According to a recent interview, Black Sabbath’s Tony Iommi wanted Bill Ward to join the band for their new record and tour, but quit waiting for the negotiations to work out after being diagnosed with cancer at the end of 2011.

The guitarist spoke with Guitar World for their upcoming cover story, telling the magazine, “I was shocked. We were hearing stuff from lawyers, like, ‘I’m not happy with this. I’m not happy with that.’ We waited a long time for Bill and we wanted to sort it out. But at the end of the day, especially after I was diagnosed, I thought ‘Fucking hell, that’s it – we’ve got to get a move on. I might pop off next year!’ So I emailed him and said, ‘Bill, we can’t wait any longer. We’ve got to get on with it.’ And that was it.”

The band ended up recruiting Rage Against the Machine’s Brad Wilk to play on 13, Iommi’s first album with Osborne since 1978’s Never Say Die. The album will be released on June 10, and Black Sabbath will embark on a North American tour this summer.