BLACK SABBATH drummer Bill Ward has posted the following message on his web site regarding the passing of influential LOVE singer/guitarist Arthur Lee, who died of leukemia on August 3 at age 61:

"My condolences to Arthur Lee's family, and my thanks to Arthur for all his music. My most vivid memory as a teenager was rehearsing 'My Little Red Book' for the local community centre gig and the Friday night gigs (pre-SABBATH) and later (with SABBATH) in 'Frisco at Fillmore West or Winterland (I'm not sure which venue.) I was honoured to be a part of helping LOVE's drummer (at that time, 1970) fix his snare drum, being high as we were in those days, it was a challenging project. Becoming successful, LOVE continued to play on. Fond memories.

"Arthur Lee — certainly original; influential — yes; different — yes; and so soulful. Thank you again, Arthur. You are remembered fondly, and your music will live in my heart forever."

In other news, Bill Ward's official web site has been updated with the following message regarding his "Rock 50" radio show, which airs on WPMD, a college radio station at Cerritos College in California:

"OK, we have a lot of stuff going on for our August 12th radio show. We're playing some of the bands from the 'Sounds of The Underground' tour, playing here on August 12th in Southern California at the Gibson Amphitheatre in Universal City. CANNIBAL CORPSE, GWAR, THROUGH THE EYES OF THE DEAD, TRIVIUM, and of course, IN FLAMES will be featured.

"The 'Gigantour' kicks off September 6th at the Idaho Center in Nampa, ID, so we're playing bands from that upcoming tour also. MEGADETH, LAMB OF GOD, ARCH ENEMY, OVERKILL and more. All the bands mentioned so far from both tours are balls out, extreme rock — very incredible.

"Other bands on the radio show will be SCAR SYMMETRY, STONE SOUR, A LIFE ONCE LOST and UNEARTH. Check us out if your taste is metal and radical hardcore.

"Also, a short memorial tribute to the legendary Arthur Lee of LOVE fame will be played after the first hour of the show. Arthur died in Memphis on Thursday, August 3, 2006."

"Rock 50", featuring its regular host Mike Stark, is broadcast over the Internet every Saturday. You can listen to the show live online at this location.

For more information about Bill Ward's monthly "Rock 50" radio show, click here.