Ozzy Osbourne is calling time on touring due to crippling injuries which, despite several surgeries, have rendered the rocker “physically weak.”
The legendary Black Sabbath frontman, now 74, can no longer do the miles, though his singing voice is “fine.”
“This is probably one of the hardest things I’ve ever had to share with my loyal fans,” he writes on social media. “As you may all know, four years ago, this month, I had a major accident, where I damaged my spine.”
After three operations, stem cell surgeries, cutting-edge procedures and grueling therapy sessions, Ozzy admits he’s “not physically capable” of completing his upcoming European/U.K. tour dates, “as I know I couldn’t deal with the travel required.”
He continues: “Never would I have imagined that my touring days would have ended this way. My team is currently coming up with ideas for where I will be able to perform without having to travel from city to city and country to country.”
With his concession, Ozzy calls time on his No More Tours 2 final tour of the U.K. and Europe, which had been pushed back due to his health issues and COVID.
Though it’s the end of the road for the legendary British rocker, he hasn’t ruled out performing, so long as travel isn’t required.
“My team is currently coming up with ideas for where I will be able to perform without having to travel from city to city and country to country.”
Ozzy has soldiered on for years. His injury dates back to 2019, when the singer, who is also battling Parkinson’s disease, had surgery to repair an older injury he sustained during a 2003 ATV accident. A fall at home in 2019 complicated matters by dislodging metal rods surgically implanted in Ozzy’s body after the ATV accident, resulting in 15 screws being placed in his back.
Last year, he went under the knife for a vitally important procedure that wife/manager Sharon Osbourne said could determine his future.
The heavy metal icon was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2006 as a member of Black Sabbath and into the U.K. Music Hall of Fame as a solo artist and as a member of the band.
Read the statement in full below.