Ozzy Osbourne has announced he is retiring from touring.
The 74-year-old rock star said in a message to fans that he has not been able to physically recover from injuries he suffered four years ago.
“My singing voice is fine,” he wrote. “My body is still physically weak.”
In 2019, Osbourne had surgery on his neck and spine after tripping in the dark on his way to the bathroom one night. “I came down really, really hard,” he recalled. “I went slam – on my face.” Metal rods placed in his body following a 2003 quad accident had been dislodged.
Osbourne said he has “come to the realization” that he won’t be able to honour his postponed tour dates in Europe and the UK.
“Never would I have imagined that my touring days would have ended this way,” he said. “My team is currently coming up with ideas for where I will be able to perform without having to travel from city to city and country and country.”
Osbourne ended his message by thanking fans “for giving me the life that I never ever dreamed I would have.”
Last September, Osbourne vowed he would be back on stage this summer, despite a slew of health issues and the complications of living with Parkinson’s.
“If I put every effort into it and I still can’t, at least I can’t say that I haven’t tried,” the rock star told Kerrang!. “I am going to put 110 per cent into getting myself out there. Time is my most valuable asset now … I don’t think that I’ll be here in another 25 years.”
This is probably one of the hardest things I’ve ever had to share with my loyal fans… pic.twitter.com/aXGw3fjImo
— Ozzy Osbourne (@OzzyOsbourne) February 1, 2023