On February 1, 2023, fans finally remembered the painful truth. None of our idols are indestructible. Ozzy published sad information on his social media – the singer, after more than 50 years of playing, officially ended his stage career due to his health.
“This is possibly one of the hardest messages I’ve ever had to deliver to my loyal fans,” writes Ozzy. The artist recalls that he had an accident a few years ago, unfortunately the musician’s body did not regain full fitness. On the contrary. In addition to the renewed injury, the artist has also developed Parkinson’s disease, which further adversely affects his ability to move freely.
“My only goal for the last few years has been to get back on stage. My voice is okay. Unfortunately, three surgeries, stem cell treatments, endless physiotherapy sessions and even groundbreaking medical methods were not effective enough” – explains the broken vocalist.
In difficult times, the artist was sustained by the hope that he would be able to play the tour announced before the pandemic with Judas Priest. Although concerts were talked about four years ago, the musician’s faithful fans kept tickets at the bottom of drawers until today and believed that they would soon see Ozzy on stage.
“I came to the conclusion that I will not physically be able to play these concerts. My body will not cope with the challenge of traveling. I never thought that my stage career would end in such a way” – emphasizes the famous singer sadly.
There is no exaggeration in Ozzy’s words – music has been the most important thing for him for years, and contact with fans – necessary for happiness. When the artist relapsed from an old injury four years ago, he emphasized in interviews that he experienced the worst moments of his life not because of the pain, but because he could not work at that time. It wasn’t entirely true. During his indisposition, the artist recorded two solo albums. In 2020, the album “Ordinary Man” was released, on which you can hear unusual duets. Osbourne invited to cooperation and .
On the next album, he went a step further. In 2022, the thirteenth solo album on Ozzy Osborne’s account – “Patient Number 9” – was released. The artist put 13 compositions on it, which he recorded with a list of true legends of the genre. On Osbourne’s last album, we hear drummer Taylor Hawkins, who died in March 2022. The title track from the album and “A Thousand Shades” turned out to be one of the last sounds recorded by the guitar master – Jeff Beck. .
The aforementioned album became one of Ozzy’s best-regarded solo achievements. Critics emphasized that Osbourne once again proved that he is still a big competition in the industry, and despite the adversities remains a master of the genre and is second to none. “Patient Number 9” appeared in Polish and foreign lists of the best rock albums released in 2022, and was nominated for four Grammy Awards. Two of them went to Osbourne’s account. We are talking about the statuette for the best rock album and metal performance.
Without emotions accompanying live performances in front of Ozzy fans, he lasted 3 years. During the Commonwealth Games 2022, Osbourne appeared on stage accompanied by long-time musical partner, guitarist Tony Iommi. The musicians played together the great hit “Paranoid” and a shortened version of the song “Iron Man”. The event was special for one more reason. The performance took place in the hometown of the Sabbats – Birmingham.
Recordings from a short concert of legendary musicians capture the heart. In Ozzy’s eyes you can see the indescribable joy of playing live, which he missed so much. Even though he hid behind a long black coat and dark makeup, he couldn’t help the wide grin that never left his face. However, attentive viewers will surely notice that Osbourne, apart from the microphone, is also accompanied on stage by a tripod supporting his ailing back.
The beginnings of Ozzy’s problems with the spine date back to 2003. It was then that the artist suffered a serious accident on a quad bike. He was 55 years old and had a near-death experience due to bleeding into his lungs. Doctors managed to save the star’s life, and some even say that Osbourne was resurrected, because he briefly went into cardiac arrest – he was resuscitated by then bodyguard Sam Ruston. In the accident, Ozzy broke his cervical vertebra, collarbone and eight ribs.
Ozzy Osbourne was born on December 3, 1948 as John Michael Osbourne. He got his nickname at school from mean kids, but he didn’t care about the taunts. He adopted the nickname and made Ozzy known worldwide only as a rock legend.
The musician suffered from dyslexia since childhood, which made him uncomfortable at school more than once. Years later, however, he admitted that the disorder also had its good sides. As the artist explains in his autobiography:
“The bright side of dyslexia is that dyslexics tend to be very creative, or so I’ve been told. They say we think in unconventional ways.” Due to his condition, Osbourne has always had trouble reading, admitting that he rarely manages to read books that interest him to the end. Probably also for this reason, the artist gave up education quite quickly. At the age of 15, he left school and tried his hand as a builder, plumber, locksmith and even a slaughterhouse worker. The year before, he first heard The Beatles, as he said in later interviews, the song “She Loves You” made him decide to become a musician.
