Ozzy Osbourne has elaborated on his decision to quit touring, the first time he's spoken about the matter since announcing earlier this month that his touring career is over because he "is not physically capable."
In a new conversation on SiriusXM's Ozzy Speaks, the Prince of Darkness expressed how frustrated he is that his medical condition is preventing him from getting back out on the road, and how heartbreaking it was for him to decide that — for the foreseeable future, at least — he's done traveling for shows.
"I've been working my guts out to try and get back on my feet.," Ozzy said. "I've come to the point where Sharon [Osbourne] says to me, 'you know what, the truth of the marriage, you can't keep booking tours and failing, canceling.'"
"So, if I can ever get back to where I can tour again, fine," he added. "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."
However, Ozzy is also upset at those who think that because he can't tour, that he's physically on death's door. "This fucking press drive you nuts," he bemoaned. "I mean, I looked in the magazine, 'Ozzy's on his last legs,' I'm fucking not dying."
Later in the interview, Ozzy's co-host Billy Morrison reiterated that if the former Black Sabbath singer could get out there and play shows all over the world, he would. "You've got no idea," Ozzy said about his desire to perform. "I feel like a one-legged man in a butt-kicking contest."
"The only thing I've got that keeps me going is making records," he added. "But I can't do that forever. I gotta get out there."
Originally scheduled for 2019, Ozzy's comeback tour had been postponed many times over the last four years, due to the singer's many health issues — which have also included Parkinson's disease, with which he was diagnosed in January 2020, and COVID-19, which he contracted in April 2022 — as well as the pandemic. In his initial message finally calling off the shows, Ozzy said that he was "honestly humbled by the way [fans have] all patiently held onto your tickets for all this time."
Read his official retiring statement here and listen to his new interview with SiriusXM below via YouTube.
