Ozzy Osbourne has revealed he can no longer walk due to the effects of Parkinson’s disease ahead of his massive final show with Black Sabbath in Birmingham this summer.
It was announced yesterday that Sabbath will reunite to headline a farewell concert at Villa Park on July 5.
Speaking on his Sirius XM radio show, Osbourne said: “I have made it to 2025. I can’t walk, but you know what I was thinking over the holidays? For all my complaining, I’m still alive.
“I may be moaning that I can’t walk but I look down the road and there’s people that didn’t do half as much as me and didn’t make it.”
In an interview with The Sun, Osbourne’s wife Sharon added: “He’s very happy to be coming back and very emotional about this.
“Parkinson’s is a progressive disease. It’s not something you can stabilise. It affects different parts of the body and it’s affected his legs. But his voice is as good as it’s ever been.”
When Osbourne was inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame last October, he appeared seated in a large black throne. For his brief appearance with Sabbath at the Commonwealth Games in 2022, he was given a metal stand to lean on.
That same year, Osbourne told The Independent he was determined to get back on stage. “I’ve made a pledge,” he said. “I will do whatever is physically possible until the summer of next year. If by then I can’t, then I can’t, but I’ll have given it my best. I’m pretty confident.
“I will get back on stage if it f***ing kills me, because if I can’t do it then that’s what’s gonna happen anyway, I’m gonna f***ing die. I love to see them audiences.”
Some of the biggest acts in metal – from Metallica to Lamb of God – are also taking part in Sabbath’s farewell concert, with all profits to be shared equally between three different charities: Cure Parkinson’s, Birmingham Children’s Hospital and Acorn Children’s Hospice.
Other acts on the staggering lineup include Slayer, Pantera, Gojira, Alice in Chains, Mastodon, Anthrax and Halestorm.
The all-day event will also see a “supergroup” of musicians from some of the world’s most influential rock and metal bands perform live, including Limp Bizkit’s Fred Durst, Wolfgang Van Halen, The Smashing Pumpkins’ Billy Corgan and Faith No More’s Mike Bordin.
Tickets to the “Back to the Beginning” event go on sale at 10am GMT on Friday 14 February and will be available from LiveNation.co.uk.
