Even if he's on the outs with his Black Sabbath bandmates, that doesn't mean Bill Ward can't draw comfort from the classic music they recorded together.

As Ward revealed during a recent episode of his Rock 50 radio show, he turned to one Sabbath song in particular while rehabilitating from the operations he endured in late 2013. Laid up after surgery on his shoulder and colon, he admits he needed a little positive reinforcement — and he found it in "Cornucopia," from the band's 1972 album Vol. 4.

"It's just really good. A great live track. It rocks — kicks ass," says Ward. "On a personal note, when I was having some problems in the hospital in November and December ... I'd gone through the operations, the first of the operations I had in November and December of 2013. I had my iPod and the one song I played practically every day was 'Cornucopia.' It really helped me along to listen to it. I was in pretty bad shape, and I wanted to listen to what I used to be like at that time. Now I can play it again, though. The bad days have gone; it's passed. But it really helped me when I was in the hospital listening to that song on the iPod."

Ward, who recently traded barbs with Sabbath singer Ozzy Osbourne in a series of public posts, isn't sitting around waiting for his old band to give him a chance to play: As previously reported, he's putting his surgically restored joint to the test with a pair of solo projects. Meanwhile, Sabbath continue working toward a new album and allegedly final tour planned for 2016.

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