Watch: Bill Ward posts video saying he's 'open' to Black Sabbath reunion

The legendary drummer was part of Black Sabbath’s reunion in November 2011 but dropped out three months later over a bitter contract dispute.

Sabbath enlisted Ozzy Osbourne’s drummer Tommy Clufetos for the reunion tour, and despite fan hopes that Bill Ward might make a guest appearance on The End Tour in 2016/2017 before they called it quits, sadly it never happened.

Taking to social media, Bill has now posted a video effectively offering his services to Black Sabbath should they decide to perform live again.

In the short clip, Bill lavishes his former band mates with praise, saying: "Hi everybody. My name is Bill Ward, and I wanted to say that I love Tony (Iommi), Geezer (Butler) and Ozzy (Osbourne) very much. I've loved them for a long time, and I still do.

“And I would be very open-minded to any ideas about playing together in the future. That's it. Love you all. Thanks."

Watch Bill's message here: 

> A quick update. pic.twitter.com/qWMSTWeCs9 > > — Bill Ward (@billwarddrums) July 3, 2019

The video message comes two months after Ozzy Osbourne admitted he didn’t enjoy Black Sabbath’s final tour as Bill wasn’t there.

“I didn’t like the fact that Bill Ward wasn’t there, for a start,” Ozzy explained to Kerrang! Radio. “People put that down to me, but it wasn’t me, honestly.

“We (Black Sabbath) didn’t have the f***ing time to hang around, we had to get going, but I’m sorry it didn’t work out with Bill. Tommy (Clufetos, Ozzy’s drummer, who played with Sabbath on their farewell tour) did great, but the four of us started this, and it should have been the four of us ending it.” 

Suggesting there could be a final Sabbath gig with Bill behind the drum kit, Ozzy added: “Those final gigs in Birmingham were bittersweet because you think of how far we came, and how much we did, and it would have been good to have shared that together. Maybe one day there’ll be one last gig, I don’t know.”

On the eve of his headline Download Festival performance in 2018, Ozzy told ITV he's be up for playing the opening ceremony for Birmingham’s Commonwealth Games in 2022. 

“Yeah, that would be fantastic,” Ozzy enthused. “With Black Sabbath or on my own. I’d like to do that. We’re all Brummies after all.”

Tony Iommi later told Birmingham Mail: “I think that it would be a great thing to do to help represent Birmingham. I’m up for it! Let’s see what happens!”

However, several months earlier Geezer Butler said that although he'd be "on board" for a Sabbath reunion, "it's not very likely." He explained: "We went out on a high, and it's best not to drag it out."

Planet Rock recently attended Home of Metal's Black Sabbath 50 Years exhibition in Birmingham. You can check out our thoughts and see photos right here: 

Feature: Take a look inside the magnificent Black Sabbath 50 Years exhibition