Ex-BLACK SABBATH Singer TONY MARTIN Wishes OZZY OSBOURNE Well In His Recovery

Former BLACK SABBATH singer Tony Martin has wished Ozzy Osbourne well in his recovery from his recent health issues.

A week ago, Ozzy's 2020 North American tour was canceled. This decision was made months in advance to accommodate fans who've been holding tickets for rescheduled shows.

The original SABBATH frontman, who suffers from Parkinson's disease, publicly announced his diagnosis last month, but was actually diagnosed back in 2003.

Earlier today, Martin posted the following message on his social media: "Following the Ozzy story, Is as dynamic as its ever been!!… Don't think there has ever been a moment where there hasn't been an Ozzy incident or drama for 50 years!! ... From taking my first girlfriend to see SABBATH when i was 15 … and certainly in my career I seem to have always been privy to SOMETHING to do with Ozzy... from my ex manager Albert Chapman who grew up with the lads and frequently ran all the background stories to us … through being part of the band and singing the classic works that Ozzy was part of …. and then getting to know Ozzy through Iommi and Butler and Ward …. to now becoming a consumer of news about Ozzy just like most of you, I truly do hope that he has longer to be part of the world and business that he has embossed his name and character on. My very best wishes, and hopes go to the chap in dealing with his illness. I am SURE he will have the best people to treat it … but sometimes there is nothing better than hearing the well wishes of the people. From a fellow Brummie … keep rockin awr kid."

BLACK SABBATH released six albums with Martin on vocals: "The Eternal Idol" (1987),"Headless Cross" (1989),"Tyr" (1990),"Cross Purposes" (1994),"Cross Purposes Live" (1995) and "Forbidden" (1995). Eventually, Martin and his "Forbidden"-era bandmates were ousted when guitarist Tony Iommi reunited with SABBATH's fellow original members.

In a 2012 interview with Über Röck, Martin said that he was "surprised" to see Tony Iommi criticizing him in the guitarist's "Iron Man: My Journey Through Heaven And Hell With Black Sabbath" book (referring to the Martin period, especially the touring phase following the release of "Cross Purposes" in 1994, Iommi lambasted his former singer as "unprofessional" and having "no stage presence"). Martin said: "I mean, they never said anything to me. Surely, if you've got a problem, the first person you should say something to is the person that's in the band with you... It sounds like a really stupid thing to say, as they didn't say anything to my face — and, if that's the case, then more fool them for not saying anything, because, you know, we could have fixed it. I said to them, endlessly, that if there was anything they wanted changed, done differently, just to say and we could fix it, but clearly, they didn't, they hadn't got the guts to, obviously, and to write about it in a book afterwards seems a bit daft to me. I'm not bitter about it, but it is surprising... It seems a bit stupid to say that after the event."

Four years ago, Iommi told I Heart Guitar that "it's a shame" that "it took a lot for people to accept" Martin as SABBATH's vocalist. "It's taken all these years later for people to say, 'Oh blimey, that was a good band with good singing.' So it took a long time to get people to really realize how good it was."

Back in 2018, Iommi spent time in the studio remixing "Forbidden". The LP, which features Martin, drummer Cozy Powell and bassist Neil Murray, is often regarded as SABBATH's worst studio recording.

Martin's last solo album, "Scream", was released in November 2005 via MTM Music.