William Thomas Ward was born on the 5th May 1948, in Aston, Birmingham, England, and is a musician and visual artist, but best known as the drummer of the cult heavy metal band “Black Sabbath”, in which he played from its formation, with a few occasional breaks. Ward’s career started in 1966.
Have you ever wondered how rich Bill Ward is, as of late 2016? According to authoritative sources, it has been estimated that Ward’s net worth is as high as $65 million, an amount earned largely through his successful career in music. In addition to spending most of his career with Black Sabbath, Ward has also released three solo albums, which improved his wealth too.
Bill Ward Net Worth $65 Million
Bill Ward started playing the drums as a child, and in the mid-‘60s, he played in a band called The Rest. Soon after, Bill and guitarist Tony Iommi were the members of the band Mythology, and after its dissolution, they joined vocalist Ozzy Osbourne and bassist Geezer Butler and formed Earth, which would become Black Sabbath in 1968.
Black Sabbath’ self-titled debut studio album came out in 1970, and it achieved instant success with platinum status in the US and gold in the UK, peaking at No. 23 on the Billboard 200 and No. 8 on the UK Albums Chart, with singles “Black Sabbath”, “The Wizard”, “N.I.B.”, and “Evil Woman” as the highest-rated. Also in 1970, the band recorded their second studio album and one of the most influential heavy metal releases – “Paranoid” – which topped the UK Albums Chart and reached No. 12 on the US Billboard 200. It achieved multiple platinum status with over four million copies sold, and helped Ward to increase his net worth significantly. The singles “War Pigs”, “Iron Man”, and “Paranoid” became the band’s signature songs.
By the end of the ‘70s, Black Sabbath had released four more platinum albums: “Master of Reality” (1971), “Vol. 4” (1972), “Sabbath Bloody Sabbath” (1973), and “We Sold Our Soul for Rock ‘n’ Roll” (1975). At the time, Ward became a multi-millionaire as did fellow members of the band.
Bill played with the band on three albums during the ‘80s: “Heaven and Hell” (1980), “Live at Last” (1980), and “Born Again” (1983). Following a few years of hiatus, Ward returned and released his debut solo album called “Ward One: Along the Way” in 1990, in which he teamed up with Ozzy Osbourne, while in 1993, the two of them collaborated on Ozzy’s “Live & Loud”. In 1997, Ward recorded his second studio album entitled “When the Bough Breaks”, and then played on Osbourne’s “The Ozzman Cometh”, the same year. In 1998, Bill returned to Black Sabbath for “Reunion”, which achieved platinum status and peaked at No. 11 on the Billboard 200.
In 2000, Ward played on Tony Iommi’s self-titled album, and made several live appearances with Black Sabbath, while most recently he released his latest album called “Accountable Beasts” in 2015.
Regarding his personal life, while details of relationships remain private, Bill Ward has two sons named Nigel and Aaron, and a daughter named Emily. After abusing alcohol and drugs during Black Sabbath’s glory days in the ‘70s and ‘80s, Ward has apparently been sober for around 30 years, as he quit smoking, drinking alcohol, and taking drugs of any kind. However, his health still worsened, and he underwent gastro-intestinal surgery in 2013.
