BLACK SABBATH's BILL WARD On MASTODON's BRANN DAILOR: 'He's Worthy Of All The Praise That He Gets'

During BLACK SABBATH drummer Bill Ward's January 2026 radio show as part of the LA Radio Sessions, which will air on Saturday, January 10 at noon (Pacific Time) on 99.1 KLBP-FM in Long Beach and also online at KLBP.org, he talked about the drumming of MASTODON's Brann Dailor. Ward said (as transcribed by BLABBERMOUTH.NET):  "First of all, Brann, before I met him — I met him first through listening to [MASTODON's] music, and everything about him, his orchestrations, his jazz, his rock, all of those parts that obviously live inside him are so well put together. When I heard [MASTODON's] 'The Last Baron' — we've played 'The Last Baron' so many times on our [radio] show — and I was blown away. I think that's where I really met Brann in terms of listening astutely to where he was going, what he was doing, how he would push, how he would retrieve, how he would give way. And I listened to, and I thought, 'My god, this guy's really learned how to play drums.'"

Ward continued: "Learning to play drums is not that easy. Coming out the box, we can all start by banging. Mine was trying to learn how to play 'Peggy Sue' by Buddy Holly. But we all have our hurdles to get over. But Brann's articulation, I think he's worthy of all the praise that he gets. I think now everyone has recognized that he is an outstanding drummer on a world level. His intuition and his interaction with other instruments is foreboding and always just enough. I've never heard him overplay a part where he could take something else away from another musician. That's the sign of a really good fucking drummer… He intuitively knows when to, and I feel that from him, when he doesn't overplay or he doesn't push on something and he allows air to pass through, and he allows notes to pass through, the other members of the band. That's what being a drummer is — learning to play with the other musicians. You have to play with the other musicians. I had to learn to play with [BLACK SABBATH's] Tony [Iommi] and to learn to play with Terry, Geezer [Butler], and I learned to play with Ozzy [Osbourne]. You have to play with wherever they are as well. You have to be respectful as a drummer, and Brann is respectful. And I can't wait to hear whatever he is going to do next. And I'm a drummer that loves drummers. So, anyway. Thanks, Brann."

In a 2019 interview with Music Radar, Brann said that he considers himself "in the Bill Ward camp of metal drumming as opposed to the Vinnie Paul [PANTERA] side. Both amazing players, but I hear more of myself on that side when metal was first being born," he explained.

"For the people who were playing it, metal didn't exist yet. They knew jazz, but they were trying to compete with Marshall stacks so they have that fusion thing happening," Brann explained. "I feel like that’s where my sensibility lies as far as drumming."

The original lineup of BLACK SABBATH — Ward, singer Ozzy Osbourne, guitarist Tony Iommi and bassist Geezer Butler — played its final concert last summer. Dubbed "Back To The Beginning", the charity show was held at Villa Park in Birmingham, United Kingdom on July 5, 2025.

"Accountable Beasts", Ward's first solo album in 18 years, was released in 2015 via iTunes. The CD featured Ward's drumming on seven of the album's nine tracks, as well as contributions from Bill's longtime collaborators Keith Lynch (guitar, keyboards),Paul Ill (bass) and Ronnie Ciago (drums),alongside drummer Walter Earl and an array of session singers, including Ward's daughter Emily.

Ward in May 2012 announced that he was declining to join his former SABBATH bandmates for its scheduled dates, as well as the recording of the new album, due to a contractual dispute. After SABBATH shot down producer Rick Rubin's suggestion to replace Ward with Ginger Baker (CREAM) ("I thought, 'Bloody hell?'" Iommi told Rolling Stone magazine. "I just couldn't see that.") for the LP recording sessions, Rick suggested RAGE AGAINST THE MACHINE drummer Brad Wilk.

Ozzy told The Pulse Of Radio during SABBATH's last tour that Ward was not in shape to participate. "Bill Ward has got the most physically demanding job of the lot of us, 'cause he's the timekeeper," he said. "I don't think personally he had the chops to pull it off, you know. The saddest thing is that he needed to own up to that, and we could have worked around it, whether we had a drummer on the side with him or something."

It was rumored that SABBATH wanted to bring a second drummer on the road to share duties with Ward, something that Iommi confirmed in 2017 during a question-and-answer session about SABBATH's "Ten Year War" box set.