| Bill Ward (musician) |
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Bill Ward (born '''William Thomas Ward''', May 5 , 1948 , Aston , Birmingham, England ), is the drummer for the pioneering British Heavy Metal band Black Sabbath . In addition to playing drums as an original founding member of the band, Ward sang lead vocals for two Black Sabbath songs; "It's Alright" (from '' Technical Ecstasy ''), and "Swinging The Chain" (from '' Never Say Die! ''). Ward's distinctive drumming often closely doubles the rhythms of the bass and guitar riffs, producing a powerful combined effect. An example of this is the song "Iron Man" off the '' Paranoid '' album. He is also characterized by playing quick drum rolls in between riffs and his powerful groove. ("Symptom of the Universe" is a good example of his unique style.) BIOGRAPHY Prior to the formation of Black Sabbath, Bill Ward and guitarist Tony Iommi played in a band called "Mythology", and joined vocalist Ozzy Osbourne and bassist Geezer Butler , who had played in a band together called "Rare Breed". Between 1969 and 1980, Ward played drums on every Sabbath album. He left the band for personal reasons in August 1980 during a tour for the album '' Heaven And Hell ''. He sat out one album (1981's '' Mob Rules '') before returning for 1983's '' Born Again ''. He once again left the band following the recording of that album, due to ill-health. He was officially back in the band again in the summer of 1984, but the band did not record or tour then. Before the full-blown reunion, Bill Ward and the original Sabbath had re-united twice for short sets, firstly for Live Aid in 1985 and then at a Costa Mesa , California Ozzy Osbourne show on November 15th, 1992. Sabbath, with ex-Judas Priest singer Rob Halford replacing the recently-departed Ronnie James Dio , opened the show for Ozzy in honor of it being his last show ever. Then the Ozzy Osbourne band (Ozzy, Zakk Wylde , Mike Inez , Randy Castillo and John Sinclair ) did a full set before Ozzy was reunited with Tony, Geezer and Bill for four numbers. Ward made a brief return to the band for a South American tour in 1994, before finally rejoining the band for the two shows at the Birmingham NEC, England on December 4th and 5th 1997, which made up the 'Reunion' album. (When what was billed as the original line-up reunited for the Ozzfest tour in 1997 Mike Bordin played drums.) Ward then had to skip all but the last two band appearances in 1998 while he recovered from a heart-attack suffered during the tour rehearsals that May. As was the case in 1980, he was again replaced at short-notice by Vinny Appice , although this time it was always intended to be a temporary absence for Ward, health allowing. Thankfully he was well enough to return for good in 1999 and has remained with Sabbath ever since. In October 2006 news leaked that Ward would be reuniting with Tony Iommi , Geezer Butler and Ronnie James Dio for a tour though under the moniker 'Heaven and Hell', however, Ward later decided not to participate in the tour, but that he would participate in the tour and new album of the original Black Sabbath lineup in late 2007 Bill Ward not participating in Heaven and Hell . DISCOGRAPHY 1970s
1980s
1990s
2000s
NOTABLE FACTS AND TRIVIA Bill is very articulate and accurate in his interviews regarding his time in Black Sabbath; especially in reference to the band's first performances in the United States . One oft enjoyed anecdote that is told by Ward involves a show played in New York in 1970. The audience for this particular show appeared to Ward as being very static and unresponsive to Sabbath's music. This proved to be offensive to Bill, as the group always managed to put all of their energy and emotion into their gigs. Frustrated, Bill threw his drum kit at the audience. As a result, the crowd reacted and the band wound up playing ''seven'' encores afterwards. Ozzy Osbourne: Don't Blame Me (video) Bill Ward sported a beard from time to time during the 70s. While drinking in a bar with the other members one night, Tony Iommi lit it on fire. Black Sabbath: Reunion DVD REFERENCES EXTERNAL LINKS |
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