Ozzy Osbourne: Bill Ward Is ‘Incredibly Overweight’
Last week, Black Sabbath drummer Bill Ward disputed Ozzy Osbourne's claims that Ward's physical problems were the main reason he wasn't part of Sabbath's reunion. Instead, Bill said, there was a contractual dispute.
Now Ozzy's firing back, saying not only is Bill unhealthy, he's fat, too.
"I don't think he could have done the gig, to be honest. He's incredibly overweight," Osbourne told the NY Daily News. "A drummer has to be in shape. He's already had two heart attacks. I don't want to be responsible for his life."
Previously, Ozzy publicly questioned Bill's mental faculties, telling a British music magazine that during initial rehearsals for the reunion tour, Ward had a bunch of Post-It notes all over his drums. When Osbourne asked what they were for, Bill allegedly replied that he needed them to remember what he was doing.
“But he didn’t come clean and say, ‘I can’t cut this gig, but can we work something out, guys, where I’ll come on but with another drummer backing me up?’ Or, ‘I’ll come and play a few songs,’" Ozzy added. "That would have been cool.”
For his part, Ward maintains that it was always an "all or nothing" deal to him and he never considered doing it halfway. "I’m the drummer in Sabbath," he said, "and quite capable of doing the job.”
Long story short: Bill was eventually replaced by Rage Against the Machine drummer Brad Wilk in the studio, and by Tommy Clufetos on the road.