Ozzy Osbourne has vowed to get back on stage next 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’m 73. I don’t think that I’ll be here in another 25 years.”
Osbourne explained: “I had my last surgery in June, I can’t have any more. So whatever I make of it is entirely up to me now. Even if I manage one show, then fall over, [I’ll have done it]. But I know that I’m going to carry on. I know I can beat it. I know that I can get back onstage. It’s just that I’ve got to get off my butt and go for it.”
Osbourne is scheduled to perform during halftime at the NFL 2022-23 season kick-off on Thursday night – marking his first time on stage in the U.S. since the 2019 American Music Awards. (Last month, Osbourne reunited with Black Sabbath mate Tony Iommi to perform “Paranoid” at the closing ceremonies of the Commonwealth Games in Birmingham, England.)
Asked about his health, Osbourne said his balance is off and he will “probably always have a limp” but insisted it doesn’t matter “as long as I can f**kin’ walk around without falling on my head.”
He also spoke about death. “I just go, ‘I hope my number doesn’t come up!’ For whatever it’s worth, though, if I drop down dead now – if it is the end – at least I can’t say that I’ve had a dull career!”
Osbourne’s 13th studio album, Patient Number 9, is out Friday.