This past Saturday (July 5th), Black Sabbath and Ozzy Osbourne took the stage for the final time, performing at the epic event “Back to the Beginning” in their home of Birmingham, UK. Following a solo set by Ozzy, the band’s original members Tony Iommi, Geezer Butler, and Bill Ward joined the legendary vocalist on stage to close out the show.
Midway through their set, 77-year-old drummer Bill Ward removed his shirt, playing that way for the remainder of the gig. Recalling that moment during a new interview with SiriusXM’s “Trunk Nation With Eddie Trunk,” guitarist Tony Iommi jokingly admitted that it’s not his bandmate’s most flattering look.
“Oh my God. I’ll tell you what, one funny story. When we had a break on one of the rehearsals, we went in to eat at the studio, and Bill got his shirt off, and Geezer was just about to have a sandwich. He went, ‘Oh, Bill put your shirt on. You’re putting me off the sandwich.’” Iommi said, laughing.
“But it’s typical Bill. He is always taking his shirt off every time. I mean, in the old days, he’d always take his shirt off. I said to Bill, ‘Blimey, Bill, you look like [the “Lord of the Rings” character] Gollum.’ And I don’t think he knew who Gollum was.
“He’s always always been the same, Bill. He just doesn’t care. He goes on and does what he wants, which is great. That’s always been Bill. And immediately, of course, all the jokes started again as soon as we were together, having a go at each other. It was really fun, actually. It was great. The communication carried on from years ago.”
