Ozzy Osbourne underwent surgery in 2019 to correct injuries following a serious fall. The fall dislodged rods in Osbourne's body originally put in place after a 2003 ATV accident, causing all Osbourne's 2019 touring plans to get moved to the ill-fated year of 2020. At the time, Sharon Osbourne explained that Ozzy's injuries came right after his hospitalization with both the flu and bronchitis.
"Ozzy is… Oh, Lord, I don’t know where to begin, and I have to make this quick… He, at the beginning of the year, had a bad flu that went to bronchitis, that went to pneumonia. And then when he had the flu, he came out of hospital and he had a bad accident at home. He fell. And he fell in the middle of the night."
"And years ago, previously, he had a motorbike accident, where he was in a coma for days. And what he'd done was he re-injured his back and neck and shoulders. And all of the metal rods and everything that were put in his body were dislodged. So we had to cancel his year events. But he’s good, he's fine, he's great."
Osbourne has since successfully undergone a surgery that would "determine the rest of his life" and even returned to the stage briefly for the halftime show of an NFL game between the Los Angeles Rams and Buffalo Bills on September 8. Despite that return, Osbourne said in an interview with Yahoo! Entertainment that his 2023 touring plans are in question due to his inability to move around much post-surgery.
"It is so fucking tough because, I mean, I want to be out there," he said. "I want to be doing it. This fucking surgery this guy did. Fucking hell, you have no idea. The thing is my head is all right, my creativity is OK, my singing OK but I just can't fucking walk much now."
He later elaborated on the nature of the surgery from earlier this year, saying "[the] surgeon told me if I didn't have the surgery there would be a good chance I would be paralyzed from the neck down." Which is obviously horrifying news for anyone, but to think that the once-spritely Prince Of Darkness could've been paralyzed is just downright depressing.
Osbourne also lamented his overall health in recent years, adding "I can't begin to tell you how fucking frustrating life has become. It is amazing how you go along in life and one stupid thing can screw everything up for a long time. I have never been ill this long in my life."
Of course we wish Osbourne all the best with his health and hope he can return to the stage, especially considering 2023 will mark four years since the postponement of his farewell tour… which hopefully happens at all at this point?
