Saturday’s Rock 50 show marks a return to the Classics with the first special edition of Bill’s Rock 50 show. During the first hour, Bill will showcase songs by artists who were influential to him personally, and who, in his opinion, also set the course for this new direction in Rock. This set will include ground-breaking tracks such as “Shapes of Things” by The Yardbirds, The Doors’ “Break on Through,” Cream’s “White Room,” The Pretty Things’ “Defecting Grey” and “White Rabbit” by Jefferson Airplane – songs that broadened the spectrum of Rock with dark, eerie sounds and rough edges. Also listen for key tracks by The Who, Led Zeppelin, and of course, Black Sabbath. In Part 2 of the show, Bill expands on the groundwork laid down in the 60’s with a hard-hitting line-up of artists, including Rainbow, Deep Purple, AC/DC, Iron Maiden and Motorhead.

You asked for it, and now the Classics are back. Tune in Saturday and remember to keep checking the Rock 50 page for the next Classic Metal edition.

On Rock 50 this Saturday, April 22, Bill will feature Part 3 in his interview series with In Flames. Also on deck are tracks from Zombie, Dillinger Escape Plan, Immortal, Mastodon, Exodus and 30-Round Clip, a brilliant new band out of LA. Other highlights: the phenomenal live version of “A Bid Farewell” by Killswitch Engage and Korn¹s ³Tearjerker.² Tune in this Saturday!

Something I didn’t say on the night of March 13, 2006 at the Waldorf Astoria, New York, NY. Better late than never. I’d planned to put up a Thank You to the band on my web site the week of the Hall of Fame. Finally, several weeks later, here’s the Thank You.

I’d like to thank Tony, Geezer and Ozzy for a lifetime of fun, achievements, musical satisfaction, musical progress, unity, love, laughter, wonderful memories, strength to accomplish, and valuable life lessons. I could probably add an infinite list of gifts I’ve received from them, however, I’ll share the March 13th accolades with a short story instead.

On the morning of March 13, 2006, Walter and I were finishing our walk through Central Park. Heading out of the park near Columbus Circle to go toward 5th Avenue, we walked past several construction workers sitting on benches against the wall of the park. I guess it was around lunch time, and these ruddy-faced workers were on chow break. My eyes met one of the workers, and I half acknowledged a nod to him. After walking past the guy, I sensed someone had gotten up and was coming towards my back.

“Yo, Bill Ward, Bill Ward!”

Walter and I stopped, and a bulky guy with a grin from ear to ear asked,
“Bill Ward, right? What the fuck you’s doing here?”

“Hall of Fame,” says I.

His New York/New Jersey accent bowling me over somewhat, “Hall of Fame! Congratulations! Sabbath deserves it! I’m with the Iron Workers Union, New York.” He said it with such pride. He deserved immediate respect. “We love Sabbath… all my life…Sabbath.”

Then he pointed to a building across the street under construction. “We’re on the 7th floor right now, going to 38 stories [I think he said 38].” I glanced at the iron framework, solid and echoing New York’s greatness.

“Bill, so’s you know, we play Sabbath everyday in our building,” I felt completely honoured as he continued talking, “everyday, man, Sabbath on every floor. ‘Iron Man,’ ‘War Pigs,’ all the way to the top.”

I felt truly moved by the sincerity of this larger-than-life man. We shook hands, and I thanked him. I couldn’t have received a nicer compliment or gift that day, even with the Awards still ahead. I felt my day had already been made, and I mentioned as much to Walter as we walked away. I regretted Tony (Tony Iommi) wasn’t with us. Tony and I walk regularly in Central Park when we’re in New York. I think he (Tony) would have gotten a huge kick out of this New York encounter.

A new reality awoke inside me, and I saw with much insight the rippling effect of Sabbath’s reach – the iron worker playing Sabbath on every floor, to the top of “his” building in the heart of New York, New York. Again, I want to thank that iron worker and send all my best regards to all the iron workers in that great city and across America.

