We’re back with another update. Yeah, not much has been happening with Bill. It’s been pretty slow in terms of Bill Ward solo materials. He spent the majority of last year with Black Sabbath related projects and events, and spent very little time on his own materials. However, over the weekend, I received an update from Bill on the status of several things. Here’s some news from Bill:

Regarding re-releasing Along the Way, Bill’s been trying to find some songs that he’s written that might work on that album. Bill has also been looking for musicians to play the new material. Bill’s not sure yet how many new tracks will appear on Along the Way. To say the least, it’s a slow moving project. Bill hopes that Along the Way could be resolved and reprinted this year. The Ozzy tracks will not appear on the new release. Bill’s second album, When the Bough Breaks, update: a world wide album deal is in the works at this time. And again, Bill’s hoping to be resolved on a re-release date sometime this year. Finally, Beyond Aston, Bill’s third album is scheduled for final mixes starting March 15th. This album is scheduled to be released as soon as possible. If there is a good reaction to Beyond Aston, he will do live dates this year.

This is good news, and hopefully we will be seeing new music from Bill shortly! Any further updates will be posted here.

Net metal station hardradio.com has published an interview with Bill & Geezer Butler – in it, Bill & Geezer speak of the state of Sabbath, and the state of their current solo projects. Here’s a bit about what Bill had to say.

“We’re nearly there. I just want to finish it” laughs Bill, “because I’ve been working on it for the last three years. And also, I don’t want to go into a major touring situation wondering about ‘cut five, did we do the Protools? Did we cut out A and B during the Protools session?’ I don’t want to have those kinds of numbers in my head. I’m going out there to rock and to drive Black Sabbath, and that’s my total intention and to do that I have to have focus and an absolutely clear head. So no, the whole reason why I’m kind of working a little harder in April is to make sure my decks are cleared so that when we go on that stage I know exactly where I am, best as I can be. So I wouldn’t do things that would either jeopardize my energy for my own album or jeopardize my energy for Black Sabbath.”

Ward has also scrapped for now plans to reissue Ward One: Along The Way, with or without the Ozzy tracks, with or without re-recording the entire album, an idea which was bandied about over the years as an additional disc completing a two disc set.

There’s more about Sabbath, plus there’s Geezer’s chat, too. Check out a copy of the interview over at Black Sabbath Online. Also, make sure and check out hardradio.com too!

Yesterday afternoon, it was announced that Black Sabbath (Tony, Ozzy, Geezer, & Bill) will be recording their first album of new material since 1978’s Never Say Die.

This is very exciting news for fans of Black Sabbath – the original Sabbath will put out a new album of music! The band is currently rehearsing and writing in the UK, and after the Ozzfest 2001 dates will go back into the studio to record and finish the album. It is hoped that the new Sabbath album will be out before Christmas 2001, but no firm date is available.

For more details, check out http://www.black-sabbath.com.

No word as of yet as to how this will delay Bill’s third album, “Beyond Aston”.

Today I received an email from Sharon Osbourne’s office regarding Ozzfest 2001. Here it is:

There’s no need for hype, hoopla, and puffery. The Ozzfest 2001 will showcase the heaviest line-up yet. The Main Stage bill is confirmed.

BLACK SABBATH
Marilyn Manson
Slipknot
Papa Roach
Linkin Park
Disturbed

Tour dates, venues, second stage line-up, ticket on-sale dates, and other announcements to follow in the coming weeks.

A quick call to Sharon’s office confirmed that the Sabbath lineup is Tony, Ozzy, Geezer, & Bill. More information to come when I receive it.

No word as of yet as to how this will delay Bill’s third album, “Beyond Aston”.

The Tony Iommi solo album has been released – and Bill is on it! Making an appearance on the track “Who’s Fooling Who’, Bill plays drums with Tony again. This is a long standing relationship – Bill having played with Tony for a couple of years before the formation of Black Sabbath (first called The Polka Tulk Blues Band, Earth, then Black Sabbath) in 1968.

