Ozzy Osbourne Reveals Battle With Parkinson’s Disease

Rocker Ozzy Osbourne and wife Sharon Osbourne appeared on Good Morning America on Tuesday to announce that he has been diagnosed with a type of Parkinson’s disease. “It’s PRKN 2,” Sharon told Robin Roberts while sitting next to her husband, “which is a form of Parkinson’s.”

“There’s so many different types of Parkinson’s. It’s not a death sentence by any stretch of the imagination, but it does affect certain nerves in your body,” Sharon continued.

“It’s like you have a good day, a good day, and then a really bad day,” she said.

Parkinson’s is a neurodegenerative disease that progresses slowly in most people and for which there is currently no cure.

“It’s been terribly challenging for us all,” Osbourne, 71, said. “I did my last show New Year’s Eve at The Forum. Then I had a bad fall. I had to have surgery on my neck, which screwed all my nerves.”

The announcement comes after Osbourne postponed his world tour and remained largely secluded during his recovery at home. He said that he’s now on the mend and on Parkinson’s medication and taking nerve pills.

“I got a numbness down this arm for the surgery, my legs keep going cold,” he told Roberts. “I don’t know if that’s the Parkinson’s or what, you know, but that’s — see, that’s the problem. Because they cut nerves when they did the surgery. I’d never heard of nerve pain, and it’s a weird feeling.”

Osbourne has spent his recent months denying any serious health issues and death hoaxes — even at one point denying that he had Parkinson’s, GMA reports.

“I’m no good with secrets. I cannot walk around with it anymore ’cause it’s like I’m running out of excuses, you know?” he said.

Sharon revealed that the family will “go wherever we can go to seek answers,” saying that they have plans to visit a professional in Switzerland in April to help with Osbourne’s immune system. “We’ve kind of reached a point here in this country where we can’t go any further because we’ve got all the answers we can get here,” she said.

Two of Ozzy and Sharon’s children, Jack Osbourne and Kelly Osbourne, first realized that something wasn’t right with their dad. “The hardest thing is watching somebody that you love suffer,” Kelly told GMA, opening up about the family’s life during the past year.

“It’s kind of become a bit of — I think a role reversal for us, where we have to be like, ‘Snap out of it. Come on we — we have to all admit what’s happening here,’ so that we can get over this. And it took a while for everyone to be on the same page.”

Kelly said that the diagnosis has brought the family together and helped them find strength in each other. “We’ve all learned so much about each other again — and it’s reaffirmed how strong we are,” Kelly said.

Jack, who was diagnosed with multiple sclerosis in 2012, said he can relate to his father.

“I understand when you have something you don’t want to have — but I don’t push it. If he wants to talk, and if not — I try to slip in information,” Jack said.

Osbourne addressed his fans as a source of support throughout the entire ordeal. “They’re my air, you know. I feel better. I’ve owned up to the fact that I have — a case of Parkinson’s. And I just hope they hang on and they’re there for me because I need them,” he said.

“I wanna see my people, you know. It’s like I’m — I miss them so much,” he added.

“He’s gonna get back out there,” an emotional Sharon said. “And he’s gonna do what he loves to do; I know it.”