Ozzy Osbourne planning “two more shows to say goodbye” before he quits touring
Ozzy Osbourne is planning “two more shows to say goodbye” before he fully retires from performing live.
That’s according to the former Black Sabbath frontman’s wife and manager Sharon, who spoke about Ozzy’s future during her Cut The Crap show at London’s Fortune Theatre on Sunday (January 21).
“He won’t tour again but we are planning on doing two more shows to say goodbye as he feels like, ‘I have never said goodbye to my fans and I want to say goodbye’,” she told journalist Jane Moore (via Music News).
Sharon continued: “His voice is still absolutely perfect. And all the time he has been off he still does his singing lessons. Even if you don’t like his music, you can’t not like Ozzy.”
She reportedly hinted that the Prince Of Darkness, 75, would stage the pair of farewell concerts at the Villa Park football stadium in his home city of Birmingham.
“We will do it in Aston Villa where Ozzy is from,” Sharon told Moore and the audience in attendance.
Ozzy announced his retirement from touring last February, calling off his scheduled European and UK tour dates in the process. Later that month, however, he said he hoped to return to the stage at some point in the future.
He provided a health update last summer after cancelling his planned one-off headline slot at the Power Trip festival in Indio, California.
Back in November, Ozzy said he might have to “accept the fact” that a return to the stage may not be possible owing to his ongoing health issues, including Parkinson’s disease and a recovery from multiple surgeries.
“I’m taking it one day at a time, and if I can perform again, I will,” he told Rolling Stone UK at the time. “But it’s been like saying farewell to the best relationship of my life.
“At the start of my illness, when I stopped touring, I was really pissed off with myself, the doctors, and the world. But as time has gone on, I’ve just gone, ‘Well, maybe I’ve just got to accept that fact.'”
Ozzy continued: “I’m not going to get up there and do a half-hearted Ozzy looking for sympathy. What’s the fucking point in that? I’m not going up there in a fucking wheelchair. I’ve seen Phil Collins perform recently, and he’s got virtually the same problems as me. He gets up there in a wheelchair! But I couldn’t do that.”
Earlier this month, Ozzy said he was currently going through a “slow recovery” process.
“I just came back from the doctor today and my blood clots are gone, everything’s back to normal,” he explained on The Osbournes Podcast. “I can bend my neck. I just gotta get my balance going now.”
He added: “I’m not seeing so many doctors anymore. I’m just seeing the Parkinson’s doctor but I’m not having surgery or anything. I had seven surgeries in five years.”
The operations stemmed from a fall in 2019 that dislodged multiple metal rods which were put in Ozzy’s body following a quad bike crash in 2003.
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Tom Skinner
NME