This short story I dedicate to Tony, Geezer and Ozzy, who got the most sincere accolades from a Sabbath fan, who builds high. In their absence on that Monday, March 13th morning, I guess I did the Thank You’s on the band’s behalf.

In summary, these are things you keep close to the heart. These memories and these precious moments somehow make the world go around more easily.

My sincere thanks to Tony, Geezer and Oz. Without them, there would be no story, and our world surely would be less without them.

Sabbath Forever.

–Bill Ward

Bill has sent in the the March 2006 edition of his Audio Diary series (the 13th overall entry). This new edition totals 32:29 in length. The subjects discussed in this edition Bill speaks at length on, so there’s not as many different subjects as he normally talks about, but what is talked about is talked about in depth. Here’s what’s going on in this new edition.

• Wilson Pickett, who has recently died. He also talks about how it’s not always easy for some older musicians still trying to make a living at their craft.
• Talks a lot about Black Sabbath’s induction into the Hall of Fame; lots of issues relating to the HOF ceremonies and other bands who went in with Sabbath. Bill also talks about his appreciation for Geezer, Tony, & Oz. Loved Metallica, both in their speeches and in their playing of Sabbath songs.
• A small update on Beyond Aston.
• Bill talks about a couple of deaths in his family recently. One was his wife’s grandmother, and the other, unfortunately was the baby that Bill and his wife were expecting.

If you listen to Bill’s audio diary, he talks a lot about the loss of the baby. Bill and his wife had found it was to be a boy, and they had chosen the name Bram, after Bram Stoker. Bill found out about this when he was deplaning from returning from the trip for Sabbath’s HOF induction.

Naturally, as you can expect, it has not been an easy time for the Ward family. In the diary, Bill talks about sending in emails and letters of condolence. Here are the contact details if you choose to contact Bill regarding this matter.

Via Email: astoncrossmusic@aol.com

Via Snail Mail:
Address no longer valid

If you wish your letter not to be opened and read, please mark it “Private” on the outside. Further details on ‘private letters’ and what will happen with all the emails and letters are in the audio diary. Please check it out.

Here’s the link to the audio diary:

https://www.billward.com/sounds/diary032806.m4a

(Right click and select “Save As” or “Save Link As” and save the file to your hard drive, don’t just click this)

You need one of any number of free audio players (Winamp, iTunes, or Musicmatch Jukebox) to play this file. Don’t forget about Bill’s Podcast for the diaries, you can get more info on that here.

You can discuss the audio diary in this thread on Bill’s forums here on billward.com. A short note, if you have Windows Media player, you may have to rename the file extension from m4a to mp4 to get the file to play right in that player.

Just got the shit news that there’s going to be a movie about the asshole who shot John Lennon. As a Lennon fan, admirer, I can’t believe that this film is coming out on general release. I object completely that we have available to us a movie about a guy who robbed millions of people of so much, who stamped out a brilliant mind, and who broke apart a family. When John Lennon died, my heart broke, and I’ve never gotten over his death, and I know that millions of other people got hurt also.

Whoever is responsible for this movie, the money, the producers, the cast, the music, I fail to see how you can participate in anything that could bring more infamy to an already infamous murderer, robber and pain-bringer.

I curse this movie, and hope that it rots in hell. I hope it’s an utter failure. For me personally, it feels like another kick in the balls. It still hurts. He’s been dead now for awhile, but it still hurts. This movie can only open up old wounds. For the sake of what? Truth? I think not.

–Bill Ward

Here is the complete text of Bill’s speech onstage at the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame Induction ceremony on Monday night.

Thank you to Sabbath fans everywhere. Congratulations to all those being inducted this evening. Extra-special greetings to Metallica.

Hopefully, our induction tonight will add further validation, as other bands already inducted in the past years have begun to establish, which is that hard rock and heavy metal have an endearing and forever lasting place in Rock history.

In the US, the ceremony will be on TV on VH1 on Tuesday March 21st at 9PM EST. Click here for further details.

There’s a great new interview with Bill online, and is definitely something you should check out. It’s not the usual interview asking the same 6 questions about Bill’s life in Black Sabbath. This one has some deeper probing questions than the usual interviews do.

