Yesterday, the internet was abuzz about Black Sabbath, Bill Ward, and, for no good reason, Sharon Osbourne due to the guile of deceit perpetrated by the hands of some hack journalist for the website Metal Talk. In a completely unsubstantiated article published by the site, Metal Talk claimed to “have just been informed by a reliable source” that Sharon Osbourne, the wife and manager of Black Sabbath vocalist Ozzy Osbourne, had “fired Bill Ward”. The backlash to this was swift and severe. Certainly, exactly as planned.
Sharon Osbourne has long been a fitting scapegoat in the heavy metal scene, being seen as Ozzy’s “handler”. She has been perceived as shrewd, and much worse, due to her appearances on reality television, but, most importantly, she has been lambasted for her treatment of Iron Maiden in 2005 during their stint on Ozzfest, during which she orchestrated petty and childish antics to rattle the band onstage. Ranging from cutting the PA system to ultimately recruiting people, including stage crew and bands, to pelt the band with eggs and other objects while on stage, she has been rightly demonized for this particular incident, and it has come to define her as a person in the eyes of heavy metal fans.
That is precisely why Metal Talk decided to perpetrate this childish rumor that Sharon Osbourne had fired Bill Ward, who had just recently publicly commented on personal band matters regarding his contract status. Surely, it must have delivered heavy traffic to the site, though at the cost of its integrity. Indeed, the very assertion that the site’s staff attempted to make is in such stark contradiction to all of the known facts that its being carried out at all is absurd.
First and foremost, the claim is in direct contrast to the statement that the band publicly made following Ward’s initial post:
We were saddened to hear yesterday via Facebook that Bill declined publicly to participate in our current Black Sabbath plans...we have no choice but to continue recording without him although our door is always open... We are still in the UK with Tony. Writing and recording the new album and on a roll... See you at Download!!!- Tony, Ozzy and Geezer
Tony Iommi, Ozzy Osbourne, and Geezer Butler publicly state that the “door is always open” for Bill Ward. To go from this to firing Ward in a short span of time is utterly absurd.
Earlier, while Iommi and Butler were performing with Ronnie James Dio and Vinny Appice under the name Heaven & Hell, many then wildly speculated that Sharon had prevented the band from performing under the Black Sabbath name. However, Iommi owned the rights to the name Black Sabbath at the time, so it was clear that it was the band’s choice to use the alternative moniker. Ozzy sued Iommi in 2009 for 50% of the rights to the name; the case was settled in 2010 with undisclosed terms, but was is certainly not the case is that the rights transferred to Ozzy’s wife. Sharon Osbourne has no control over Black Sabbath.
Which ultimately leads to the latest chapter in the saga. Sharon Osbourne herself took to twitter to dispel the baseless rumor, stating outright:
I am not in any position to hire or fire anyone in Black Sabbath. I don't manage the band, I manage my husband.
So there it is. Sharon Osbourne has not fired Bill Ward from Black Sabbath. Sharon Osbourne does not have the power to fire anybody from Black Sabbath. And likewise, Tommy Clufetos, the drummer in Ozzy’s solo project, still has nothing to do with Black Sabbath. Let this be a lesson for all not to cling too quickly and too hard to rumors. Especially not from the exact same website that had previously prematurely announced the band's reformation back in August.
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