Black Sabbath sadly ended with only three-fourths of its classic lineup in tact. Vocalist Ozzy Osbourne, guitarist Tony Iommi, and bassist Geezer Butler recorded their final album 13 and embarked on a farewell tour without original drummer Bill Ward, who quit the band in 2012 due to contract disputes. 13 featured Rage Against The Machine drummer Brad Wilk, while the final shows featured Osbourne's solo band drummer Tommy Clufetos.
In the latest episode of The Madhouse Chronicles, Osbourne said Black Sabbath wasn't really Black Sabbath without Ward despite Clufetos doing a great job live.
"I can't remember why Bill didn't do it," said Osbourne. "I've gotta be truthful. It wasn't really Black Sabbath because Bill wasn't there. I mean, if you had Ginger Baker playing with The Beatles, it wouldn't be The Beatles."
Co-host Billy Morrison then asked Osbourne if he was happy with the end of the band, which he bluntly stated he wasn't. "No. Because it wasn't Black Sabbath that finished it. It's unfinished. If they wanted to do one more gig with Bill, I would jump at the chance. Do you know what would be cool? If we went to a club or something unannounced and we just got up and did it. We started up in a club."
Maybe one final Black Sabbath show is in order when Osbourne (potentially) schedules his farewell dates? I mean, Black Sabbath has said goodbye a handful of times over the years. What's one more? In the same interview Osbourne also had some criticisms about 13 and its Rick Rubin production, which isn't exactly news – Butler isn't a fan either.
"The only criticism I have about the album — not criticism; the thing we all found hard to do, none of us had that much input. So it was kind of like going straight back to the beginning when we had [early Black Sabbath producer] Rodger Bain and we didn't know about double tracking and all that. If you have a producer, you don't produce it yourself. Because Tony would basically produce all the albums after a certain time. He must have had to swallow his pride and all that."
