Black Sabbath frontman Ozzy Osbourne is retiring from touring because he says he is “not physically capable” of dealing with the travel.
The 74-year-old “No More Tears” and “Crazy Train” singer made the announcement Tuesday, canceling his upcoming tour stops while marking four years since a major accident that damaged his spine and resulted in a life-altering operation last year that removed and realigned pins in his neck and back.
“My one and only purpose during this time has been to get back on stage. My singing voice is fine. However, after three operations, stem cell treatments, endless physical therapy sessions, and most recently groundbreaking Cybernics (HAL) Treatment, my body is still physically weak,” the Rock and Roll Hall of Famer said in a statement posted on social media.
“I am honestly humbled by the way you’ve all patiently held onto your tickets for all this time, but in all good conscience, I have now come to the realization that I’m not physically capable of doing my upcoming European/UK tour dates, as I know I couldn’t deal with the travel required.”
His No More Tours II farewell outing was set to resume in May with stops in Finland, Germany, his native U.K. and others through June. (Osbourne embarked on the first No More Tours tour in 1992.)
The Prince of Darkness, using more colorful language, added that disappointing his fans upsets him and that he never would have imagined that his touring days would end 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,” he said, thanking his wife Sharon Osbourne, band, crew and longtime friends and the tour’s opening act, Judas Priest.
The legendary heavy metal singer also thanked his fans for their “endless dedication, loyalty, and support, and for giving me the life that I never ever dreamed I would have.”
In 2018, just three days after postponing three of the final four dates on his North American No More Tours 2 farewell tour, Osbourne canceled all four of those dates because of continuing medical problems. The “Bark at the Moon” singer underwent surgery the weekend prior at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles for an infection in his right hand.
“The Osbournes” reality TV star revealed in 2020 that he had Parkinson’s disease, a brain disorder that can cause slow movement, stiffness and loss of balance, among other issues. Speaking with The Times in 2020, he said that he’d been diagnosed with the disease in 2003 and that he was on medication to manage it.
“I’m not dying from Parkinson’s. I’ve been working with it most of my life,” he said. “I’ve cheated death so many times. If tomorrow you read ‘Ozzy Osbourne never woke up this morning,’ you wouldn’t go, ‘Oh, my God.’ You’d go, ‘Well, it finally caught up with him.’”
Later that year, he said his most pressing health issues were related to a fall he took in 2019 that left him with lingering pain.
