Bill Ward, the drummer for Black Sabbath, released a long statement on his website, announcing the official news that he will not be playing the upcoming three Black Sabbath shows, with the original members. Sabbath is scheduled to play three upcoming shows: Their hometown Birmingham show, Download, and of course, Lollapalooza. He is still upset about not receiving an official sign-able contract. Plus, he is upset that he was asked to only play on three songs at the Birmingham gig, when he would rather perform on the entire gig. Lots of other reasons, why he wants no part of these shows.

Read Bill’s blog on it, here.

I’m sure Bill’s fans are hating on him for this, and I’m sure Sharon’s getting the blame. I was gonna bash him for it too, but after reading this intelligent blog, I understand him. It’s a pretty well written blog, explaining his reasons behind things.

I agree there’s no Black Sabbath reunion without Bill Ward, but come on people. I’ve said it plenty of times that Sabbath went through too many different drummers over the years. I’m sure they’re used to replacing somebody and they’ll find somebody quickly. No matter who replaces, Bill Ward, Black Sabbath is going to put on a fucking amazing performance. They’ll put on a tight show, no matter who the drummer is. I’m sure they’ll kill it with no problem and leave the crowd wanting some more.

On top of all this, Black Sabbath deserves some positive vibes after what Tony is going through with his cancer and all. These three, Sabbath shows could be their last ever. When Tony dies, Sabbath is done. In my eyes, there is no Black Sabbath without Tony Iommi. He can replace other members if he wants to but Tony can’t be replaced. Tony even had other bass players other than Geezer Butler over the years too. Tony can’t be replaced ’cause HE IS Black Sabbath. Bill, Ozzy, and Geezer maybe SABBATH too, but everything is all Tony. He is the star and the main guy of the band. Without his distinct guitar sound and his excellent riffs, that’s not Black Sabbath. As long as Tony is in the band, it’s still Black Sabbath, no matter who is in it.

I’m sure the other guys in the band, are not heartbroken about Bill’s departure, they had problems with the guy for years, so this is nothing NEW!

Kev