Last  year, Black Sabbath  announced plans to reunite,  mount a major tour and record a new album, which would be the first to feature Ozzy Osbourne, Tony Iommi, Geezer Butler and Bill Ward since 1979. Plans were changed when  Iommi was diagnosed with cancer, and the band decided to record a new album in the UK while he was undergoing treatment. ” Ozzy and Friends” (Butler, Slash, Zakk Wylde etc)  will perform the planned Sabbath gigs instead.

Black Sabbath plan to  play only two  shows; one at Download and the other at Lollapalooza in Chicago. There’s  also  a “warm-up” show for charity in their hometown of Birmingham this weekend. Tickets for the Saturday (May 19) show sold out in ten minutes!

It turns out the band will play without original drummer Bill Ward.  Ward has been holding out on joining his fellow Sabbath band-mates explaining that he hadn’t been offered a reasonable contract.  He said his “bags were packed” and he was ready to come to the UK to record an album and go on tour, but he felt his was being undervalued.  It appears he may be right as he now claims the rest of the band invited  him to fly to Birmingham and join them Saturday to play  “for free” and see how it went.  He also revealed that the band wanted him to play a “minimal” part in their Download festival headline slot while another drummer took over for most of the show. Ward says he turned them down and thinks  Black Sabbath have forgotten where they came from.

Black Sabbath’s intention to reconvene the original line-up, record a new album and then tour started to look more unlikely when Tony Iommi was diagnosed with lymphoma. The band decided to temporarily move to Britain, where they could record while Iommi was treated,  see how things developed before changing  any tour plans.

Last week, original drummer Bill Ward  announced that he was not going to re-locate to the U.K. until the rest of the band offered him a “signable contract”. According to Ward, he had been offered a deal that didn’t take into account the stature of the band and his contributions.  He couldn’t sign it and hoped the band would reconsider.

His (ex?)band quickly fired the next shot by replying: ” 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 U.K. with Tony. Writing and recording the new album and on a roll…”

Now there’s a rumour that Sabbath have gone ahead and replaced Ward with Tommy Clufetos from the Ozzy Osbourne band. The rumour hasn’t been confirmed but fans  have launched a new Facebook page called “1,000,000 Black Sabbath Fans Say Yes To Bill Ward”.

Black Sabbath called a press conference for 11/11/11 (West Coast time) at the Whiskey A Gogo in Los Angeles, the site of their first North American show on the anniversary of that gig.

As expected,  Tommy Iommi,  Ozzy Osbourne,  Geezer Butler and  Bill Ward called the conference to announce that they plan to release an album and embark on a world tour, starting with a show at the Download Festival in England in June 2012.

details to come….!

Ozzy Osbourne, Tommy Iommi, Geezer Butler and Bill Ward will be present at a press conference on Friday (Nov 11) at the Whisky A Go-Go in Los Angeles.

All signs point to the announcement that Black Sabbath will reunite for a tour or an album or both.

Those signs would be:

-That’s the original Black Sabbath line-up!

-Nov 11 is “National Metal Day” (perhaps you didn’t know that, but neither does Hallmark…so far).

-Black Sabbath’s first U.S. Show took place on November 11 (1970).

-It was at The WHISKEY A GO-GO!

CD:

Paul McCartney – Chaos & Creation in the Backyard (reissue)

Vinyl:

Black Sabbath – Sabotage (reissue)
Bob Dylan – Oh Mercy (reissue)
Grateful Dead – American Beauty (reissue)
Grateful Dead – Aoxomoxoa (reissue)
Grateful Dead – Workingman’s Dead (reissue)
Grateful Dead – Anthem of the Sun (reissue)
Leonard Cohen – Various Positions (reissue)
Leonard Cohen – Death of a Ladies’ Man (reissue)

     The debut single, “Out of My Mind” (with “Holy Water”) from WhoCares is being released digitally by Eagle Rock Entertainment today.  WhoCares is a collaboration between singer Ian Gillan (Deep Purple), guitarist Tony Iommi (Black Sabbath), bassist Jason Newstead (Metallica), drummer Nicko McBrain (Iron Maiden), keyboard player Jon Lord (Deep Purple), and guitarist Mikko Lindstrom (HIM).

     The group was formed to raise money for a music school in Armenia, and they plan to raise money through the release of this single – which will be coming out as a physical CD June 27th.  The CD single will contain both songs, this video clip, and a 40-minute documentary about Gillan and Iommi and their connection to the Armenian cause over the years.

CD:

Various Artists – Boogie For Stu (tribute album to late Stones’ keyboard player Ian 
  Stewart – featuring the Rolling Stones)
Steve Miller – Let Your Hair Down
The Kinks – Kinda Kinks (remastered with bonus disc)
The Kinks – Kinks (remastered with bonus disc)
The Kinks – Kinks Kontroversy (remastered with bonus disc)

Vinyl:

Black Sabbath – Black Sabbath (reissue)
Black Sabbath – Paranoid (reissue)
Black Sabbath – Volume 4 (reissue)
Black Sabbath – We Sold Our Souls For Rock And Roll (reissue)

DVD:

Bob Dylan – The Neverending Narrative 1990-2006

     Ozzy Osbourne has confirmed that the original members of Black Sabbath are talking about a reunion.  The only original member of Sabbath who has remained with the band throughout their tumultuous history is guitarist Tony Iommi.  The original lineup also included Osbourne, Geezer Butler and Bill Ward. 

     Ozzy says the band is talking about a new album and a tour, but that anything less than where they left off would be anti-climactic.  The original lineup split in 1979 when Osbourne was fired from the band and took off on a solo career.  More here.

  Motley Crue frontman Vince Neil is going to jail thanks to his DUI arrest.  Neil reached a plea deal with the Las Vegas district attorney, and will be serving two weeks in prison followed by two weeks of house arrest.  By pleading guilty, Neil avoided what could have been a six-month jail sentence had the case gone to court.

  Metallica’s Lars Ulrich hinted, in an interview with Rolling Stone, that the Big Four of heavy metal (Metallice, Slayer, Megadeth and Anthrax) may be playing more shows this summer.  The Big 4 are already scheduled for the Coachella festival in California, Knebworth in Britain and Sonisphere in France.

  William Shatner and Zakk Wylde have apparently teamed up to record a cover of the Black Sabbath classic “Iron Man”.  Said Shatner on Twitter, “Just watched tracks being laid down by Zakk Wylde of Black Label Society for my upcoming record SEEKING MAJOR TOM…Zakk is one of the great guitarists who played with Ozzy Osbourne. A master playing a cover of ‘Iron Man’. He’s fantastic! I’m energized.” Sneak preview here.

  Poison frontman Bret Michaels is recovering at home following heart surgery.

  Rush drummer Neil Peart will release his fifth book this spring, entitled Far And Away: A Prize Every Time. 

  Sammy Hagar and Chickenfoot hit the studio this weekend to begin work on their second album.