Eloy Casagrande Overcome with Emotion Meeting Hero Bill Ward Backstage at Black Sabbath’s Back to the Beginning Concert
Birmingham, UK – July 6, 2025 — At Saturday’s monumental Back to the Beginning concert at Villa Park, Birmingham, where Black Sabbath returned to their roots for one last seismic celebration, emotions ran high both on stage and behind the scenes. But among the most touching moments of the evening came quietly backstage—when Slipknot and former Sepultura drummer Eloy Casagrande came face to face with his lifelong hero, the legendary Bill Ward.
A generational torch was passed—not with fanfare, but with reverence, awe, and deep, heartfelt respect.
A Meeting Decades in the Making
Casagrande, known for his thunderous energy behind the drums in both Slipknot and Sepultura, has often cited Ward as one of his foundational influences. Meeting the founding Black Sabbath drummer—whose jazz-inflected rhythms and primal intensity helped shape the very DNA of heavy metal—was, for Casagrande, nothing short of a spiritual event.
Backstage, surrounded by amps, cables, and the electric hum of post-show euphoria, the two drummers shared a moment that transcended music. Ward, now 77 and celebrated for his trailblazing style, embraced Casagrande, who was visibly emotional. Onlookers noted the intensity of the exchange—a silent communion between master and disciple.
“Where it all began. Where it all will end.”
Paying homage to Ward the following day, Casagrande posted a poignant tribute on social media, writing:
“Where it all began. Where it all will end. Your music will be eternal, master.”
Those words echoed across the metal community, resonating with fans and artists alike who view Black Sabbath’s legacy not as a closed chapter but an eternal source of inspiration.
Casagrande’s humility in the moment—and his willingness to wear his emotions openly—struck a chord with many who see the younger drummer as part of the genre’s evolving future. His presence at the Back to the Beginning concert wasn’t just as a fan or fellow artist; it was symbolic of the continuity of metal’s lifeblood.
Bill Ward: The Blueprint of Metal Drumming
Bill Ward’s drumming on Sabbath’s earliest albums, especially the 1970 self-titled debut, Paranoid, and Master of Reality, laid the groundwork for nearly every subgenre of metal to follow. Known for fusing jazz phrasing with apocalyptic power, Ward’s playing remains unmatched in influence.
To generations like Casagrande’s, Ward represents not just history, but the pulse of something primal—chaos made rhythmic.
“I wouldn’t be who I am on the kit without Bill,” Casagrande has said in previous interviews. “He taught me that aggression can have grace, that heaviness doesn’t have to sacrifice groove. He was the first metal drummer, and in my view, still the best.”
An Emotional Night for All
The Back to the Beginning concert was billed as a historic farewell, and it more than delivered. With original frontman Ozzy Osbourne making a surprise appearance despite recent health struggles, and Tony Iommi’s riffing still as commanding as ever, the performance was both triumphant and elegiac.
Casagrande watched from side stage, eyes locked on every beat, every fill, every flash of memory. Sources close to the drummer said he remained quiet most of the night, soaking in the atmosphere like a disciple at the altar.
After the show, fans captured glimpses of Casagrande and Ward walking slowly down the backstage corridor, deep in conversation—two drummers, generations apart, united by the same rhythm that changed the world.
Legacy and the Next Chapter
While Black Sabbath’s performance may mark the closing of a legendary chapter, Saturday night was a powerful reminder that their influence will continue to ripple outward. Drummers like Casagrande, Joey Jordison (whom Casagrande has also cited as an influence), and countless others are living extensions of the path Ward forged in the early ’70s.
It’s rare in music to witness moments where legacy and future collide so intimately. And rarer still to see those moments unfold with such raw emotion and mutual respect.
“It was sacred.”
Speaking briefly to press after the event, Casagrande summed up the experience with simplicity and weight:
“It was sacred. It’s one thing to study the masters. It’s another to stand before them and thank them.”
In a world often jaded by celebrity and spectacle, Saturday night in Birmingham gave us something genuine: a reminder that music is inheritance, that emotion has a place even in the loudest of genres, and that heroes—like Bill Ward—still walk among us.
© Kelly Osbourne – who documented the backstage meeting with a candid photo of the two drummers in an embrace—captioned it simply:
“Generations united by rhythm. What a night.”
Indeed, what a night it was.
