In the wee hours of the morning, I received another statement from Bill Ward regarding the Ozzfest 2004 situation. Without further ado, here it is. If there are any further developments, they will definitely be posted here.

Dear Sabbath People,

I have communicated to Sharon that I will accept the proposal of 5/11/04 regarding me playing Ozzfest, and today I received a very positive response from her. At this time, I am taking this response as a move forward. This announcement is for the benefit of all those who these past few days have been so outspoken favouring and supporting me as a member of Sabbath. I personally thank all of you. To All Sabbath People On Earth – Rock & Shine.

-Bill Ward
5/20/04

UPDATE: After having posted this statement from Bill, several sites are reporting that Bill is back in Black Sabbath for Ozzfest 2004. Please be aware that this has not happened yet. This statement just means there are discussions, and while said discussions might lead to Bill being on the Ozzfest tour, it has not happened yet. Any further developments will be covered here.

Earlier today, the news broke that Black Sabbath was to headline Ozzfest 2004, with a lineup of Ozzy Osbourne/Tony Iommi/Geezer Butler/Mike Bordin – without Bill Ward on drums. Here is a statement from Bill Ward about Ozzfest 2004.

“Dear Sabbath People,

This morning I received the very sad news that Mike Bordin is to play drums with Black Sabbath on Ozzfest ’04.

Black Sabbath is, and always will be an important priority in my life. I support Geezer’s, Tony’s and Ozzy’s decisions to move ahead into Ozzfest ’04 without me. I can appreciate they may not be overjoyed with the decision, and I’d really like to be with them. Nothing would please me more than to be a part of the show.

Last week I did receive a proposal which allowed no room for negotiation. It was a cul-de-sac proposal in my opinion, where the only answer was yes or no. I was asked to respond by Friday. May 14th. I wrote a brief letter of decline on Thursday, May 13th. I answered directly at the proposal, and left out any personal comments, other than I was sad to have to decline. What I did not put in my response was this:

I’m willing to be flexible
I’m willing to compromise
I’m willing to negotiate
I’m willing to play.

I understand and believe in a united front when it comes to Sabbath. I can appreciate the fallout from such a decision will upset some people, and I am so sorry. I’m more than willing to support Ozzfest in any way I can.

I’ve walked down this street before when Sabbath did the first reunion without me and had Mike Bordin play instead. I want you to know, I’m not being the bad guy here. I’m not trying to hold anyone to ransom. And I’m not trying to reverse my decision to decline in hope of a positive managerial response to this letter.

I’m ready, willing and able to rock. There are some details on the proposal that don’t work for me. I guess it’s a case of the importance of things on both sides and I think that’s all I can say for now.”

Bill Ward has released a song to the Internet today entitled “The Dark Half Hour”. Here’s a message from Bill about the release…

Hello everyone,

It’s been an extremely busy beginning of the New Year, and I would like to wish you all a happy, healthy, and rockin’ 2004. We’ve been hard at work in the studio completing mixes for “Beyond Aston,” and I wanted to share one of the new songs with you now. The song is titled “The Dark Half Hour,” and it’s about sexuality and sexual shame in part. This version is a close master mix, and therefore, will be different than the final master that will end up on the album. This version will only be available here as a free download. I hope you like the song.

I would also like to thank everyone who purchased a copy of “Straws” over the past few months to help raise money for several deserving charities. For those of you who have e-mailed to ask if you may still purchase a copy “Straws” — yes, the CDs are still available via the web site. I greatly appreciate all your generosity and your support of this project.

Hope you enjoy “The Dark Half Hour” and look for more information on “Beyond Aston.”

— Bill Ward

We know that you’ve been waiting for some information regarding the release of Bill’s third solo album entitled “Beyond Aston”. While we don’t have a release date for you for the CD at this time, we can bring you this news.

Bill Ward has decided to release a close master mix of one of the songs from the Beyond Aston album free online. The name of the song Bill will be releasing is “The Dark Half Hour”. More details as to exactly when you will be able to download this file along with further details regarding it’s release, Beyond Aston and other information will be available shortly here on this website. If you’d like to discuss this topic online, you can do so here on the Bill Ward Online forums.

In related news, the MP3 download of Straws which has been available here on billward.com will be withdrawn when The Dark Half Hour is made available, so if you still haven’t downloaded Straws, you should do so now.

Also, remember, Straws is a charity song – we urge you to make a donation to one of Bill’s charities and help out some needy folks. In exchange for your donation, Bill will send you one of his hand autographed Straws CD’s – more details on purchasing Straws is available by clicking on the cover art below.

For Immediate Release:

BILL WARD OF BLACK SABBATH TO ISSUE LIMITED EDITION “STRAWS” CD-SINGLE ON VETERANS DAY, NOVEMBER 11 AT WWW.BILLWARD.COM

ALL PROCEEDS TO BENEFIT CHARITY

Bill Ward, drummer and founding member of Black Sabbath, has announced that 1,000 Limited Edition CD-singles of “Straws” the song he wrote and recorded to express his concerns regarding the war with Iraq and the escalation of terrorism, will be available exclusively on his web site, www.billward.com, beginning on Veterans Day, November 11, 2003.

