Ozzy Osbourne: ‘I’m in Unbelievable Pain 24/7,’ but I’ll Be Back
The iconic Black Sabbath frontman and general hellraiser begs his fans not to give up on him as he cancels a string of tour dates.
Frazer Harrison
Legendary hellraiser Ozzy Osbourne has said he is in “unbelievable pain 24/7,” after falling and aggravating an old neck injury.
The founder of heavy-metal group Black Sabbath said in a new interview, “I’ve recovered from alcoholism, drug addiction, all of the above. Then I tripped over, and that’s it.”
The rocker, 72, is also struggling to cope with Parkinson’s disease, a diagnosis that he revealed this year. However in an extensive interview with U.K newspaper The Sun he says, “If I had a choice between the Parkinson’s and the fucking neck, I’d go for the Parkinson’s. I’ve been laid up for a year now.”
Osbourne says he fell during a late-night visit to the bathroom: “I remember it like it was yesterday. I was lying there as clearly and as calmly as anything, thinking, ‘Well Ozzy, you’ve fucking done it now.’”
Osbourne broke his neck in a 2003 quad bike accident, and the fall last year aggravated the old injury, leaving him bedridden for weeks. Just this week, he canceled a U.S. tour due to start in Atlanta at the end of May.
Osbourne did, however, manage to record a new album, Ordinary Man, with cameos by buddies Elton John and Slash.
“The album has saved my life,” Ozzy tells the Sun, “Before I started work, I was just lying there thinking, ‘Poor old me.’ The album got me out of bed. Some days I’d do an hour or two, other days four or five. It was the best medicine I could have because it stopped me thinking about how I might end up a cripple.”
“When I first found out I had Parkinson’s, I thought, ‘Fuck!’ but then I thought, ‘It could be worse, I could be dead.’
“The fact is... what am I going to do about it? With the time I’ve got left, I don’t want to sit around being miserable.
“Everybody would like to be me for a weekend. I’ve had a great life.”
“It’s seven years since I had a drink, seven years clean and sober,” he says.
“Don’t smoke tobacco, don’t drink, don’t do drugs. It’s quite boring.”
Ozzy told the Sun: “Just tell my fans—please hang on, I’m not going anywhere.
“The only thing I can do in life is entertain people, I love it. I can’t wait to get back out there and I’m sorry it’s taking so long.
“I just hope my fans won’t give up on me. If I cancel again, they might.”