Ozzy Osbourne Retires From Touring Transcript

No more tours indeed, while he hoped to one day return to the road, rock icon, Ozzy Osborne has announced that his health just won’t allow it. The unfortunate injury behind the decision happened nearly 20 years ago, but it’s still having effects. The singers fans got quite a shock on February 1st, 2023 when Osborne shared on all of his social accounts that he will no longer tour and has canceled all future dates. He performed a few of the dates on his farewell tour, No More Tours II, in 2018 but had to postpone the rest after a 2019 fall at his home.

I can’t wait to get off my ass and get going again, but you’re just going to have to be a bit more patient.

Those dates in the UK and Europe were further delayed because of COVID-19, and were eventually scheduled for 2023, but they won’t be happening now. It was a combination of the 2019 fall and a much earlier injury that really brought down the Prince of Darkness. On December 8th, 2003, Osborne crashed while writing an all-terrain vehicle on his estate near London. Ultimate Classic Rock notes that his son, Jack Osborne, told reporters at the time that Ozzy’s injuries included a broken collarbone, eight fractured ribs that were pinching crucial blood vessels and a damaged vertebrae in his neck. The singer underwent surgery for the injury at Wexham Park Hospital in Slough, England, west of London.

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Metal rods, as well as 15 screws were put in his back to repair the damage. Ozzy’s 2019 fall dislodged them, and the aftermath of that fall is what prompted his decision to stop touring. The Osborne family placed partial blame for the ATV accident on the anxiety medication he was taking at the time, claiming he wasn’t fully lucid. He was on the medication because of his fears about his wife, Sharon’s cancer. Ozzy’s 2019 fall happened when he’d gotten up during the night to use the bathroom, then tripped and fell. He was in the hospital for two months afterward and called it the worst pain he’d ever experienced. Following the injury he told Rolling Stone. He was afraid he’d never be able to walk the same again, let alone perform. In addition to dislodging, the surgically implanted rods and screws, the fall damaged some of his nerves.

I had a bad fall. I had to have surgery on my neck, which screwed all my nerves.

Rolling Stone reported that Ozzy underwent multiple surgeries, stem cell procedures, physical and occupational therapy and Cybernics treatment to try to get back on his feet per Rolling Stone. One of his surgeries on June 13th, 2022 was especially crucial. Sharon Osborne, said on the TV show The Talk.

It’s really going to determine the rest of his life.

But even with all that treatment, Ozzy says he’s still not physically ready for a rigorous tour. His social media statement explained, “I know I couldn’t deal with the travel required.” He apologized to fans saying he was humbled they’d kept their tickets for so long and expressing his distress at disappointing them. In the immediate aftermath after his 2019 fall, Osborne told Rolling Stone that he had full-time nurses and couldn’t do anything without a walker. Getting back on stage was his chief goal, he said. He believed his recovery would take about a year, so he initially only planned to postpone his tour until 2020. Then COVID-19 hit. Osborne caught COVID-19 himself in April 2022. Around that time, he told Classic Rock, “I can’t walk properly these days. I have physical therapy every morning. I am somewhat better, but nowhere near as much as I want to be to go back on the road.”

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In 2020, Osborne also announced that he had Parkinson’s disease. E! News noted that the brain condition can cause difficulty with coordination and balance, so it may have contributed to his fall. Osborne hasn’t been totally out of the game since 2019. He has released two albums in the meantime, 2020s Ordinary Man and 2022s Patient Number 9. Osborne has also made some public appearances since his injury, including at the San Diego Comic-Con in July 2022. A few weeks later, he performed at the Commonwealth Games closing ceremony in Birmingham, England, his hometown, reuniting with Black Sabbath guitarist Tony Iommi. In his statement, Osborne said he hopes he may still be able to perform on occasion if it doesn’t require traveling. He wrote, “My team is currently coming up with ideas.”

When I retire, I’ll hear the sound of soil going over my lid. You ain’t going to see the last of me yet.

Osborne has retired from touring once before after the first No More Tours tour in 1992 when he was misdiagnosed with multiple sclerosis. He embarked on another, only three years later. That one was called Retirement Sucks.