Earlier this year, drummer BILL WARD said he wouldn't participate in a BLACK SABBATH reunion unless he was presented with a "signable contract." Well, he never got it, so now he's officially pulling out of the reunion.
--He made this statement in a long post on his website, BillWard.com.
--Toward the end, he says, quote, "I hold no malice or resentment towards the other band members. I love them, I’m tolerant of them, I'm frustrated with them, as they may be with me. My fight has never been with them. I'll love them forever.
--"In my opinion, nobody wins this time . . . the band doesn't win, the fans for an original lineup don't win. Nobody wins, nobody. Even the ones who thought they did."
--Sabbath's first of three reunion shows is happening this Saturday in their hometown of Birmingham, England. (--If you even want to consider it a reunion anymore.)
(--Bill didn't say this, but his issue is probably with SHARON OSBOURNE. Clearly, he's not seeing eye-to-eye with someone . . . and he went out of his way to exonerate the other band members in the letter.)
(--Perhaps Sharon and the rest of the band's management drew things up so OZZY would get the biggest cut. Or maybe Ozzy and TONY IOMMI.)
(--And maybe bassist GEEZER BUTLER was OK with that . . . and Bill wasn't.)