Ozzy Osbourne has delivered a withering response to his former drummer’s request for an apology, claiming that “Tony, Geezer and myself didn’t think you could have done a two-hour set with a drum solo every night” during the Black Sabbath tour in 2012.
In a post on his website, Osbourne said he hadn’t wanted to discuss their relationship “in a public forum”, but Ward’s request for a public apology from the frontman this week left him “no option but to respond honestly.”
The full statement reads:
Wow Bill,
What the fuck are you on about? I cannot apologise for comments or opinions I may have made about you in the press during Sabbath’s 13 album and tour – physically, you knew you were fucked. Tony, Geezer and myself didn’t think you could have done a two hour set with a drum solo every night, so we made the decision to move on. With Tony’s condition we felt that time was not on our side.
Bill, stop this smokescreen about an “unsignable contract” and let’s be honest. Deep down inside you knew you weren’t capable of doing the album and a 16 month tour. Unfortunately for you, our instincts were correct, as you were in hospital several times during 2013. Your last hospitalisation was for a shoulder surgery that you now say you’ve only just recovered from. This would have meant that our world tour would have been canceled. So how is all of this my fault? Stop playing the victim and be honest with yourself and our fans.
Bill, we go back a long way, let’s stop this now before it gets out of hand.
God bless you.
Love.
Ozzy
This might not be quite what Ward had expected to receive from the metal frontman. On 15 April, the drummer published a message on Facebook stating that he would not participate in any “musical undertakings” until a “righting of the wrongs spoken against me has been achieved”.
He said Osbourne had publicly chastised him, no doubt referencing statements made in August 2013 that claimed: “I don’t think he could have done the gig, to be honest. He’s incredibly overweight.”
Osbourne had formerly hoped that Ward might rejoin the group for the band’s farewell show in Japan at Ozzfest in November – which has now been replaced by a solo show by Ozzy Osbourne. No reason has been given for Sabbath’s decision to pull out.
