Black Sabbath

Indeed. That "Sharon Osbourne has fired" really, really does not suit the band well. Not that I would like his firing in any other way. Really hoped it would not be necessary. But alas... it all looks tremendously unfair.
 
I am not sure she fired him, other reports I read made it sound like a contract dispute. I would not put it past Sharon to be to blame at least in part, but I thought Iommi was more in charge of Sabbath than Ozzy.
 
Thanks Jeff. Interesting rant but I can't really agree 100% with it (unless it was a sarcastic piece in order to make the remainder of the Sabbath guys ridiculous). Look, this whole event was presented as original line-up, and as far as I'm concerned all four people play an role and for one last time, they ought to realize that they all are worth the same. Four brothers, one unity, one great party on stage and one strong connection with the audience.

Some of the more naive among you might be thinking “Well, surely they just split everything evenly right? 25% for all of them?” Sorry kids, that’s just not how the world works.

Let’s discuss some rather unpleasant realities. Black Sabbath is more than just a band – and we’re not talking in a euphemistic “Black Sabbath is a way of life!” kinda way. No, what Black Sabbath are is a business, wretched and distasteful as it is to admit it. And the ugly truth of the matter is this: From a business perspective, Bill Ward is the least-important of the original members to have on board for the Black Sabbath 2012 reunion to go ahead and make a fuck-ton of cash. Please note that I haven’t said “Bill Ward isn’t important”, or ‘The Black Sabbath reunion will not be affected by Bill Ward’s absence”.
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Of course he says Bill Ward isn't important. At least he says Ward is less important. Naturally, if one finds the unbalanced distribution of money more important than the equality of the bandmembers involved, one has to find Bill Ward less important. So this piece was contradictory.

Would anywhere near as many people want to buy tickets for Black Sabbath in 2012 if it didn’t feature Ozzy Osbourne on vocals, or Tony Iommi on guitar? Of course not.
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Without Ozzy? Hell yes I would buy tickets. Depending on who the other guy is.

If Geezer Butler was the only absent member, would people still cough up their cash to see that “Black Sabbath” perform? There might be a few less people, true, but I doubt it’d be a dealbreaker for vast majority of people who are going to buy tickets for these shows. But if someone other than Bill Ward is on drums, is that really going to dent ticket sales?
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But this whole theory is just a theory because the goal was to tour with the original line up. So asking how Sabbath would do with someone else is not relevant if you find that all members deserve the same share.
 
I read the article a bit differently from you, Foro - not as much as an expression of opinion about the situation, more like an analysis. And I think he is spot on in that analysis.

If this actually was about "four brothers, one unity, one last time together", then it should be easy for Tony/Ozzy to give Geezer and Bill equal shares in the tour profits. The way things have turned out, indicates that the motivation was - indeed - money and not much more than that.

You and I may not like it, we think that the idea of a tour with the original lineup is great, but that all members deserve an equal share - but if that was indeed not the intention of all four from the beginning, then it was always going to become a question of money. It's disappointing, but it seems like it is correct.

You might be interested in seeing Sabbath without Ozzy. But Ozzy, Tony, and of cause Sauron, know that many wouldn't. They know that it is easier to sell tickets for a lineup featuring Ozzy - just like it is easier for Maiden to sell tickets with Bruce as the frontman rather than Blaze, or for Priest with Halford instead of Owens.

I did long consider going to see Sabbath (it would be my first, and only, chance to see the original lineup!), but now I'd rather not. Not when I know that one of the original members didn't join the tour because the others wouldn't give him his fair share.
 
If I'd known this beforehand I probably wouldn't have bought a ticket myself.

Dr. Eddies Wingman said:
You and I may not like it, we think that the idea of a tour with the original lineup is great, but that all members deserve an equal share - but if that was indeed not the intention of all four from the beginning, then it was always going to become a question of money. It's disappointing, but it seems like it is correct.
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Perhaps we misunderstand each other but I don't see what is correct about having different intentions (according to you and the ranter, Ward and the other three had different ideas about this) or different shares for that matter. If it would be correct, Ward wouldn't be out of this, and it wouldn't have impact on any Sabbath fan.
 
I'm with Wingman, the article is an analysis of what probably has gone down.
And disappointing as it may be, it is probably reasonably accurate.
It's not about what should be, it's about what is.
And what is, is a Ward-less Sabbath because of money.
 
The reason why I think he's correct on this, is simple: If none of the members were in it for the money, it would be easy to give Ward 25%. The fact that he doesn't get that, tells me that somebody (Tony? Ozzy? Sauron?) is mainly interested in how much money this tour can give - or they don't see Ward as an equally important band member.
 
Dr. Eddies Wingman said:
The reason why I think he's correct on this, is simple: If none of the members were in it for the money, it would be easy to give Ward 25%. The fact that he doesn't get that, tells me that somebody (Tony? Ozzy? Sauron?) is mainly interested in how much money this tour can give - or they don't see Ward as an equally important band member.
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Can't really interpret the situation any other way.
 
The analysis is accurate (or correct) in the way it described what has probably happened.

Still that doesn't exclude our opinions on this matter.

Wingman and I feel probably the same about the situation. He doesn't want to buy a ticket anymore, and I kind of regret that I bought it. In that sense, the analysis is not 100% correct, because more people might skip this gig because they have their principles.
But if someone other than Bill Ward is on drums, is that really going to dent ticket sales?
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Yes.
 
Forostar said:
Yes.
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The problem is that they (again, not sure whether "they" means Tony, Ozzy, the witch or all of them) probably see it like this: A reunion without Ward will sell fewer tickets. But the difference will not be big enough to compensate for having to pay Ward more ... :( That's the cynical way, and it's what happens if the decision-makers are only interested in maximizing their own income.
 
So, Black Sabbath is officially dead. It's a shame it had to go this way.
 
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