Ozzy Osbourne revealed earlier this month that due to his ongoing injuries and overall health, he'd be retiring from touring. Or in his own words, "Never would I have imagined that my touring days would have ended 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."
Turns out he's not exactly done trying to get back out on the road. In an interview with SiriusXM's Ozzy Speaks co-host Billy Morrison, Osbourne stated he'd absolutely tour again if he could.
"So, if I can ever get back to where I can tour again, fine. But right now, if you said to me, 'can you go on the road in a month?' I couldn't say yes. I mean, if I could tour I'd tour. But right now I can't book tours because right now, I don't think I could pull them off."
Osbourne later added that the press may have blown things out of proportion, saying "This fucking press drive you nuts. I mean, I looked in the magazine, 'Ozzy's on his last legs.' I'm fucking not dying." Which to be fair to a lot of metal media, I'm not sure any of us said the guy was on his deathbed. A portion of his statement explictly read "Never would I have imagined that my touring days would have ended this way," which everyone of course assumed meant that his touring days were over. Fair assessment of the situation, right?
Still, Osbourne reiterated that if he got the all-clear from his doctor and felt up to the task, he'd be back on the road tomorrow. "Come on, guys," he said. "Haven't I've had it bad enough already? If I get okay today. If the doctor said to me today, 'oh, you can tour.' It would take another six months to get it together, you know?" He later added "The only thing I've got that keeps me going is making records. But I can't do that forever. I gotta get out there."
And really, can anyone blame him? Ozzy Osbourne has been touring for five decades between his solo material and Black Sabbath. I'm sure all of a sudden having to stay at home without any tours on the horizon is beyond difficult for the guy.
When asked about his current health, Osbourne replied "Still in constant pain. I do to the best I can to stay away from the pain medication, but there are times when I go, 'you know, I've gotta take something.'" As always, we wish Osbourne all the best with his health and would love to see him back on stage. As long as he's doing well.
