Bill Ward Reveals New Solo Album Is Now Being Mastered, With Several More Ready to Follow

Black Sabbath drummer Bill Ward says a new solo album is now in the mastering process, with several more finished records still sitting on the shelf. Speaking with Dan Shinder of Drum Talk TV in an interview published this week, Ward said the project has 18 tracks and described it as “a very colorful album.”

Ward has not disclosed a title for the record. He said the songs pull from orchestral arrangements, choirs, multiple vocal groups, jazz passages, straight-ahead rock, and heavy drum production, while still carrying echoes of his time in Black Sabbath and his earlier band Mythology.

• Ward says he has recorded two or three additional albums over the past five years that are complete and awaiting only the mastering stage.
• Rather than releasing everything separately, he is weighing a plan to bundle three to five albums together as one package.
• The album nearest to release still needs a label deal before it comes out, potentially across vinyl, digital, and CD formats.
• Ward turned 78 on May 5, 2026, and told Drum Talk TV he now depends on a younger team to help him navigate an industry that has changed dramatically in how music is bought, sold, and contracted.

What Bill Ward Has Said About the Songwriting on His New Records

In an earlier appearance on LA Radio Sessions with Mike Stark in June 2025, Ward described a looser, riskier approach to writing his upcoming material. “I’ve just let everything go. I basically don’t give an ‘F’, and I think it shows up in the record,” he said, adding that he has been pushing himself to grow as a pianist, drummer, and bassist by handling more of that instrumentation himself.

He said the new songs lean further into jazz and carry more profanity than his past work, calling the results heartfelt rather than calculated. “It’s very heartfelt. I’ve done something where I feel like I’ve abandoned my critical self,” Ward said, explaining that he pushed past any instinct to hold back or stay tied to expectations built around his Black Sabbath legacy.

One song, which Ward said is slated for a later album rather than the one currently being mastered, draws on his childhood as a choir boy playing around the graveyards at Aston Church. He noted the church sits roughly 200 yards from Villa Park, where Black Sabbath’s original lineup played its final concert in July 2025, adding that he had written the song before knowing that show would take place there.

Bill Ward’s Health Update

In an early July 2026 statement, Ward told fans he has increasingly relied on a wheelchair at airports and public events, a change he said began about a year and a half earlier. He stressed that he can still walk short distances unaided and is not retiring or dealing with illness, saying he wanted to be public and transparent about the shift.

More Info

• Legendary BLACK SABBATH Drummer BILL WARD Is Mastering His New Solo LP: Its A Very Colorful Album | Blabbermouth
• BLACK SABBATH Drum Legend BILL WARD Says He’s “Currently Mastering A New Album,” Reveals “Two Or Three” More Are Ready To Go; Video | bravewords.com
• Bill Ward (Black Sabbath) shares the status of his upcoming solo album | chaoszine.net