Enlarge Bruce Dickinson by adels, Sharon Osbourne by Eva Rinaldi, via Wikipedia.

Bruce Dickinson Says Black Sabbath “Don’t Exist” Without Bill Ward: “I Think Sharon’s Made Sure of that”

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It’s no secret that Iron Maiden are not the biggest fans of Sharon Osbourne. When the NWOBHM legends performed at Ozzfest, the band and their people infamously clashed with Sharon left and right. Now, frontman Bruce Dickinson has taken a moment during a recent spoken-word engagement to say that he doesn’t think Black Sabbath exists without founding drummer Bill Ward — and that he thinks Sharon’s to blame for it.

As reported by Blabbermouth, during his March 3rd spoken-word engagement at the Palace Of Fine Arts in San Francisco, California, Dickinson was asked what he thought about Black Sabbath existing without Bill Ward. The singer didn’t mince words:

“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.”

“Does Black Sabbath exist without Bill Ward? Well, it’s not a matter of… I don’t think Black Sabbath exist at all now. I think Sharon’s made sure of that.”

On the one hand, we tend to agree with Bruce. The omission of Bill Ward from Black Sabbath’s final album and tour felt really bizarre, especially with how often the presence of Tony Iommi and Geezer Butler was touted as making this the “original” Black Sabbath. Then again, knowing Dickinson’s previous beef with Ozzy, Sharon, and their whole organization, this feels a little like berating someone to a captive audience (sort of like how Every Time I Die’s Keith Buckley recently did).

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