Ozzy is Apparently Hitting the Gym to Prepare for Final Black Sabbath Show
Ever since the big announcement a few weeks ago of Black Sabbath’s final show — the “Back to the Beginning” show in Villa Park in Birmingham, UK on July 5 — along with Ozzy Osbourne’s final solo performance, there’s been one question on every metalhead’s mind: Can Ozzy do that? Ozzy is 76 years old, has lived hard, and has been struggling with Parkinson’s for quite a few years now. I don’t think it’s unfair or overly mean to ask if he’s capable of putting on two final performances, one for his band and one for himself.
But the Ozzy camp really wanted us to believe he could do it, at least at first, with Sharon Osbourne insisting his voice is as good as it’s ever been, even though she admitted that he can’t walk. Then came the announcement that Ozzy would only perform “little bits and pieces” at the show, which seems a slightly more reasonable expectation. But apparently, Ozzy is determined to be in his best shape for the show and has started hitting the gym to get ready.
In a recent interview with The Howard Stern Show (that was transcribed by Blabbermouth), Andrew Watt, who produced Ozzy’s most recent two solo albums, talked about the preparations that the Ozzman was making to get ready for the big show:
“He’s okay. It’s just his body is not doing what he wants it to do all the time. But I talked to him a couple days ago, and he’s, like, starting to get in the gym again a little bit by little, get himself ready for this last concert. He is the real-life Iron Man. And nothing has happened to his voice — his voice is as good as it has ever been.”
The real-life Iron Man? Really? He’s a 76-year-old man battling a severe neurodegenerative disease. He is, at best, the Aluminum-Foil Man. And you know what? That’s okay. Maybe not everything has to be this heroic struggle of pushing one’s own limits to the max. Maybe sometimes it’s okay to admit that you can’t do the things you used to do.
The last thing I want to see is the poor man push himself too hard. He’s blazed a trail in metal, and I think he’s earned the right to stay in his physical comfort zone.
