Ozzy Osbourne on health issues and his only hope for 2023: ‘I just want to get back to that stage. I have to go back to that point.

In many ways, at least professionally, Ozzy Osbourne has done very well in 2022. He’s followed up on his hit comeback 2020’s critically acclaimed LP, Ordinary guyWith Patient number 9which had just received four Grammy nominations—his most ever for a single album—and spawned two consecutive number-one singles on rock radio.

But the metal legend won’t be satisfied until he can play this new material through an entire concert.

“I just want to get back to that stage. I have Must Go back to that stage. It drives me crazy, not being able to,” Ozzy laments, speaking to Yahoo Entertainment via Zoom from his home in Los Angeles. “I can’t relax. I always have to do something. …I mean me could Say let’s call it a day, but I can’t stop. There’s no such thing as a good gig, and there’s no such thing as a bad gig – because a bad gig makes you want to do good, better than before! A great party is better than any sex or drug. There is nothing to compare it to.”

Ozzy, who just turned 74 on Dec. 3, was spotted looking frail and walking with a cane, but when he did talk about the possibility of performing full concerts again — something he hopes to do in spring/summer 2023, when he still has 19 tours to go. In books – it just glows with youthful energy. However, he admits that he mostly feels his age these days. “I can remember when I was 69 and thinking, ‘I wonder when am I going to start feeling old, when am I going to start feeling everything?'” He said sadly. “And suddenly, when I turned seventy, the gates opened. It was one thing after another. … This is the longest I’ve been sick in my life.”

Ozzy is knocked off his list of health problems that date back nearly two decades. “Circa 2003, I had a quad bike accident, right? But I checked myself out of the hospital, kept going. Then I found out I had Parkinson’s. So, I figured it all came down to Parkinson’s, as all this stuff started melting on me.” Four years ago, I performed on New Year’s Eve at the Forum [in Los Angeles]. I came home here, and got up to use the bathroom at night. Do not turn on any lights. I went to the bathroom, came back, and in the dark thought, “Well, my bed should be over there.” And I jumped on the bed – but it was not there. I miscalculated. I fell hard to the ground. … I fell flat and lay there. And I said, “Sharon, you better call the doctor, an ambulance, because I think I broke my neck.” I knew I had landed really bad. I lay there until the ambulance came.

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“I went to the hospital, and they said they wanted to do an MRI,” Ozzy continues. “And it turns out that from the accident in 2003, I hurt my spine. It was pinching my nerves. I had all these breakdowns. I was walking weird and whatever, but it was Not From Parkinson’s disease – it turns out I had crushed the tube where the spinal cord goes, and there was this pressure. So, I went to the hospital and this guy said to me, ‘If you don’t get surgery, you have a good chance of being paralyzed. Sorry, but you have to have the surgery. “

Unfortunately, Ozzy never got a second opinion, which he now deeply regrets. “[That surgeon] He did a totally bad job. … I got out of surgery, and I’ve been paralyzed ever since.” “And I just thought, ‘Well, maybe it’s going to take a little bit longer to get back to normal.’” But that didn’t materialize. I walk better now, I’m a little better than I used to be, but I still have a way to go. It’s amazing, what something silly and simple can do for the rest of your life. This is madness. I’ve had nothing but trouble the past four years. … I’ve had two surgeries since then to correct what that man did, but the damage that surgeon caused was worse [than the Parkinson’s]. I mean, to be honest, Parkinson’s patients said they had never seen such a mild case of Parkinson’s disease. But that’s not money in the bank, because you can go to sleep, wake up tomorrow, and you might be different.”

Understandably, Ozzy’s many health issues made him a mess, but when super producer Andrew Watt approached him in 2019 to guest on Post Malone’s single “Take What You Want,” the collaboration led to Ozzy’s first full-length album in a decade, It is Watt- produced Ordinary guy. And that’s putting Ozzy’s spring step, so to speak. “It pulled me out of the shit I got in. I thought it was fun to do. It was a different kind of music, I guess, but it kept my head above water,” says Ozzy. “Andrew was such a good help. I mean, that kid could practice sweat songs. … He kept me going, because when I wasn’t thinking about me and getting back on stage, I didn’t have anything else to think about. It was like a life raft.”

Ozzie underwent what his wife, Sharon, called a “life-changing” operation last June, and he’s currently undergoing physical therapy, “where they put these bionic legs on you — it’s a Japanese thing.” And Ozzy says it’s “70% better. … Before that, I couldn’t hold my head up. Now, I can hold my head up. My range of motion on my neck was very restricted. I mean, my friends visited me in the hospital and said, ‘I have to be honest, I think you You were the last time… I didn’t think you’d come out here. ‘I was in a terrible state in the hospital for three months.’

