Geezer Butler, like Ozzy Osbourne, regrets that drummer Bill Ward wasn’t on Black Sabbath’s final tour.
The bassist recently appeared on Full Metal Jackie’s weekend radio show and the host said he’s been a part of many big albums and has left and returned to Black Sabbath. He talked about whether there is anything he wishes he could change about his time with Black Sabbath:
“Well, obviously, I’d love Bill to have been on the final album and the final tour that we did. I think Bill was a very proud person and he didn’t want to come along and just do three or four songs. He insisted on doing the whole set and the whole album.”
They respected Ward’s decision:
“And I think people said he wasn’t up to it health-wise. And we couldn’t risk booking a whole worldwide tour and then having to cancel it after a few days. And so we respected that. We were all sad about it, that he couldn’t really do it. But yeah, I’d love Bill to have been on the last album and tour.”
Ozzy’s Wish To Perform With Ward
In a May episode of the internet TV series, The Madhouse Chronicles, Osbourne revealed he wasn’t satisfied with Black Sabbath’s final album, ’13’ and noted his wish to perform with Ward:
“No. Because it wasn’t Black Sabbath that finished it. It’s unfinished. If they wanted to do one more gig with Bill, I would jump at the chance. Do you know what would be cool? If we went to a club or something unannounced and we just got up and did it. We started up in a club.”
Right after Ozzy’s words, Butler chatted with SiriusXM’s Trunk Nation With Eddie Trunk and shared what he thought about a final reunion show:
“Of course, there’s an interest [on my part to do it], but there’s a big ‘but’ — you’d have to speak to Bill about it. Everybody wants to do it [but I don’t know if he is] capable [of pulling it off].”
Last month, the bassist shared another update on the issue and said in an interview with Jonathan Clarke that Ozzy immediately wanted to do a final solo concert and include a few Black Sabbath songs. Butler agreed, but he’s unsure if Tony Iommi and Ward would join.