“I knew I was going to be a rock star for the rest of my life,” Ozzy said in the 2011 documentary God Bless Ozzy Osbourne. He was right.
The turning point in both Ozzy’s life and the history of pop music came in late 1967. At that time, bassist Geezer Butler formed the band Rare Breed and recruited a charismatic vocalist – Osbourne. The formation broke up after two concerts, but a new group was soon created on its ashes. Polka Tulk Blues with Tony Iommi and drummer Bill Ward functioned under this unusual name for a very short time. The musicians quickly changed their name to Earth, and when it turned out that there were already several such bands, inspired by Mario Bava’s film, they named their formation Black Sabbath, and Ozzy became the Prince of Darkness. The rest is history.
Although Ozzy left the band in 1978 and embarked on a fruitful solo career, and Sabbats hosted truly Osbourne-worthy alternates during their career, he will always remain the most important of them in the minds of the band’s fans. And the most colorful, if you believe the legends that have been circulating for years. Improbable stories from Osbourne’s life could be shared among the inhabitants of a small village. And only the members of Motley Crue can compete with him for absurd mentions in the biography.
Anyway, Ozzy Osbourne appeared in the film adaptation of the history of the aforementioned band. The Prince of Darkness brought to the 2019 film “The Dirt” one of the grossest scenes in which he licks his own urine off the floor of one of the hotels. Legend also has it that while on tour with Motley Crue in 1984, Ozzy snorted ants instead of cocaine because he claimed they gave him a bigger kick. Opinions as to whether such a situation actually took place are, as in the case of most similar stories, divided.
The most famous story from the life of the Prince of Darkness is certainly the incident with the bat. Ozzy bit off the head of a flying animal during a concert in Iowa. To this day, it is not known whether the bat was then dead or still alive. In later years, Ozzy explained that he was unaware of what landed in his hands at the concert. He lived in the belief that he had been pelted by fans with something less controversial by his fans.
Interestingly, this is not the first such incident in Osbourne’s career. As reported by foreign media, in 1981 the artist went to sign a contract with CBS Records accompanied by a pigeon. He wanted to release it into the air as a sign of peace, but under the influence of alcohol he changed his mind. He bit his head off and spat it on the table. Both the dead bird and drunk Ozzy were quickly ejected from the building.
This is still not the end of Ozzy’s story related to winged creatures. The musician’s first wife, Thelma, once bought the artist some chickens. She hoped that when her beloved focused on caring for the birds, he would stop using drugs. The story didn’t end well. Enraged, Ozzy got drunk and started shooting at the charges.
Today, the artist is not proud of his achievements from years ago. In 2020, he became a spokesperson for PETA and since then he has been trying to make amends for the harm done to animals in the past.
Also Sharon, Ozzy’s current wife, tried unconventional methods to end her husband’s addictions. One day she hid all his clothes so he couldn’t go to the pub. It wasn’t a problem for the singer. Ozzy put on his wife’s dress and went to a nearby bar for a beer.
Although the world of rock’n’roll is associated with a casual approach to the subject of sex and relationships, Ozzy has been married to his partner Sharon for years. The artist reportedly fell in love with her at first sight. Sharon worked as a receptionist in the office of her father – Don Arden, who was the manager of Black Sabbath for years. Ozzy and Sharon got married on July 4, 1982, apparently the date is not accidental. Osbourne did not want to forget any anniversary, so he chose the day when Americans celebrate Independence Day.
The 1980s were the most colorful time in Ozzy’s history. The musician then desecrated a national monument in San Antonio, Texas. It could have happened the same day Sharon hid his clothes because he was wearing a dress. Dressed in an unusual outfit, he pissed on a nearby statue. He didn’t realize it was a memorial to the Battle of the Alamo. He was taken into custody and released only after posting a $40 bail. He was banned from playing in San Antonio until 1992. He then formally apologized to the city and donated $10,000 to the Daughters of the Republic of Texas.
To commemorate the scandal, in 2001, two artists, Ruben Ortiz-Torres and Jim Mendiola, created a wax figure of Ozzy pissing.
Sources: The Guardian, ultimate-guitar.com, Rolling Stone, ultimateclassicrock.com, loudwire.com, “I, Ozzy. Autobiography”, YouTube
Source: Gazeta
Bruce is a talented author and journalist with a passion for entertainment . He currently works as a writer at the 247 News Agency, where he has established himself as a respected voice in the industry.
