In a recent interview with Rolling Stone's Kory Grow, Black Sabbath vocalist Ozzy Osbourne was asked about the last-ever Black Sabbath show, to be held in Birmingham, England in February 2017. Ozzy answered, “I'm sad that Bill [Ward, Black Sabbath's original drummer] never came through... every time I reach out to Bill I get yelled at for something. If something can be worked out, great. Tommy [Clufetos, Black Sabbath's touring drummer] is doing a great job.”

Bill Ward has since responded to Ozzy's comments by saying:

"Ozzy has never reached out since January 26/27 2012 when he called to see when I would be arriving in the UK to join rehearsals for the 13 CD. Since that last phone call, he has never reached out to me, and I have not reached out to him.

Ozzy needs to look to those who stopped me from coming through. The contract was impossible to sign; the group rhetoric of 2012, 2013 and throughout,... was fault-finding, condemning and full of dishonest evaluations of me as a person, including my so-called health issues. Had I signed the contract, I suspect I wouldn't have been labeled as having poor health or having all the other judgmental character references.

As a reminder, in September 2015, we asked a Sabbath representative if there could be an opening to play with the band again. Their representative answered 'no.' It's hard to come through when you receive a 'no.'

I love all our Sabbath fans throughout the world, and to toss around ideas that I might play the Birmingham shows is both emotionally heartbreaking for me and spiteful. I think the Sabbath fans who have loved the original band have gone through enough in terms of disappointment and sadness. For me to play Birmingham only, would, I feel, be discriminating and elitist towards our other fans all over the world. I could never be discriminating or elitist to our fans. It's been heartbreaking enough not to record and tour and it'll be heartbreaking not to play to the Birmingham fans. Please know the prevailing circumstances are not by my design. This is not what I would have wanted or what I have chosen. Had any of you had to choose to sign a contract which undermined and devalued you, I think most of you with some dignity and self-respect would have walked away too. My absence at the current shows and the future Birmingham shows reflects an undeniable and unseen misadventure that my accusers won't bear. It's called selfishness and self-centeredness; dishonesty and disloyalty. These are the culprits of Sabbath's original line-up's demise."

Black Sabbath tour dates - without Bill Ward - are as follows:

September
2 - Indianapolis, IN - Klipsch Music Center
4 - Chicago, IL - Hollywood Casino Amphitheatre
7 - Dallas, TX - Gexa Energy Pavilion
9 - Albuquerque, NM - Isleta Amphitheater
11 - Salt Lake City, UT - USANA Amphitheater
13 - Portland, OR - Sunlight Supply Amphitheater
15 - Oakland, CA - Oracle Arena
17 - Las Vegas, NV - MGM Grand Garden Arena
19 - Hollywood, CA - Hollywood Bowl
21 - Phoenix, AZ - AK-Chin Pavilion
24 - San Bernardino, CA - San Manuel Amphitheater - Ozzfest Meets Knotfest

November
8 - Tulsa, OK - BOK Center
10 - Houston, TX - Toyota Center
12 - San Antonio, TX - AT&T Center
16 - Mexico City, Mexico - Foro Sol
19 - Santiago, Chile - Estadio Nacional
24 - Cordoba, Argentina - Orfeo
26 - Buenos Aires, Argentina - Velez
30 - Curitiba, Brazil - Pedreira Paulo Leminski

December
2 - Rio de Janeiro, Brazil - Apoteose
4 - Sao Paulo, Brazil - Estadio Morumbi

January
17 - Cologne, Germany - Laxness Arena
20 - Dublin, Ireland - 3Arena
22 - Manchester, UK - Arena
24 - Glasgow, UK - The SSE Hydro
26 - Leeds, UK - First Direct Arena
29 - London, UK - The O2
31 - London, UK - The O2

February
2 - Birmingham, UK - Genting Arena
4 - Birmingham, UK - Genting Arena