Black Sabbath's founding drummer Bill Ward has revealed that he now uses a wheelchair for most public outings, sharing the news in an Instagram post on Thursday 9 July titled "Something New To Let You Know About." The 78-year-old was keen to stress that this does not signal retirement, illness or decline, writing that he can still walk but tires over longer distances, and insisting that his drive to play drums remains as strong as ever.

Ward explained that he first began using a wheelchair occasionally around 18 months ago, chiefly in airports, but has come to rely on it more since turning 78 this past May. A former long-distance walker, he said he can "still play pretty good for 78 years old" and promised to "keep rocking until I'm dead," adding that he was choosing transparency because secrets "can be dangerous to our health." The announcement comes roughly a year after Ward reunited with the band for Ozzy Osbourne's farewell concert in Birmingham; Osbourne died two weeks later at 76 from cardiac arrest and coronary artery disease. Ward helped found Black Sabbath in the late 1960s, featuring on charting albums such as Master of Reality (1971) and Sabbath Bloody Sabbath (1974) before leaving the line-up in the early 1980s.