recently groundbreaking Cybernics (HAL) Treatment, my body is still physically weak.”