Sharon had her own health scare last weekend and was hospitalized for an undisclosed medical emergency, though Ozzie insists she’s doing “just fine” now. “She’s too busy being Sharon, organizing me and the kids and home and work,” he says. “I tell her, ‘Sharon, for my sake, you have to start listening to your body.'” We’re not getting any younger! “…having a hard time getting around is no good for us, Osbournes. But my family was the best. My wife is golden. She was the best wife. I have a nurse here to take care of me. But I’m still not ready to put on my stage shoes – and that’s where I belong” .

It’s clear that Ozzie and Sharon are both survivors, and they recently celebrated their 40th wedding anniversary, against all odds. Ozzie, who freely admits, “It’s been forty years like a flash,” says Ozzie, “If I hadn’t met Sharon, and fallen in love with Sharon, I would have been dead. Without a doubt, I would have been dead. With her tough love, she’d kept my head above water. She’d kicked my ass. … Sharon is a fighter. She calls me out all the time. We’ve had some huge fights over the years – f*** in ‘hell, knock down hotel room! … But I think I finally met my soulmate. It took me a long time to realize that.”

Ozzy doesn’t live with many regrets, other than the aforementioned botched surgery, though he admits, “I regret marrying my first wife.” [Thelma Riley]Because I didn’t really like her. I had two kids with her, and I’m sorry I wasn’t there for them. Although my son is from that marriage [Louis]I’m tough with my daughter from that marriage [Jessica], If you disperse the ocean, she will not be happy. She knows my phone number, if she wants to talk to me.” His other great regret, given his 74 years, is that his infidelity during his “rock and roll” marriage nearly cost him the family he built with Sharon.

“Looking back at that era in my life when I was failing, I don’t know why [I did that]”,” Ozzie says with a shake of his head. “They say men itch for seven years or something; mine was a little later. But I honestly can’t understand why I did that. Because I love my wife. I love my family. I love they. I couldn’t have a better family if I tried.

“You have a moment of clarity as you look at it [your life]Ozzy continues. “I don’t drink anymore. I don’t get stoned anymore. I don’t feminine anymore. I don’t do any of that. And I don’t smoke tobacco. I gave up a lot of my vices. … I suddenly got a moment of clarity and went, ‘What Hell I am doing?’ Because everything passes quickly. So, you can go ahead with that. You just check yourself. ‘Are you Is that true Want to live like this? Sharon told me one day. “How long do you think you’ll want to keep doing that?” You know, I never went out with Target Than have a few drinks and drive home in a handcuffed police car. It wasn’t my idea to go out and strangle my wife and accuse me of attempted murder. But this happened. I’m not proud of that. It was very scary for my wife.

“But she stuck with me. And I stuck with her. It’s a two-way street. When I meet these people who say, ‘Oh, we’ve been married for 30 years and we’ve never argued,’ I think, ‘You must have been bored! ‘”

Along with his hopes of touring in 2023, Ozzy is also looking forward to recording with Watt again. “these [past two] The albums came together easily and quickly. I mean, when Andrew said to me, “How about getting Jeff Beck? How about getting Eric Clapton?” — I said, “I don’t think they want to have anything to do with me!” But these two entertainers hosted Patient number 9, and Ozzy, a big Beatles fan, admits that his dream collaborator in the future will be Paul McCartney. “This will never happen. I asked him once, and he had some excuse,” he shrugged. “But [if that duet did happen]And the and then I can say, “Okay, I made all my dreams come true.”

Whoever guest stars on Ozzy’s upcoming album, he’ll have a lot to write about. “If you’re happy, it’s the wrong time [to write]. When I’m miserable, when I’m angry about everything, that’s when I start coming up with good ideas,” he laughs. But the Prince of Darkness still tries to maintain a sunny attitude through it all.

“It’s not a job, what I do. It is.” passion,” he says. “I don’t have to get up at 7 in the morning to walk all day to go to work. It’s a beautiful life. … So, considering all the things I’ve let go of over the years, I really can’t complain. … Even today, when I think of some of the things I’ve done, I get goosebumps, you know? Because I could have been dead. … You name it, I’ve been there, I’ve done it, and I’ve survived. He eventually caught me and bit me on the butt, but he didn’t kill me. And I won’t stop. “

Watch Ozzy Osbourne’s full extended interview on Yahoo Entertainment above, in which he also discusses MTV’s 20th anniversary. The Osbornehis rumored autobiography, and back in the UK, Taylor Hawkins continued to play Patient number 9.

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