Following rumors that began circulating last August and an ensuing spate of will-they-or-won't-they drama, Sharon Osbourne confirmed this weekend that Black Sabbath is working on a new album with producer Rick Rubin. Drummer Bill Ward, a founding member, will not be joining Ozzy Osbourne, Geezer Butler, and Tony Iommi due to a legal dispute. This isn't particularly surprising, since Ward hinted in February that the terms he had been offered at the time were "unsignable."
The group's three other original members reunited for the first time since 2005 in May; plans are in the works for a tour sometime next year to promote their new work. The as-yet-untilted record will be Sabbath's first album featuring this many original members since 1978's Never Say Die, and the first new material released under the Sabbath name since 1995's pretty awful Forbidden.