Earlier this year Ozzy Osbourne made headlines after canceling his live comeback tour, months after his ongoing health issues forced him to announce his retirement from touring.
The 74-year-old heavy metal rocker and frontman for Black Sabbath has had a rough time of it, having suffered from a number of ailments over the past few years.
Included in the lengthy list of health complications is a serious spine injury the Crazy Train singer sustained in a 2003 ATV accident – after which he suffered multiple fractured bones. Ozzy also had a serious fall at home in 2019 that he previously said via a Twitter update “screwed up all the vertebrae” in his neck.
Ozzy’s health was still posing issues in July, when he was forced to pull out of Power Trip – a California hard rock festival that is set to take place in October and feature a range of talented acts like Metallica, Guns N’ Roses, AC/DC, Tool, and Iron Maiden.
Now, the legendary Brit has shared another health update during a recent episode of The Osbournes Podcast, and this latest one has fans worried.
On the episode aired on Tuesday (September 12), Ozzy discussed his impending surgery, which will be his fourth procedure since his 2019 fall. Joining him on the podcast were his wife and manager, Sharon Osbourne, his son Jack Osbourne, and his daughter Kelly Osbourne, all of whom were part of the original The Osbournes reality TV series.
Ozzy explained: “My lower back is, I’m going for an epidural soon because what’s happening, what they’ve discovered is the neck has been fixed, below the neck there’s two vertebrae where the bike hit me and disintegrated, there’s nothing left of ’em.”
Since his last tour in 2018, Ozzy has only performed twice at live events. Health issues have led to a series of tour cancellations since 2019, including the recent Power Trip Festival withdrawal.
Now, another surgery looms on the horizon for Ozzy, though he admitted: “I don’t know what the doctors are doing.” When his son Jack asked if they were fusing his discs, Ozzy responded: “All I know is right now I’m in a lot of pain, I’m in a lot of discomfort.”
We are sending all our thoughts and prayers to Ozzy at this worrying time, and hope he makes a speedy recovery.
If you enjoyed this piece, you might like to read Ozzy’s last health update, where he announced his plans to retire earlier than expected.