Geezer Butler is not sure if these plans will move forward.
“Uh, I don’t think so, no. I mean, it’d be great if we could, you know, to have Bill Ward involved in it, ’cuz we didn’t have Bill on the last tour that we did or the last album.”
He then shared:
“Ozzy was asking me what I thought doing, like, maybe two or three songs with Bill in the band when Ozzy does his farewell gig, and I’d do it. But it’s up to Tony and Bill whether they’d do. I don’t know.”
Ozzy Osbourne brought up a possible Black Sabbath show following their ‘The End Tour’ in 2016–2017 during a May episode of ‘The Madhouse Chronicles.’ The singer said he wasn’t satisfied with their farewell and explained:
“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. Do you know what would be cool? If we went to a club or something unannounced and we just got up and did it. We started up in a club.”
Tony Iommi responded to his ex-bandmate’s wish in a chat with ‘Trunk Nation With Eddie Trunk.’ His words read:
“It’d be a nice idea, but you’re gonna get everybody going, ‘Oh, they’re doing it for the money. They’re doing it for this, they’re doing it for that.’ Well, it wouldn’t be. I mean, it’d be something that’d be a nice thing to actually do, but whether it happens will be another thing. But we’ll see. I mean, who knows?”
Bill Ward joined his former Black Sabbath bandmates for a few occasions since his departure from the lineup in 2012. He last played with Iommi and Butler in Los Angeles in 2019. The drummer later said he was open for a reunion with everyone together but noted in a 2021 chat with ‘Trunk Nation:’
“But being realistic about that, as far as touring with Black Sabbath, I don’t have the chops, and I don’t have the ability to drive a band like that on stage. I have to be back to 60 years old to be able to do that.”
“I would love to do a studio album with Sabbath, with all the original members. I’m just saying that I’m just floating that out there – I haven’t talked to anybody about that or anything else.”
Black Sabbath’s final album, ‘13,’ didn’t include Ward. Brad Wilk filled in for the original drummer.
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