Kory Grow
Contact Kory Grow on X View all posts by Kory Grow July 9, 2026
Black Sabbath in 2011. From left: Bill Ward, Ozzy Osbourne, Geezer Butler, and Tony Iommi. Kevin Winter/Getty Images Don’t worry about Bill Ward, he’s doing just fine. The Black Sabbath drummer, 78, issued an update via social media on Thursday informing fans that if they see him out and about in a wheelchair, well, that’s just being 78. Nothing to worry about.
“I’ve reached a place where publicly more and more I need to use a wheelchair, mostly in airports, or public events,” he wrote on Instagram. “I can still walk, let there be no doubt, but I can’t walk very far without needing to rest, meaning I need to sit down.”
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The drummer started using a wheelchair, as needed, about a year and a half ago, before he performed with his Black Sabbath bandmates at Ozzy Osbourne’s farewell gig, the Back to the Beginning concert. He emphasized in his post that he’s “still a drummer” and “can still play pretty good” for his age.
“My talents and ambitions, and my unyielding need to be artful, and to play drums, is still as strong as it was so many years ago now,” he wrote. “I’m just saying if you see me in a wheelchair, I’m just catching a ride, I’m not in retirement or ill or giving up, or any of those thoughts that ignite when we see people in wheelchairs. I’m making myself public and transparent about my new transport, and letting you know I’m OK.”
He also invited fans to say hello to him if they see him out and about. “I don’t bite,” he wrote. “I’ll just look different, as pictured here.” At the end of his missive, he swore, “I’ll keep rocking until I’m dead.”
