Original Black Sabbath drummer Bill Ward has come aboard for this summer’s Black Sabbath reunion, despite a prior announcement that Mike Bordin would be filling his slot on the Ozzfest tour.
In a statement issued two weeks ago, Ward said he’d been offered “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.”
“Black Sabbath is, and always will be an important priority in my life,” he continued. “I support [bassist] Geezer [Butler]’s, [guitarist] Tony [Iommi]’s and [vocalist] Ozzy [Osbourne]’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.
Ozzfest kicks off July 10 in Hartford, Conn., and will feature Sabbath, Priest, Slipknot, Slayer, Hatebreed and Zakk Wylde’s Black Label Society, among others
Source Billboard.com.
