IRON MAIDEN singer Bruce Dickinson is currently continuing his spoken-word tour throughout the U.S. and was recently asked during a March 3 show at the Palace Of Fine Arts in San Francisco, California, if he thought iconic metal pioneers BLACK SABBATH could exist without original drummer Bill Ward.
During the show’s question and answer period, Bruce responded (as transcribed by BLABBERMOUTH.NET): “I’m a massive lover of Bill Ward’s drumming style; I think it’s inspired. ‘Cause he’s not really a rock drummer; he’s more like a jazz drummer playing rock. And I love that kind of style; it’s kind of like drums that kind of wander around the rhythm and everything else. But he’s on it; he’s brilliant. And I met him. He’s a lovely bloke as well. Slightly mad, but very nice. But then aren’t we all? All of us are on the madness spectrum a little bit.”
Bruce would expand on the subject, saying: “Does BLACK SABBATH exist without Bill Ward? Well, it’s not a matter of… I don’t think BLACK SABBATH exist at all now.” He then took a shot at Ozzy’s wife and manager, Sharon Osbourne, saying: “I think Sharon’s made sure of that.”
Any hard feelings between Bruce and Sharon began back in 2005 when Sharon allegedly arranged for eggs to be tossed at IRON MAIDEN while they performed at that year’s Ozzfest, supposedly because Bruce had made some not so complimentary comments about the Osbournes’ MTV reality series while on stage that she didn’t approve of.
Dickinson would downplay the incident in an interview with NME in 2017, calling it “a complete storm in a teacup. I grew up listening to early SABBATH with Ozzy. Ozzy and SABBATH are icons, so that’s that, end of story. The fact that I don’t like reality TV shows. Well, I’m not gonna offer an olive branch to the Kardashians either.”
In February 2017, BLACK SABBATH wrapped up their “The End” farewell tour in Birmingham, England, closing out the band’s legendary 49-year career.
Bill Ward did not play behind the drum kit for the tour due to apparent “contract disputes” and his alleged inability to play live anymore.
You can check out the segment from Bruce’s spoken word at this location.