Once the Black Sabbath Reunion Tour is over, Bill will be “coming home”. At this point, he hopes to do cleanup work on his mostly recorded third solo album, Remembering. We’re hopeful it will be released in 1999. Also, the reprint of When the Bough Breaks should be in record stores now. The version that’s been floating around since 1997 is a mis-print (it has two roses on the cover). If you happen to spot this updated version, please let us know. Thanks.

Black Sabbath: This week (on the 8th) Bill will leave for England to begin rehearsals for the upcoming Black Sabbath US/Canadian tour in support of Reunion. The tour is scheduled for kick off on Dec 31st in Phoenix, Arizona. For a complete list of tour dates, check out Joe Siegler’s Black Sabbath site. We hope to have some pictures and reports from a few dates on the show here, so make sure to check back later!

Bill Ward Solo: The art and everything for the re-print of When the Bough Breaks has been delivered to the record company. We hope that the reissue will be out early in the new year. Also, the reissue of Bill’s first album, and the new third album “Remembering” are also hoped to be released sometime in 1999 as well, but there’s no firm info on those. Bill does to continue on with his solo work too (as do the rest of the members of Sabbath). When is not known at this time.

This Web Site: Right now, this web site is undergoing a major overhaul. There is a new look slated to go online around the beginning of the new year to coincide with the re-release of When the Bough Breaks. Everything will have a new look to it, so make sure to keep your eyes here!

Bill (w/Sabbath) on the David Letterman Show – Oct 29, 1998

To commemorate the first album released by the original lineup of Black Sabbath in twenty years, the band is on a short multi-city in store record signing tour. Bill Ward (shown here to the right sporting his new buzz cut) is along with Tony, Geezer, & Ozzy signing copies of Reunion. Here is a listing of the cities he is at (contact the record store in your local city for more info):

• Oct. 19 – Virgin Megastore (Times Square), New York, N.Y. (midnight to 3 a.m.)
• Oct. 20 – The Wall (Neshaminy Mall), Philadelphia, Pa. (4 to 8 p.m.)
• Oct. 21 – Tower (Newbury Street), Boston, Mass. (4 to 8 p.m.)
• Oct. 22 – Camelot (Mentor Mall), Cleveland, Ohio (4 to 8 p.m.)
• Oct. 24 – Tower (Downtown), Chicago, Ill. (2 to 6 p.m.)
• Oct. 25 – Tower (Sunset), Los Angeles, Calif. (7 to 10 p.m.)
• Oct. 27 – Blockbuster (Plano), Irving, Texas (4 to 8 p.m.)
• Oct. 28 – Musicland, Minneapolis, Minn. (5 to 8:30 p.m.)

If you are interested in purchasing a copy of the new Black Sabbath album, which is the first official live album by the original Black Sabbath, as well as the first new studio recordings by the original lineup in 20 years, you can click here to order it from CD-Now!

Bill is also scheduled to go out on tour with the guys in support of Reunion. The tour is going to start on December 31st, 1998 in Phoenix Arizona at the Bank One Ballpark. More tour dates will be added here once they are officially released by Black Sabbath.

Bill Ward has placed an announcement online in response to all the Email, faxes, letters, & cards wishing him well. Check it out below.

(continue reading…)

Bill Ward is back home now in California and is resting up comfortably. His doctors told him he can’t get behind a drum kit until August. At that point, Bill will be teaming up with BWB drummer Ronnie Ciago on a regiment designed to build up Bill’s health for the forthcoming US Black Sabbath tour in the fall.

Thanks for all the get well cards and emails, Bill appreciates them all!

The following is a fax received from Bill Ward in the UK:

On Wednesday, June 3rd as part of the follow up work as a result of his May 19th heart attack, Ward underwent a angioplasty procedure. He was discharged from Cardiff University Hospital on Friday 5th June. The procedure performed by Doctor Peter Groves has been a complete 100% success. Ward has been relaxing and exercising as per the rehabilitation program proposed by Neville Hall Hospital, Abergavenny, Wales. A series of regular check ups, blood tests and treadmill workouts are all showing very positive. Ward anticipates being far fitter than he was prior to the May 19th heart attack within the next two months. He will be visiting his band mates at Milton Keynes Ozzfest concert on Saturday June 20th.

— End of Fax —

Bill did make an appearance at the concert, and was introduced by Ozzy in the middle of the set, who promptly proceeded to pull down Bill’s pants in front of 60,000 people. Bill then watched the rest of the gig from the side of the stage.

This past week, during rehearsals for the Black Sabbath tour of Europe, Bill Ward started experiencing pain in his chest. He was taken to the hospital, and it was discovered he had had a mild heart attack. Currently, he is resting, and is doing well. Bill has been told to not fly for 6 weeks, and of course, he can’t tour with Black Sabbath this spring in Europe.

To this, Vinny Appice has been brought in at the last second to rehearse with the band and will take Bill’s slot for the European tour. Bill hopes to be back behind the kit for the US dates later this year.

If you would like to send get well cards, you can send them to Mungus Shine Entertainment’s Post Office Box here:

Mungus Shine Entertainment
P.O Box 3624
Seal Beach, CA 90740-7624

We will keep you updated here with any further developments in this story. A statement from Bill himself is forthcoming.

