Ozzy Osbourne insists he’s “not dying” as he announced — again — a delay to the European leg of his solo No More Tours 2 tour. The former Black Sabbath frontman, who has been plagued with health issues over the past year, relayed the news in a video to his social media accounts.
“I’m not dying, I am recovering It’s just taking a little bit longer than everyone thought it would,” Osbourne, 70, said in the clip, adding that he was “bored stiff” with being bedridden all day.
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Dressed in a burgundy jacket, black shirt and his signature round-rimmed, tinted glasses, he explained the situation to fans in the video. “I’m postponing the European tour because I’m not ready. I’m not retiring — I’ve still got gigs to do — but when I do come back on an American tour, I wanna be one hundred percent ready to come out and knock your f—ing socks off,” he said.
The once-rescheduled North American dates, starting in May 2020, will go ahead as planned.
“I can’t wait to get off my ass and get going again, but you’re just going to have be more patient.”
“I just want to say one thing to the fans: I sincerely thank you for your patience, your loyalty. I love you,” he said.
The British rocker’s No More Tours 2 has already been postponed a few times; the European leg was rescheduled for a January 2020 start after he postponed shows in April following a fall at his Los Angeles home that required emergency surgery. Before that, he postponed the European leg of his tour in February following a respiratory infection.
Osbourne has been in and out of the hospital for almost a full year because of a fall that required extensive surgery on his spine and neck, as well as a bout of pneumonia, flu complications and infections in his hand. He revealed in October 2018 that he was almost died from the staph infection in his thumb.
“I didn’t feel sick, so I was cracking jokes,” he explained to Rolling Stone at the time. “The doctor said, ‘I don’t know if you realize, Mr. Osbourne, this is a very serious problem you have.’ Sharon said, ‘Would you stop f—ing making jokes?’”
Finally he began to understand the magnitude of what was happening. “They’re all extremely, deadly serious about it,” Osbourne continued. “I judge it based on the expression and the body language of the doctor. If he comes in with a really solemn face, I go, ‘Oh, OK. My time to go is up.’”
After rumors swirled about his health when he contracted pneumonia, wife Sharon Osbourne said in a statement in February that he was recuperating “with no travel.”
At the time of Osbourne’s hospitalization for pneumonia, Sharon took to Twitter to thank her followers for their supportive messages to Ozzy.
“Thank you to everyone for all your get well messages and support for Ozzy. We are overwhelmed and truly touched by everyone’s thoughtfulness,” she wrote.