Shown here is the cover art for the album, and if you wish to purchase a copy of it, you can do so by clicking on the cover art.

If you want more information, you can visit the Tony Iommi site at http://www.iommi.com.

Divine Recordings, the web site for the record company that is handing the forthcoming Tony Iommi Solo album has just posted this news:

Ozzy has given his blessing to the final mix of ‘Who’s Fooling Who’, the last song completed for the long-awaited Tony Iommi solo album. The song is an almost-Sabbath reunion: Bill Ward plays drums! Hallelujah!

We’re really sorry for the delay in getting this news out. The cause for the delay will be explained in the information below. 🙂

Bill was in the studio in early April, and worked in the studio during most of the month. However, the appearance of Black Sabbath at the recent weenie roast in Los Angeles took up some time, as the guys had to plan for that, and do a couple of rehearsals. Furthermore, studio time just ran long to begin with, mostly due to a lot of equipment problems and breakdowns. Also, there was some time spent getting album art together, drawn up, liner notes, as well as all the other fiddly details that most people don’t think about that go into an album production.

What’s left to do for the album? Well, there’s about two or 3 days left of mixing work to do, and then it’s off to mastering. After mastering, the album can be delivered for mass duplication by a record company. Who will be distributing it is still up in the air, but that should be settled shortly.

What’s the release date? Well, that’s not completely known yet because it’s not complete yet, but the current target release is mid August, although Bill hopes to be done faster than that.

There is one big piece of news on it. It’s had a name change. It was formerly called “Remembering”. It is now called “Beyond Aston”.

More info on this as we get it.

One other thing – the planned re-release of Bill’s first studio album “Ward One: Along the Way” has been scrapped for now. There’s a lot of issues relative to that album, and what will become of it is unknown at this time.

No, this is no April fool’s joke…

The Bill Ward Band returns to the studio today to begin work on completing Bill’s third solo album, Remembering. As you may remember, Bill was at work on this album in 1997 when his second solo album, When the Bough Breaks was released. Then in late 1997, Tony, Ozzy, & Geezer came calling, and a little side project named Black Sabbath took up Bill’s time, as did a heart attack in 1998.

Bill’s back and ready to complete the studio work that was laid down in 1997 for this album. The first studio date is today, and Bill hopes to have the album completed and mastered by mid May. More detailed information about how it’s progressing with a projected release date will be coming shortly.

Keep your eyes here – we hope to have some concrete info regarding this situation this coming week.

After 30 years of neglect, Black Sabbath was awarded a Grammy Award for their song “Iron Man” from the Reunion album. The ceremonies were held yesterday in Los Angeles, and Bill Ward was on hand, receiving the award on stage. Bill had this to say about Black Sabbath’s winning the award for “Best Metal Performance”…

Drummer Bill Ward said it was gratifying to see artists from the Woodstock generation, including the night’s top winner, Carlos Santana, doing so well.

“I think it’s totally cool,” he said. “I didn’t think that 31 years ago, I’d be standing up in a suit. I feel more like an accountant than the guy who plays drums in Black Sabbath.”

Unfortunately, this award was not shown on the television broadcast, but there was a mention of the award during the show. Furthermore, there was a brief picture of Bill on stage accepting the award on the show during the telecast.

If you are interested in purchasing a copy of the Grammy Award Winning album Reunion, the only official live album by the original Black Sabbath, you can do so by clicking on the album cover below.

The long awaited reprint of Bill’s second record “When the Bough Breaks” is completed, and will be available shortly. It will be made available directly off this web site – details will be made available shortly. The details need to worked out insofar as payment, credit cards, and the lot, but we should hopefully be offering direct sales of Bill Ward CD’s, merchandise, T-Shirts and the like (hopefully) by Spring.

Bill gave it a listen in January and then set up some studio time to finish it up, and get it out this year. A date is not yet available, as Bill hasn’t looked at the record since the Black Sabbath reunion tour. A decision needs to be made as to how much work is left to do on the record – but you should expect a new Bill Ward solo record in 2000!