OZZY OSBOURNE: 'The Last Four Years Have Been Sheer Hell For Me'

Ozzy Osbourne recently talked to Billboard about his Grammy nominations for his album "Patient Number 9" working with Jeff Beck and Eric Clapton, his plans after the 2023 Grammy Awards, and more. You can now watch the full chat below.

Addressing his recent health issues, Ozzy said: "The last four years have been sheer hell for me. I've been in such a bad… health-wise. Plus I got Parkinson's diagnosis. But I'm… you know, [it] takes a lot to hold me down."

Osbourne discussed his health in more detail in a separate interview with Forbes. Speaking about the fact that he couldn't tour at the beginning of lockdown because he had a neck surgery a year earlier, Ozzy said: "At the time I was thinking, 'Nobody could work, so at least I'm not on my own.' I couldn't work, neither could no one else. So I thought, 'I'll recuperate pre-tour, I'll be okay.' But I'm still fucking suffering now. Not as badly as I was by any means. But I got this thing where they put these leg things on you, bionics, and you do a few exercises and it corrects your walking. Because the problem I was having is balance along with stability. When they cut my neck they cut the nerves. This bionic thing that they do reprograms your brain so you can walk better… It's fucking scientific now. There was a point where I thought, 'I suppose this is it.' And I'd just kind of get up in the morning and doing nothing so I had nothing to get up in the morning [for] and do in the day. But now I'm working out with these new apparatuses, proving to be okay and I'm dying to get back on the stage."

Regarding his plans to return to the live stage, Ozzy said: "On the road is where it all happens for me. Some nights I'm good, some nights I'm not so good. I'm getting slowly better and I don't give a fuck if I have to crawl on the stage I will get back on that stage very soon. The date I'm putting in the books is May of next year. I'm going to get well by May. I've got to set myself a date."

Ozzy has suffered from several medical issues in recent years, including a fall, neck surgery and hospitalization for the flu. More recently, the 74-year-old — who now uses a cane in public — had major surgery to "determine the rest of his life," according to his wife and manager Sharon.

In a recent interview with SiriusXM, Ozzy said: "It is so fucking tough because, I mean, I want to be out there. I want to be doing it. This fucking surgery this guy did. Fucking hell, you have no idea. The thing is my head is all right, my creativity is okay, my singing okay, but I just can't fucking walk much now. I can't begin to tell you how fucking frustrating life has become. It is amazing how you go along in life and one stupid thing can screw everything up for a long time. I have never been ill this long in my life."

Ozzy added: "That surgeon told me if I didn't have the surgery, there would be a good chance I would be paralyzed from the neck down."

Ozzy's "No More Tour 2" farewell tour kicked off in 2018 and has been on hold since then, with the next dates set for May 2023.