Ozzy Osbourne Gets Strength From Family Amidst Health Battle
via The Hollywood Pipeline / Youtube
Black Sabbath’s former frontman Ozzy Osbourne has had a rough year. Well, it has been rough since he fell at home and suffered serious injuries in 2019.
In the first episode of the recently-revived The Osbournes Podcast released on September 12, the ailing rockstar discussed his upcoming surgery and his frustrations due to the pain and discomfort he’s experiencing.
When his son Jack Osbourne asked him if the doctors were fusing his discs, an exasperated Ozzy said, “I don’t know what the fuck they are doing. All I know is right now I’m in a lot of pain, I’m in a lot of discomfort.”
The heavy metal royalty is recuperating alongside his family, his source of strength in these tough times. The Osbournes podcast episode also featured Ozzy’s wife and manager Sharon Osbourne and daughter Kelly Osbourne.
The unlucky Ozzy
Ozzy was recently seen walking with the aid of a cane as he was spotted enjoying some quality family time. This was a positive development after months of being in the wheelchair.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JjaHvHzzXt0
The recent years have not been kind to the Prince of Darkness. The sturdy heavy metal madman has faced and is facing a number of health challenges that bogged down his spirit and career: spine and neck injuries that needed a number of surgeries; Parkinson’s disease; COVID-19; and even a bout of depression.
Today’s show at @ShorelineAmp in Mountain View, CA has being postponed due to illness. Ozzy is being treated for an infection and will spend a couple of days at Cedars-Sinai in LA. Today’s show has been rescheduled for Tues, Oct 16 (support act is TBA)https://t.co/QCgoPDBGdJ pic.twitter.com/YPh4yam82L
— Ozzy Osbourne (@OzzyOsbourne) October 6, 2018
Ozzy’s frequent trips to the hospital are taking a toll on the 74-year-old rockstar, and with another surgery coming, it was understandable how frustrated Ozzy was.
With Parkinson’s making him feel like “walking around in lead boots”, Ozzy experienced another major health problem early last year when Sharon revealed that the former Black Sabbath frontman contracted COVID-19.
“We’ve gone two years without him catching COVID and it’s just Ozzy’s luck he would get it now,” said Ozzy’s wife, who also contracted the disease but was faring better than his down-on-luck husband.
. @SonyPictures and Polygram Entertainment are developing a biopic chronicling the extraordinary life of rock legend Ozzy Osbourne, and the great love story between him and his wife, Sharon. The film will be written by Academy Award nominee Lee Hall (Billy Elliot). pic.twitter.com/3vcXdcWbl4
— Ozzy Osbourne (@OzzyOsbourne) October 22, 2021
Surgeries and more surgeries
In June also last year, after surviving COVID-19, the rockstar underwent another major surgery to fix his neck and spine, which was the result of a near-fatal ATV accident in 2003 at his Buckinghamshire home.
This ATV injury was aggravated back in 2019 when Ozzy while recovering from pneumonia, suffered an undisclosed injury inside his home.
Due to all of this, Ozzy had to undergo surgeries to fix his body. All the surgeries and health complication has left the ill heavy metal madman no choice but to slowly end his solo touring career.
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“My lower back is, I’m going for an epidural soon because what’s happening, what they’ve discovered is the neck has been fixed, below the neck there’s two vertebrae where the bike hit me and disintegrated, there’s nothing left of ’em,” Ozzy explained in the Osbournes podcast.
Amidst all this, Ozzy remained thankful, and even shared via Twitter a song from his 2010 album Scream called “I Love You All”, as a thankful gesture to his fans before undergoing a major surgery in June 2022.
— Ozzy Osbourne (@OzzyOsbourne) June 13, 2022
Tour cancellations and touring end
Early this year, Ozzy once again thanked his fans, but this time, it was due to a series of cancellations of his shows and concerts.
“I am honestly humbled by the way you’ve all patiently held onto your tickets for all this time, but in all good conscience, I have now come to the realization that I’m not physically capable of doing my upcoming European/UK tour dates, as I know I couldn’t deal with the travel required,” Ozzy wrote in a statement in February 2023.
These canceled tours and shows were not the first ones.
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Ozzy has canceled first his 2019 tour due to the injuries and complications his body sustained after his fall inside his home. His then highly-anticipated ‘No More Tours 2’ tour, which featured an extensive North American run thrash metal icon Megadeth, was called off.
The frustrated Prince of Darkness said: “I can’t believe I have to reschedule more tour dates. Words cannot express how frustrated, angry and depressed I am not to be able to tour right now. I’m grateful for the love and support I’m getting from my family, my band, friends and fans, it’s really what’s keeping me going. Just know that I am getting better every day…I will fully recover…I will finish my tour…I will be back!”
