Ozzy Osbourne has spoken about his health amid ticket sales for his upcoming Black Sabbath reunion show in Villa Park this summer. The 76-year-old discussed staying positive as much as he can despite struggling with a form of Parkinson’s disease.
Pre-sale tickets for Black Sabbath’s Back to the Beginning gig in Birmingham on July 5 have already been released on platforms like Ticketmaster. General ticket sales are due to go live 10am on Friday, February 14.
Appearing in a new episode of Ozzy Speaks on Ozzy’s Boneyard, the singer reflected on his life with Billy Morrison as they discussed growing old and staying sober. During the episode, he updated listeners on his health and how he’s feeling mentally.
He said: “You know what, Billy, I go on about the way I can’t walk and I can’t do this, but you know what I was thinking over the holidays? For all of my complaining, I’m still alive.
“I may be moaning about how I can’t walk as well… but as I look down the road, there are people that didn’t do half as much as me, and they didn’t make it. I’m trying to get back on my feet.”
Billy replied: “Ozzy, that is the greatest way to think because, dude, after all the s*** you’ve put yourself through, not only are you still alive, you’re still making music, you’re still having a laugh, we still laugh our asses off.”
In 2020, Ozzy Osbourne shared a personal secret with his fans – he had been diagnosed with Parkinson’s Disease the previous year following a serious fall at his home in Los Angeles. This incident not only worsened a spinal injury he had been dealing with for 18 years but also led him to delay his 2019 tour.
While Parkinson’s Disease is a prevalent neurodegenerative condition, the Black Sabbath frontman faces an even tougher challenge, as he was diagnosed with Parkin 2 – a rare genetic form of the disease.
The singer was diagnosed with Parkinsonian Syndrome back in the 2000s. While this isn’t exactly Parkinson’s disease, it refers to a range of neurological disorders that impact movement, leading to tremors.
According to the NHS, Parkinson’s disease is a condition in which parts of the brain become progressively damaged over many years. The main symptoms of Parkinson’s disease are:
- involuntary shaking of particular parts of the body
- slow movement
- stiff and inflexible muscles
A person with Parkinson’s disease can also experience a wide range of other physical and psychological symptoms. These include:
- depression and anxiety
- balance problems (this may increase the chances of a fall)
- loss of sense of smell (anosmia)
- problems sleeping (insomnia)
- memory problems
Those who have been diagnosed with Parkin 2 usually start experiencing such symptoms earlier than others. Ozzy’s health issues extend beyond his Parkinson’s diagnosis. The most significant challenges he faces are the results of a fall in 2019.
The incident caused metal rods in his back to shift – these rods were inserted after a quad bike accident in 2003. In a candid interview with Rolling Stone UK, Ozzy discussed the impact of these surgeries.
He said: “The second surgery went drastically wrong and virtually left me crippled. I thought I’d be up and running after the second and third, but with the last one, they put a rod in my spine. They found a tumour in one of the vertebrae, so they had to dig all that out too. It’s pretty rough, man, and my balance is all up.”