Bill Ward isn’t slowing down — he’s just moving differently these days, and he wants his fans to hear it from him directly.
The 78-year-old founding drummer of Black Sabbath took to social media this week to address something he’s noticed fans starting to ask about: why he’s increasingly seen using a wheelchair at airports and public events. Rather than let rumors fill the silence, Ward decided to explain it himself, in a post titled “Something New To Let You Know About.”
Ward was direct about what’s changed and what hasn’t. He can still walk perfectly well, he explained, but long distances now require breaks — so a wheelchair has become part of his routine, particularly while traveling. He noted that this shift actually began about a year and a half ago, mostly as a practical solution for getting through airports.
His full statement reads as follows: “Dear Friends, Fans, Families, and people I’ve not met yet,
“I’m announcing today somewhat sadly but nonetheless truthfully, that I’ve reached a place where publicly more and more I need to use a wheelchair, mostly in airports, or public events. 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. We started using the wheelchair about 18 months ago, mostly in airports. I became 78 years old on May 5th 2026. I was a long distance walker, I’ve walked in many different parts of the world, and I’m still a drummer. I can still play pretty good for 78 years old.
“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. 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. If you see me in the airports or visiting friends in the music arenas or theatres say hi, I don’t bite, I’ll just look different, as pictured here. Much love to you all and I’ll keep rocking until I’m dead.
“Rock forever and ever,
“Bill Ward
“And the secrets we hide, can be dangerous to our health, I’m letting transparency prevail, with love and progression.”
Ward‘s place in heavy metal history is secure regardless of how he gets around an airport terminal. As one of Black Sabbath‘s four founding members alongside Ozzy Osbourne, Tony Iommi, and Geezer Butler, his jazz-inflected, swinging drum style helped define the sound of a genre on albums like Black Sabbath, Paranoid, Master of Reality, Vol. 4, and Sabbath Bloody Sabbath — records that shaped the vocabulary of hard rock and metal drumming for generations to follow.
Just last July, Ward stood alongside his three bandmates one final time for Black Sabbath‘s “Back to the Beginning” farewell concert — a historic reunion of the original lineup and a fitting send-off for the band that started it all. Now, in his own words, he’s still rocking — just riding when he needs to.