It’s over at allaboutjazz.com, and it talks about Bill’s life in Black Sabbath yes, but in a way that’s different than what’s come before. Talks a lot about how Jazz influenced Bill’s life musically.

Aw… just go read it. You’ll be glad you did. 🙂

Bill has sent in the the 12th edition of his Audio Diary series. This long delayed newest edition (the first in 2006), totaling 29:35 in length is available right now. Here’s some of what Bill had to say in this edition.

• Some friends of his who have died recently.
• The upcoming US Hall of Fame induction for Black Sabbath. According to Bill, Black Sabbath will not be playing at the ceremony. Furthermore, Bill has no information on anything else happening with Black Sabbath in 2006, either.
• Bill’s gonna be a daddy again (having a son), his fourth child.
• Some Beyond Aston updates – he’s been making a real effort since January to get it completed. Also, you can still download (legally, for free) the song “The Dark Half Hour” from that album. Check out the Sounds page to obtain it.
• As if Beyond Aston wasn’t enough, there’s some details about other music he’s written that isn’t on Beyond Aston that he will use for his next few albums. Bill also goes into some detail comparing the music from Beyond Aston to When the Bough Breaks.
• Sends props to Slipknot and System of the Down for their Grammy Awards
• Lots of talk about his Rock 50 radio show including some details as to what some of the tracks he’ll be playing on upcoming shows are.

There’s plenty more to hear as well, so make sure to check it all out. Here’s the link to the audio diary:

https://www.billward.com/sounds/diary021806.m4a

(Right click and select “Save As” or “Save Link As” and save the file to your hard drive, don’t just click this)

You need one of any number of free audio players (Winamp, iTunes, or Musicmatch Jukebox) to play this file. Don’t forget about Bill’s Podcast for the diaries, you can get more info on that here.

You can discuss the audio diary in this thread on Bill’s forums here on billward.com. A short note, if you have Windows Media player, you may have to rename the file extension from m4a to mp4 to get the file to play right in that player.

In addition to Bill’s note posted today about the new “Classic” formatted Rock 50 episodes, we have some ‘backwards’ Rock 50 items, too. Available now on the Rock 50 page are playlist archives. We’ve posted all the songs/bands played on the January & February episodes from 2006.

Going forward we’ll be posting track listings for those episodes shortly after they air as well. Enjoy!

Beginning in April, Bill will co-host two “Rock 50” shows every four months. The additional show will focus on classic metal and hard rock artists, with the first program airing on Saturday, April 29th. Bill’s regular show featuring his favorite hard-core bands will continue to run each month – check the Rock 50 page for upcoming dates.

Bill has passed along a letter about the additional shows for you..

Hi Everyone!

I’m very happy that Mike Stark, our host for the “Rock 50” show, has been able to give me the opportunity to present three classic rock shows per year, along with our hard-core shows. The hard-core shows have been going really well, and I am fully enjoying researching newer bands, as well as playing the established giants of metal today. I’ve been able to build a lot of new relationships with many of the bands we play, and I’ll continue to look forward to meeting and playing the music of the bands to come. As much as I love the newer music, I have been missing playing hard rock and classic metal, and over the past year I’ve phased out mixing new metal with classic metal.

I felt both combinations somehow choked, or diminished the energy during a two-hour period. I feel much more focused when playing hard-core only, and vice versa when playing a total classic rock, metal show. I think by playing separate shows there will be less push and pull, and I think the end product of the shows will be stronger and more definitive.

As I do with the hard-core bands, I want to do more “classic metal” interviews (something I’ve wanted to do for awhile). I like the interviews to be direct from the guts, so I hope for good in-depth interviews.

I guess our first classic metal show is April 29th – check us out. For those of you out there that don1t like the new stuff, but love the older bands, then definitely check out this show, we1ll rock from start to finish.

Finally, calling all hard-core fans, check out the show March 22nd – Dimmu Borgir, the re-released “Stormblast” CD – need I say more.