On Feburary 18th, Bill Ward is to be interviewed LIVE on KNAC. You can hear this on the Internet by going to http://www.knaclive.com. Here is some info from KNAC about the event:

KNAC on the Net (http://www.knaclive.com) premieres on Sunday, February 15th at 2pm PST with the return of many of the original KNAC-FM personalities gathered, on the air, to celebrate the stations return. Numerous surprise guests will join in on this first day “on air” celebration and throughout the first week to help kick off the return of this groundbreaking station to the Net.

On Wednesday, February 18th, from 7pm to 12midnite PST, is the return of Thrasher to KNAC on the Net in the form of ThrasherNet, CO-hosted by former Pure Rock Talkback Host Mike Stark. Expect a night of firsts. The “first” guest on their “first” show will be the drummer for the “first” metal band Black Sabbath – Bill Ward. Ward will discuss a possible Sabbath reunion tour of the US and his recent solo work.

On December 8th, Bill Ward returned to Los Angeles, Ca, after playing two concerts with Tony Iommi, Geezer Butler, and Ozzy Osbourne, at the National Exhibition Centre near Birmingham, England, 4th and 5th of December.

Bill enjoyed playing the concerts and was happy to be a part of the Sabbath shows.

The question of a new album and some tour dates in 98 seems now to be the question everyone is asking.

Bill Ward doesn’t know if he would be included in either of those plans if they were to happen. Bill, however, is saying he’d be willing to have an open mind if an opportunity to play with Sabbath came again.

This review originally appeared in Issue #542 of the Black Sabbath Mailing List on April 29, 1997. Brad was also kind enough to send in a handful of pictures he took at this gig; you can see them in the slideshow below. Click on the slideshow for larger pictures.

From: Brad Mozley (bradmozley@astec.com)
Date: Mon, 28 Apr 1997 17:32:04 -0700
Subject: I met Bill Ward

(Tomorrows) Dreams really do come true.

This past Friday (25 April, 1997) Bill Ward played a small club in Fullerton, California. A club called “Club 369”, named for the numbers of people the place holds but I doubt if there were 150 people there. There were 3 warm up bands, first one called “Something Meaningless”, the second one called “O.C. Bent” and the third called “Gaff”. All heavy alternative rock bands. It was interesting to note that when the announcer spoke over the PA and announced each band, you would hear some what of a moderate cheer and then he would say “and later on we have Bill Ward”, not a single cheer in the crowd. I really didn’t care for these bands, though each band played with an incredible amount of energy.

Then it was about midnight and the lights dimmed, a tape was being played, sort of an interview of Bill, with an incredible, heart beat like, intense laser sound playing along with the interview. Then this musician comes out on stage sits down with a cello and starts playing. The crowd seems puzzled and starts getting into it and then he breaks out into “Iron Man”. The crowd went crazy! (All pretty much echo of the show Chuck Begian saw last week in Phoenix, check out post #535, Thursday, April 17, 1997). My friend and I had the best seats in the house, about 5 feet from the stage. We took loads of pictures should get them back in a couple of days.

My thoughts on the performance:

Bill, through all the battles in his life, can still rock. He performed with an incredible amount of energy. The way he darted back and forth, first he’d go to his drum kit and beat on it for awhile then back to center stage, where a large floor tom was and he would beat on that for awhile, like a man gone mad. It was fantastic! He played my favorite solo track, “Bombers Can Open Bomb Bays”, great version. He played several tracks from his new CD, “When the Bough Breaks”. Most notable, “Children Killing Children”. Great track! One of the closing numbers was “It’s Alright”. He announced it by saying, “this is something I did with Black Sabbath 23 years ago”. Then the show was over. The announcer came on and said “Bill will be out in about 15 minutes to sign autographs”. So I took that opportunity to dash out to my car and get the items I had for him to sign. I had been thinking about the items for him to sign for the last couple of days. Finally I decided on Vol. 4 (inside gatefold of Bill) and an 11 x 14 photo of Bill taken in 1976 at the Long Beach Arena. I got back and waited for a short while, then I saw Bill starting to walk out from the side of the stage. At this point, there was one person in front of me. Bill greeted him and signed a poster, then it was my turn.

I was incredibly nervous, I mean here I was standing next to a Sab and been following for the last 26 years. At first the words just wouldn’t come out. Then I said “It’s a great honor to meet you Bill”, I told him my name, he quietly repeated it, we shook hands, and then the words started to flow. He signed the 2 items I had and I asked if I could get a picture of us and he said sure. My friend took several pictures of me and Bill, (I get them back in a couple of days), can’t wait. Bill and I talked for about 5 minutes. We talked about the photo he signed, his new CD, “When the Bough Breaks” (due out 29 April), the show tonight and about our mutual friend in Birmingham, England that I met a couple of years ago on my trip to England. She is a personal friend of Bill. Then he moved on to some other fans to sign autographs, I went over to my car to drop off my things and return to the gathering (only about 5 people). Then one of his crew said let’s get going. Bill finished up signing autographs, then Bill looked at me, reached out to shake my hand again and said, “nice meeting you, Brad”. Then he signed one more autograph, look at me one last time and said “see you Brad” and I said, “take care Bill”. Then he was off.

Brad ‘oz’ Mozley