On January 24th, 1999, Mungus Shine Entertainment ventured into the fast paced world of motorcycle racing when Mark Jones (Bill Ward’s Production Manager) rode a 1985 Kawasaki KLR 250 in the inaugural round of the 1999 STTARS Championship, held at The Streets of Willow Springs. Jones and Mungus Shine intend to compete at all the rounds of the championship, taking place throughout the length and breadth of California.

Mark Jones out racing

In the first round, Jones finished 12th in the Sportsman class, but failed to make the start of the Middleweight class due to carburation problems. Round 2, held at Buttonwillow Raceway Park saw him finish 12th again, this time though in the Middleweight class. In the Sportsman race Mark took a light tumble and posted a DNF. The next round takes place at Willow Springs on April 3rdand 4th, when Mark and the Mungus Shine team will be going for higher finishes and more points to add to their championship totals.

You can follow the race team’s progress throughout the year here, or, you can visit the STTARS official website at http://www.supertt.com. Race results and championship standings are posted there following each event, along with schedules of upcoming races. So if you are in the area of a race, and you feel like having a day full of fun, pop on out and watch the races, and don’t forget to stop by and say hello to the team. Bill has said that he will turn up whenever possible, so who knows, you may get a chance to meet the man in person.

Mark Jones goes out racing:

As you can see, the new look for Bill’s site is now online. Bill’s site has been online for some time now without an upgrade, and we felt it was high time for one. 🙂

Let us know what you think of the new look!

The picture shown here was taken from the article Bill was interviewed for in Modern Drummer magazine. This magazine is on the stands now!

Bill’s article is entitled “Bill Ward: From Iron Man to Gentle Giant”. Scroll down for a snapshot of the magazine cover.

The Black Sabbath Reunion Tour is progressing. Bill’s not having any problems at all health wise on the tour, and is enjoying the tour immensely. Thanks to all that have seen Bill so far, your enthusiasm for his return to the drumkit in Black Sabbath means the world to him.

For the latest tour reports, please visit Joe Siegler’s Black Sabbath site at http://www.black-sabbath.com for all kinds of tour reports, phots, and other things.

Vinny Appice: Also along on the Black Sabbath tour is Vinny Appice. Vinny is not playing, he’s been brought along by Sabbath management just in case something (god forbid) would happen to Bill again. Vinny has several tour photos online at his web site. Make sure and check them out at his site! The shot of Bill here was one taken by Vinny Appice backstage at the Minneapolis, MN Black Sabbath show on January 17, 1999.

If you read Modern Drummer magazine (or even if you don’t), you might want to pick up a copy of their March 1999 issue. Bill will be appearing in this magazine, and talks about a vareity of things. We are not sure if Bill will be on the cover or not, however.

UPDATE: Bill did not have a cover picture, but he is listed on the cover. Check out this magazine – it’s on stands now.

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.

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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.