Bill Ward cropped out of Black Sabbath images on band’s site
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Bill Ward? Was he even in Black Sabbath?
If the band’s website has anything to say about it, no. In what appears to be a nasty turn and an effort at revisionist history, the metal band’s homepage has cropped the drummer’s image from dozens of old photos, as if to suggest that Sabbath never had a drummer. As Brooklyn Vegan first reported (after a tweet from @sethcdiamond), the front page of the band’s website is entirely Ward-free.
Black Sabbath’s upcoming reunion has been making news of late after negotiations between Ward and the team behind the tour failed to reach an acceptable agreement with the drummer. Ward last week penned an incendiary open letter to the band and its fans declaring his intention to skip the anticipated tour due to what he called the offer of an ‘unsignable contract.’
‘I am unable to continue unless a ‘signable’ contract is drawn up; a contract that reflects some dignity and respect toward me as an original member of the band,’ he wrote.
The other members of Sabbath -- Ozzy Osbourne, Geezer Butler and Tony Iommi -- responded with their own press release, which read, in part, ‘We were saddened to hear yesterday via Facebook that Bill declined publicly to participate in our current Black Sabbath plans,’ before adding, ‘We have no choice but to continue recording without him although our door is always open.’
That door seems to have now slammed firmly shut. Black Sabbath? Did they even have a drummer? Somebody better guard those original master tapes closely, lest Ward’s sonic pounding on ‘Sabbath Bloody Sabbath’ suffer the same fate.
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-- Randall Roberts
Twitter: @liledit
Photo: Screen shot from blacksabbath.com
