Ozzy Osbourne says Black Sabbath's original drummer is "too overweight" to play their reunion tour.
The 'God Is Dead?' singer claims Bill Ward's health was a concern when they thought about him returning for their gruelling comeback tour in support of comeback album '13'.
Ozzy told the New York Daily News: "I don't think he could have done the gig, to be honest. He's incredibly overweight, a drummer has to be in shape. He's already had two heart attacks. I don't want to be responsible for his life."
The 64-year-old's comments come after he had previously questioned the drummer ability to play back in May.
He said: "We looked at Bill, and he couldn't remember what the f*** we were doing. But he didn't come clean and say, 'I can't cut this gig, but can we work something out, guys, where I'll come on but with another drummer backing me up?' Or, 'I'll come and play a few songs.' That would have been cool."
The band - which also includes Tony Iommi and Geezer Butler - released '13', their first album with Ozzy in 37 years, in June and although they are without Bill at present, he hopes they will one day perform together again.
He said: "Maybe we can work things out by the next [album]. But it won't take another 35 years. I'm 65 now. There's no f***ing recording studios in the afterlife."
Tagged in Black Sabbath Ozzy Osbourne Bill Ward