Ozzy Osbourne Can No Longer Walk, Confirms Final Concert

Ozzy Osbourne is planning one final performance amid his battle with Parkinson’s disease. The Black Sabbath rocker’s wife, Sharon Osbourne, confirmed in a Wednesday, Feb. 5 interview with The Sun that while the 76-year-old musician can no longer walk, he will be reuniting with the band’s original lineup for the first time in 20 years for his final concert in July.

“He’s very happy to be coming back and very emotional about this,” said Sharon, 72. When it comes to Ozzy’s health, she added, “Parkinson’s is a progressive disease. It’s not something you can stabilize. It affects different parts of the body and it’s affected his legs. But his voice is as good as it’s ever been.”

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Ozzy will play alongside Black Sabbath pioneers Tony Iommi, Geezer Butler and Bill Ward in a spectacular one-day fundraiser festival at Villa Park in Birmingham on July 5. Dozens of bands inspired by Black Sabbath will also be performing, including Metallica, Pantera, Slayer, Gojira and Anthrax.

Sharon told BBC News that Ozzy is doing “really great” more than two decades into his Parkinson’s journey, adding, “He’s so excited about this, about being with the guys again and all his friends. It’s exciting for everyone.” This final concert, she added, would be her husband’s chance to “say goodbye” to his friends and fans before he retires from performing. “Ozzy didn’t have a chance to say goodbye to his friends, to his fans, and he feels there’s no been no full stop,” she said. “This is his full stop.”

Ozzy previously shared on his SiriusXM radio show that he was unable to walk, saying in January, “I have made it to 2025. I can’t walk, but you know what I was thinking over the holidays? For all my complaining, I’m still alive.” He added, “I may be moaning that I can’t walk but I look down the road and there’s people that didn’t do half as much as me and didn’t make it.”

Ozzy was first diagnosed with Parkinson’s in 2003 and has since undergone numerous spinal surgeries that have impacted his mobility. Last year, Ozzy said on The Osbournes Podcast that he couldn’t undergo any more surgeries while preparing for a procedure on his neck.

“My feet feel like I’ve got bricks tied to them when I’m walking,” he shared of his health at the time. “I walked upstairs today and downstairs for the first time in a while, and my feet feel like I’ve got diving boots on when I’m walking. I think it’s the nerves… Then I was thinking, maybe I just need to get up off my ass and walk around the block a few times.” The “Crazy Train” singer wasn’t giving up, however, telling critics to “f—k off” and insisting, “I’m far from being on my last leg.”