The picture to the right is what’s on the official Ozzfest site when you look up band information on Black Sabbath. It includes Bill Ward. Previously, the same picture was there, but with Bill Ward cropped out.
The obvious meaning of this change is that the situation has been worked out with Bill Ward. After I saw this picture, I checked with my contacts with Bill Ward, and got told there is no official announcement available. There is also no announcement on the Ozzfest site, either – so I’m not actually sure what IS going on.
Here’s my guess. Bill Ward will play Ozzfest with Sabbath, but for some reason no one is talking about it yet. Given that they took the time to mention that Mike Bordin was going to play drums, the same courtesy should be taken to say that Bill Ward will actually play.
UPDATE: In an update to my update, about two hours after I posted this, the following text appeared on the Ozzfest site:
June 2, 2004
BLACK SABBATH DRUMMER BILL WARD SIGNS ON FOR REUNION;
ORIGINAL LINE-UP IN PLACE FOR OZZFEST 2004
After initially declining an offer to join Black Sabbath members Ozzy Osbourne, Tony Iommi and Geezer Butler for a reunion on Ozzfest 2004, drummer Bill Ward has now reconsidered. The original line-up is now complete for their much anticipated headlining slot on the 9th annual OZZfest. Sharon Osbourne says “You have the original Black Sabbath and the original Judas Priest. What more could you want!â€
I guess that means Bill’s on board, eh? However, it’s not the same as it was the last two reunion tours. See below.
One other thing I did find out today – Geoff Nicholls won’t be on keyboards. I thought today to ask that for no particular reason. The response back I got was “No, I believe it’s someone from Ozzy’s band”. If this turns out to be true, it will be the first time that anyone else besides Nicholls will be playing keyboards in TWENTY FOUR years in Black Sabbath. I believe this would mean John Sinclair. I wrote to Ozzy’s office looking for confirmation of this, and got “I cannot comment on this”, so once I hear something official, I’ll update. Anyone want to start a petition to get 24 year Sabbath veteran Geoff Nicholls back on board? :)
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