Ozzy Osbourne says he has gone under the surgeon's knife for the last time, to correct spinal damage he incurred in a late-night fall in 2019.
“I can't believe I've come to the end of it,” he told Piers Morgan on Talk TV. “It's been five years of absolute hell for me and the family.” The star's fall aggravated an injury he sustained in a quad-bike crash in 2003, affecting his ability to walk.
However, he said he would reject any further surgical interventions.
“It is going to be the final surgery because I can't do it any more,” he said in an episode of The Osbournes Podcast, recorded last Saturday, a day before his latest procedure.
“Regardless of how it ends up, after tomorrow, that's it. I'm not doing any more. I can't.” Asked how he felt about the operation, Ozzy replied: “It's alright. I've had that much surgery in the last few years that it's just like going for a [expletive] haircut now.”
He added that while his health had “improved somewhat”, he still struggled with his mobility.
“My feet feel like a brick's tied to them,” he said.
“I walked upstairs today, and downstairs, for the first time in a while – and my feet feel like they've got diving boots on.
“I think it's the nerves. The nerves when I did my spine in are all [messed] up.” The Black Sabbath star said he wanted to leave the house to “walk around the block” but was worried about photographers “waiting to ambush me everywhere”.
“When they take my photograph, my mouth's half-open or I'm bent over and it's like, ‘Ozzy's on his last legs',” he said. “I'm far from being on my last legs”. In February this year, the 74-year-old announced his retirement from touring – although a month later, he said he hoped to return to the stage at some point in the future.
He was due to appear at next month's Power Trip festival in California alongside Metallica, AC/DC and Guns N' Roses. However, he pulled out of the line-up in July.
“Unfortunately, my body is telling me that I'm just not ready yet and I am much too proud to have the first show that I do in nearly five years be half-assed,” he wrote in a statement.
‘Really bad scene'
Osbourne has suffered a number of health problems in recent years, from Covid to Parkinson's Disease, which he was diagnosed with in 2003, but didn't announce publicly until 2020. Doctors put metal plates in his neck after he slipped and fell in 2019, but they caused him further discomfort and ultimately had to be removed.
During an earlier episode of the The Osbournes Podcast on 12 September, he explained he would need additional surgery.
“I'm going for an epidural soon because what they've discovered is the neck has been fixed,” he said, “[but] below the neck there's two vertebrae where the bike hit me and disintegrated, there's nothing left of 'em.” He also explained that the injury had affected his posture.
“In my back, the two discs and the muscles on my shoulders have separated from my skeleton, and that's why I lean forward as it's like gravity is bringing my head forward.
“I was thinking when [the doctor] was saying it, ‘I've walked like that all my life.'” Speaking to Morgan after the surgery, Osbourne thanked his family for their support, adding: “It's been a really bad scene”.
“It changes your whole life,” said Sharon. “Our life has changed dramatically.
“On the other hand, it's great that I've had Ozzy at home for five years. He's driving me crazy but we've been together every day for five years.” His son, Jack, added that while many people assumed his father's physical condition was due to Parkinson's, that was not the case.
“I have Parkinson's and I never think of it,” Ozzy concluded.
— CutC by bbc.com
