Ozzy Osbourne has spoken about his 2019 so far and the health issues he has faced during that period.
The former Black Sabbath frontman fell at home in Los Angeles and was forced to postpone his tours in North America and Europe.
During an appearance on SiriusXM’s Ozzy’s Boneyard, Osbourne said: “It’s been one of the most fucked-up years of my life. I broke my neck in January, I had pneumonia, I’ve had fucking blood clots… It’s been an eventful year, to say the least. I have been in such pain this year.”
He continued to discuss how “great” his farewell tour had been going, saying he was “really happy”. “I went home for a short break and I got two staph infections in two of my fingers. God knows how that happened. That cleared up. Then I did the New Year’s Eve show at the Forum here in Los Angeles. That was the last gig I did, cos the following February, I went for a bathroom break in the night and lost my footing. I hit the deck like a fucking ton of bricks.”
The fall aggravated an old injury the rock star had sustained during an ATV accident in 2003. “I don’t know if you remember, a few years back, I had a quad bike accident,” Osbourne explained. “I’d done some damage there, but they just patched me up. For the last 10 years, I’ve been getting electric shocks down my arm. So when I fell down just after New Year’s Eve, I was lying there and I said, ‘Well, you’ve fucking done it.’
“So then I said to Sharon… She goes, ‘What are you doing?’ It was two o’clock in the morning. I said, ‘I think I broke my neck.’ She goes, Oh, go and get back in bed.’ I said, ‘No. Call an ambulance.’ So that was it.”
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Osbourne required neck surgery following his fall, which he said in a recent interview involved “cutting through all the nerves”. He also added that he had been put on blood thinners due to blood clots in his legs.
His UK tour dates are now set to begin in Nottingham on January 31, 2020, with the European leg following in February.
Meanwhile, Osbourne is set to release a huge career-spanning box set later this year. ‘See You On The Other Side’ will be released on November 29 and will feature all of his solo material, plus b-sides, live albums, and rarities.