Ozzy Thought He Could “Never Perform Again” Following Health Issues

August 29th, 2022 at 9:24am
Hesher Keenan

I know a lot of his fans don’t want to face it, but Ozzy‘s time as a performer could be coming up very soon. The dude’s 73 years old and wasn’t particularly kind to his body thanks to drugs and alcohol for a few decades, so it’s a miracle he’s able to do things like play the Commonwealth Games closing ceremony earlier this month. And no one’s more cognizant of his limitations than Ozzy himself.

Speaking with the Guardian, Ozzy’s wife Sharon Osbourne described some of the more harrowing health issues that could have sidelined him for good, including the removal of some metal plates in his spine was causing bone to chip and potentially cause permanent damage.

“The screws had come loose, and were chipping away at the bone. And the debris had lodged under his spine.”

That particular issue was causing Ozzy some extreme nerve pain, resulting in him hoping he wouldn’t wake up in the morning.

“With the pressing on the spinal column, I got nerve pain. I’d never fucking heard of nerve pain! You know when you’re a kid, and you’re playing with snow and your hands get really cold? Then you go in and you pour on hot water, and they start getting warm? And you get those chills? And it fucking hurts? It’s like that.
“It got so bad that at one point I thought: ‘Oh God, please don’t let me wake up tomorrow morning.’ Because it was fucking agony.”

Even though the eventual surgery was a success, Ozzy said he wasn’t sure he’d be able to perform at the Commonwealth Games, leaving hte final decision until a week before the performance.

“I said to Sharon: ‘I can’t fucking perform.’ She said: ‘Are you sure?’ And I thought about it, and I thought: ‘Fuck it, I’m gonna go for it.’ It’s one song – and I’ve sung it every fucking night for the last 55 years, so it’s not like I’m going to forget the fucking words!”

Ozzy is set to head out on tour in support of his forthcoming 13th studio album Patient Number 9. And while there’s talk of a possible album with his former Black Sabbath bandmate Tony Iommi, Ozzy said he’s going to do everything he possibly can to put on a good performance.

“I’m saying to you I’ll give it the best shot I can for another tour. You have not seen the end of Ozzy Osbourne, I promise you. If I have to go up there and die on the first song, I’ll still be back the next day.”

Patient Number 9 will be released September 9 and is available for preorder today via Epic.

Ozzy Osbourne’s Patient Number 9:

1. Patient Number 9 (feat. Jeff Beck)
2. Immortal (feat. Mike McCready)
3. Parasite (feat. Zakk Wylde)
4. Mr. Darkness (feat. Zakk Wylde)
5. One of Those Days (feat. Eric Clapton)
6. A Thousand Shades (feat. Jeff Beck)
7. No Escape From Now (feat. Tony Iommi)
8. Nothing Feels Right (feat. Zakk Wylde)
9. Evil Shuffle (feat. Zakk Wylde)
10. Degradation Rules (feat. Tony Iommi)
11. Dead and Gone
12. God Only Knows
13. Darkside Blues

Ozzy Thought He Could “Never Perform Again” Following Health Issues

Ozzy is slated to hit the road next year for a schedule of select dates below:

Tags: ozzy osbourne, Tony Iommi

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