Ozzy Osbourne was “pissed off” about Brad Wilk drumming on the final Black Sabbath album

Posted On October 7, 2025October 7, 2025

In his newly released memoirs, Last Rites, Ozzy Osbourne revealed he was against Rage Against The Machine’s Brad Wilk drumming with Black Sabbath on their final album.

The heavy metal pioneers brought their recording career to a close in 2013 with the Rick Rubin-produced 13. It was their first studio album in 18 years, and their first to feature Osbourne since 1978’s Never Say Die.

Original drummer Bill Ward was initially planned to be part of the project when it was announced that Black Sabbath would be reunited for an album with Rick Rubin, as well as heading out on a celebratory world tour.

However, before the sessions had commenced, Ward had exited the band once again under an acrimonious cloud. Thankfully, he would eventually reunite with Black Sabbath for Osbourne’s farewell concert at Villa Park, Back to the Beginning, just weeks before the singer’s death in July.

Following Ward’s departure, Osbourne put forward Tommy Clufetos, who was part of his solo band, for the role of recording the drums on 13. While Clufetos jammed with the band, he was ultimately replaced by Wilk before they headed into the studio, which was Rubin’s idea.

In Last Rites, Osbourne shared his dissatisfaction with the decision, writing (per Louder Sound), “I was never comfortable with that decision. Everyone had been fine with Tommy until Rick came on board and had other ideas, so I was kind of pissed off about that for a while.”

During an interview with Alternative Nation in 2016, Wilk said of working with his childhood heroes on the album, “To be asked to play with them was an incredible experience. For the first week it was really hard to even deal with the fact that I was in a room with them, possibly heading towards making a record with them.”

However, he did confess, “I wish it could have been Bill Ward instead of me – as amazing as it was for me.”

While Wilk drummed on 13, it was Clufetos who would tour the album with Black Sabbath. Clufetos also performed with Osbourne at Back to the Beginning, and Wilk was absent from the occasion.

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