Each “Straws” CD-single is numbered and autographed by Ward, and all proceeds
will be donated to the charity of each purchaser’s choice from the following
five organizations: the Vietnam Veterans Memorial Fund, the Alice Faith Mittelman Foundation, the Children Affected by AIDS Foundation, the National Veterans Foundation, and the Inner City Music Program (Bands not Gangs) Los Angeles.

A total of 2,200 copies of the Limited Edition “Straws” CD-singles were produced in all, with Ward servicing 1,200 copies to governmental heads of state throughout the world, humanitarian organizations, peace support groups, media outlets and fellow musicians. Among those who have received the special package are President George W. Bush, British Prime Minister Tony Blair, and members of the United States Congress. ###

As regular site visitors have noticed, not much has gone on lately. Beyond Aston is still not out, as Bill continues to tweak and work on it. At this point, I do not have a firm release date for it, but once I find out something, believe me, this will be the first place it’s posted.

The Merchandise page is now back in operation. On it, you can purchase Bill’s most recent CD, “When the Bough Breaks” (with the correct cover art) as well as a couple of posters. Bill hopes to have more merchandise up eventually, but for now, you can order these things now. You can also pay online with a credit card through Paypal – an option that wasn’t available before.

There’s a great news article about Bill Ward done by the St. Petersburg Times website entitled “Bill Ward: Ozzy he’s not”. It talks about Bill’s internet release of Straws, his views on war, and other cool things you don’t normally hear from your average rock star. Check it out by clicking on the link below:

http://www.sptimes.com/2003/01/16/Artsandentertainment/Ozzy_he_s_not.shtml

I just got word that Bill Ward has agreed to a date for a new edition of his semi-regular radio show on radio station WPMD from Cerritos College in Cerritos, CA. The date he’ll be doing it is February 15th. Once I get more info, like the time of the show, I’ll report back

UPDATE: I got an update from the producer of the show. He sent me this: Black Sabbath’s Bill Ward returns to “Rock 50” on Saturday, February 15th at 11:00am Pacific Time. As always, Bill will be playing his favorite tunes and giving insight into his life over the last 30 years with the band that helped create and shape heavy metal music.

http://www.cerritos.edu/wpmd/

Just got back from South TX, very tired, celebrated Christmas with my two youngest children. Real nice Christmas, I made it into the relax and fun zone and gave frequently to the ringing bells outside each mall entrance. I was actually able to detach enough from world crime and anticipatory doomsday feelings to see the incredible beauty in my wife’s strength, and my children’s hopes and resourcefulness, I sure got my Christmas present.

Today has been pretty much a day of, opening mail, answering e-mail, unwinding from the holiday travel. My eldest son, Aeron, sent me over some CDs I’d requested from the U.K. Spent this morning getting melancholy and listening to some great stuff. I got the Undertakers CD, Unearthed, which features Jackie Lomax, great Liverpool band circa 1963. Also just for the record, Black Sabbath were by no means the first band to be photographed in graveyards, which we seemed to do a lot in the late 60s. I have a photo of the Undertakers at Liverpool Cathedral Graveyard, and I see at least one tombstone, so there’s one for the debaters and history buffs.

OK. What a year. Ozzy and Sharon did everything and in hindsight gave us something to laugh about during a pretty morbid and treacherous year. Good people shouted out loud, and killers killed. The bad guys repositioned themselves. I feel like the round two bell will be ringing as soon as we let the new year in. I’ve got lots of things I want to do, mostly finishing some unfinished projects the first part of the year. Got some travel plans, too.

God Bless America.
I really hope America will not have to be dragged into conflict with other nations and suffer any more loss than what it already has. I hope world peace will remain uppermost in our hearts. I hope that leaders across the world will commit to themselves to better understand the word and action of humility to all things great and small.

Happy New Year
Long live Black Sabbath
Long live Rock and Roll
and God bless you.

Bill Ward

On Thursday, November 14 Bill Ward did an interview with Vinny Marino (New York) for ABC Radio Networks. The focus of the interview was about Straws. During the interview Ward said that Straws was not an anti-war song, and added “sometimes war is inevitable.” He further went on to say, “Straws is a reaction song to the almost obsessive desire to bring war to Iraq.” He explained, “the song was borne primarily out of the fears a father might have” (Bill has two American sons who are both eligible for the draft if that comes about). Ward also spoke about the seemingly unpreparedness, at a local level, to have in place emergency directions if terrorist incidents were to happen at that level. Ward spoke out for the men and women in San Pedro and Long Beach who have been affected by, what Ward considers to be, lack of good judgment on the part of the United States government in which there seems to be only a modicum of support towards the workers who keep the ships moving in and out of LA Harbor. Ward expressed that these ships that are still on the water could potentially be accidents waiting to happen, and went on, “surely the terrorists can see this situation at Long Beach, also.” Ward questioned why so much expense could be placed into bolstering the war economy while denying the ship workers a decent wage. Finally, Ward broached the issue of using children to notify their parents of any strangers that are new on the block, adding, “I can appreciate that idea would immediately be shot down in flames. But, keep in mind the Irish Republican Army used children to notify them if there were strangers on the streets in Belfast” (British agents, etc.). Ward said he hoped that we can learn much from the British and European community on how to defend ourselves more efficiently, and especially at a local level.