I cant wait to get out of here tomorrow, thank you to all of the wonderful Doctors and Nurses taking care of me.
Rescheduled #NoMoreTours2 Shows now:
Oct 13 – Las Vegas @MGMGrand
Oct 15 – @HollywoodBowl
Oct 18 – San Diego @MattressFirmAmp
Oct 20 – Mountain View @ShorelineAmp pic.twitter.com/xNtmRotV19— Ozzy Osbourne (@OzzyOsbourne) October 8, 2018
“Still physically weak”
The cancellations continued until this year when Ozzy, who still feels “physically weak”, scrapped his tours with finality, as well as his Power Trip headliner in October.
“My original plan was to return to the stage in the summer of 2024, & when the offer to do this show came in, I optimistically moved forward. Unfortunately, my body is telling me that I’m just not ready yet and I am much too proud to have the first show that I do in nearly five years be half-assed,” said the rockstar in an official statement.
As painful as this is, I’ve had to make the decision to bow out of performing on Power Trip in October.
My original plan was to return to the stage in the summer of 2024, & when the offer to do this show came in, I optimistically moved forward.
Unfortunately, my body is… pic.twitter.com/gHWEE8VuI6
— Ozzy Osbourne (@OzzyOsbourne) July 10, 2023
The last time Ozzy performed onstage was on New Year’s Eve in 2018. Not long after his performance, he slipped and fell and had to cancel his shows ever since. However, Ozzy sometimes shows up in random on-off gigs, like his surprise appearance in 2022 at England’s Commonwealth Games alongside former bandmate Tony Iommi.
Following his Commonwealth Games gig, Ozzy shared in an interview with Rolling Stone that he was “semi-retired” until his surprise performance. “For three years, I’m thinking, ‘I’m never going onstage.’ I kind of half-bought myself into the fact that [my performing career] was over.”
The madman of heavy metal
Ozzy Osbourne is the infamous madman of heavy metal and is one of the most revered and universally recognized figures of the genre. Born on December 3, 1948, in the Aston district of Birmingham, England, Osbourne gained prominence as a founding member of Black Sabbath.
This iconic band laid the very groundwork for the heavy metal genre with their seminal early ’70s albums, including essential classics like “Paranoid”, “Master of Reality”, and “Sabbath Bloody Sabbath”.
After a tumultuous departure from Black Sabbath in 1978, the Prince of Darkness embarked on a solo career that was initially met with skepticism. However, he defied the odds, thanks to the extraordinary guitar talents of Randy Rhoads, and released hit albums such as Blizzard of Ozz and Diary of a Madman.
Touring success and short retirement
Even the tragic death of Rhoads in a plane crash couldn’t derail Ozzy’s newfound career momentum, although his own struggles with chronic drug abuse and notorious antics, ranging from urinating on the Alamo to biting the heads off various flying creatures, certainly tried.
OzzyOsbourne biting the head off a bat in Des Moines, Iowa, 1982 pic.twitter.com/fRO1qzEDZI
— Classic Rock In Pics (@crockpics) October 16, 2021
Another accomplished guitarist, Jake E. Lee, collaborated with Osbourne for two impressive albums: 1983’s Bark at the Moon and 1986’s The Ultimate Sin. Subsequently, Zakk Wylde joined the ranks for 1988’s No Rest for the Wicked and the career-defining No More Tears in 1991, following which Osbourne declared his retirement.
However, this retirement was short-lived, lasting only a few months. By 1995, Osbourne had released a new solo album, Ozzmosis, and was gearing up for the inaugural Ozzfest, an annual heavy metal festival co-conceived with his manager and wife, Sharon Osbourne. Ozzfest became the predominant heavy metal festival of the ensuing decade and played a pivotal role in rekindling Osbourne’s touring relationship with Black Sabbath.
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Celebrity Ozzy and Black Sabbath return
In 2002, Black Sabbath might have resumed recording if not for the unexpected success of the reality TV show The Osbournes. This show transformed Ozzy from a heavy metal legend into a mainstream celebrity and led him to dedicate the first decade of the new millennium to solo albums and tours, rather than reuniting with his old band.
Finally, in 2011, Black Sabbath officially reunited (without drummer Bill Ward) to record the 2013 album 13.
If not for the disastrous ATV accident in 2003, followed by another unfortunate accident in 2019, Ozzy might still be doing victory laps of tours across the globe.
Despite experiencing health challenges that have limited his live performances, Ozzy Osbourne has remained actively engaged with music. In 2022, the legendary metal artist unveiled his latest solo album, titled Patient Number 9. This release followed closely on the heels of his 2020 album, Ordinary Man, which marked his first studio album in a decade.
