Ozzy Osbourne may have battled health issues like a spinal tumor and Parkinson's Disease, all of which are keeping him off the stage, but he still has the same vigor and spunk as always.
The 74-year-old rocker spoke with Rolling Stone UK for their Awards Issue (written by Nick Reilly) and detailed his uncertainty over the future of his stage career but why he's not down and out.
He candidly spoke about the fourth spinal surgery he received earlier this year to ease the damage caused by a fall in 2019 and why it "knocked him about."
"The second surgery went drastically wrong and virtually left me crippled," he said. "I thought I'd be up and running after the second and third, but with the last one they put a [expletive] rod in my spine.
"They found a tumor in one of the vertebrae, so they had to dig all that out too. It's pretty rough, man, and my balance is all [expletive] up."
His wife Sharon confessed to the publication that it was difficult seeing her husband in this state. The 71-year-old TV host said: "It's been nearly five years of heartache, and at times I've just felt so helpless and so bad for Ozzy, to see him going through the pain.
"He's gone through all these operations and the whole thing has felt like a nightmare," she continued. "He hasn't lost his sense of humor, but I look at my husband, and he's here while everyone else is out on the road. This is the longest time he hasn't ever worked for. Being at home for so long has been so foreign to him."
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The "Prince of Darkness" effectively retired from touring earlier this year, citing issues with his spinal cord, but announced his intent in September to get back on the road some point soon and was working on an album for a slated 2024 release.
© Getty ImagesHe told the outlet that he was taking things slow while not discounting the opportunity to get back out there, adding: "I'm taking it one day at a time, and if I can perform again, I will.
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"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.'"
© Getty ImagesThe "Paranoid" singer did affirm, however, that if he were to return, it would be with full force. "I'm not going to get up there and do a half-hearted Ozzy looking for sympathy.
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"What's the [expletive] point in that? I'm not going up there in a [expletive] 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."
© Getty ImagesOzzy has made a return to the spotlight in recent months, however, through the return of his family's podcast, The Osbournes, alongside Sharon and their kids Kelly and Jack.
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