Ozzy Osbourne says he’ll die happy if he can do one more show
He says the one thing about his medical issues that makes him mad is that he hasn't been able to say goodbye to his fans
Aux News Ozzy Osbourne
Early this year, Ozzy Osbourne canceled a run of upcoming shows due to various health problems (including a accident that injured his spine years ago and his 2020 diagnosis of Parkinson’s), suggesting at the time that he might be unable to do a regular tour ever again. He tried to return to live performing for October’s Power Trip festival in California, but as the date got closer, he had to drop out of that as well over not being physically “ready” and his own refusal to do anything “half-assed.”
It’s unclear if/when Osbourne will ever do a show again, but speaking with Rolling Stone UK, he said that he’s “fucking pissed off” at the fact that he hasn’t gotten a chance “to say goodbye or thank you” to his fans. “They’ve been loyal to me for fucking years,” he said. “They write to me, they know all about my dogs. It’s my extended family really, and they give us the lifestyle we have.”
Osbourne told Rolling Stone UK that he at least wants to do one more show for his fans, explaining, “I just want to be well enough to do one show where I can say, ‘Hi guys, thanks so much for my life.’” He said that doing a final show like that is what he’s “working towards,” adding, “If I drop down dead at the end of it, I’ll die a happy man.”
Perhaps unsurprisingly, then, Osbourne also told Rolling Stone UK that he doesn’t fear death and that he doesn’t want to “have a long, painful, and miserable existence.” He mentioned that he watched his father die of cancer and prefers the idea of “going to a place in Switzerland” where you can “get it done quickly” if you have a terminal condition.
48 Comments
Have a giant bat eat him on stage.
Maybe we can get GWAR to open then.
Sorry, I heard Rami Malek’s a vegetarian.
It will finally heal the rift between our two species.
Plotline for Morbius II: 2Morb2ius?
Ozzy Osbourne would like to die happy but what’s it going to take to put him down?
Y’know how people freak out worrying a celebrity died every time they see them trending on social media? I have never worried about Ozzy when he trends. I read his memoir. It’s amazing what he’s survived. Conventional weapons cannot kill him.
Keef is on this list as well.
And Iggy Pop… I don’t imagine that there were many people 50 years ago who thought Iggy would still be alive 40 years ago.
The idea that Iggy Pop has outlived David Bowie and Lou Reed is really something.
Ozzy and Keith Richards should work together to build a giant pair of Icarus wings and actually fly off into the sun when it’s time to go.
Definitely two dudes who by all rights should have been gone long ago considering the amount of drugs,along with the insane shenanigans. Ozzy when gone will definitely be missed
Metal fans used to have a mantra that was repeated to the point of cliché: “Lemmy will never die.” I don’t think they say it about anyone now, even Ozzy.
Still, Lemmy made it to the ripe old age of 70 before everything gave out. That’s a respectable age considering what he put his body through.
It’s pretty good for a guy who claimed a doctor told him he didn’t have human blood anymore. But the chant had been going on since the 90’s at least, and was such a weird death denial coming from (of all people) metal fans, who you’d think would understand as well as anyone that the reaper comes for us all.
It’s coming for Ozzy too, and sooner than we’d like.
Nothing short of a silver bullet or wood stake through the heart.
Poor Ozzy has been in a ton of pain for a few decades, but particularly the last 5 years. He hasn’t sung a full set to an audience since December 2018. I’m afraid he is never going to do another large gig. I’m keeping a deathwatch over Phil Collins as well. We’re losing some of our heroes.
Ozzy! You’re the manHow can I grasp your power?I’m sitting here looking at this keychainThere’s mascara bleeding out of your eyes
The microphone is in flamesThere’s a giant chicken claw above your headOzzy, Ozzy
I love the fact that the scourge of the 80’s, the Prince of Darkness, the evil, satanic, alcoholic, drug addict, corrupter of children, the son of Satan himself – according to the hysterical bastards running/ruining America – ended up becoming a beloved cultural figure decades later. The 80’s were stupid.
Same for Alice Cooper. Turns out it was an act, who could have guessed?
Or hell, look at Snoop Dogg.
Smoked a ton of dope, got arrested on suspicion of murder.
Now he’s positively cuddly.
It was the same for all of the rappers of that generation. One day, they’re gangstas and the next, their starring in family comedy films.
Eh Alice Cooper is just a different kind of bad nowhttps://thehill.com/homenews/lgbtq/4180088-alice-cooper-loses-cosmetics-deal-after-remarks-about-trans-people/
I don’t think the two are comparable in that sense. I’m a huge Sabbath and Ozzy fan, but he did actually do some legitimately horrible things. The biggest one that comes to mind is when he killed all of his family’s cats for scratching his car.
Ozzy was fucked out of his mind for a good part of his life (probably including when he killed the cats, hadn’t heard that one) but wasn’t actually a Satanist the way Sabbath and Ozzy solo presented themselves. It was a shock act.
One never knows when one’s time is done. So if you want good things for those you leave behind, just keep being a good person and think of more, mostly little, sometimes big, good things that you can do for others every day.
I disbelieve. I’m sure he believes it now, but if he has ‘one last concert’ and can still crawl 3 years later he’ll need another one. What I’d really like is to see him eventually just pass away on stage after a spirited performance of Crazy Train. Not because I want him dead! But that just seems totally Ozzy – and sure seems better than flying somewhere to be euthanized.
And Zakk walking over, nudging him with a boot, and going “Shit. He’s fuckin’ dead, man. Fuck it, we’re doin’ ‘No More Tears’” and the entire crowd going off and belting along with him.The roadies will then finally take his corpse off during the solo.
I imagine the Stones will go a similar way.
Mick, Keith, and Ronnie will all just keel over dead at the same time after playing “Satisfaction”, and that’ll be that.
*The Who has entered the chat*
At this point, Daltrey and Townshend are in a war of attrition. One of them is going first, and it ain’t gonna be me! Daltrey has clean living on his side, but Townshend is rather spry after what he’s put himself through.
No way Moony was making it past forty, though. Let’s just be honest.
It’s fucked up that they didn’t let Bill Ward participate (Tommy Clufetos is a fine drummer, but Ward is singular), but I’m happy with this being my final memory of Ozzy if it comes to that.
I’ll die happy if Ozzy doesn’t do another show. He should’ve retired years ago.
he said that he’s “fucking pissed off” at the fact that he hasn’t gotten a chance “to say goodbye or thank you” to his fans.
Then go on social media and say thank you and goodbye. Doesn’t have to be done on stage.
Have you ever performed onstage in a rock band? I have, never at anything approaching the level of Ozzy’s audience, but I have played shows in front of 500+ and even that is absolutely intoxicating. I can absolutely understand why he has a strong desire to do it again. I agree with you on his performances though. The last time I saw him live was probably in ‘05 or ‘06, and he wasn’t great at that point.
Have you ever performed onstage in a rock band?
I’ve been performing on stage for over 20 years.
I can absolutely understand why he has a strong desire to do it again.
I really don’t give a shit that Ozzy wants to be on stage again. He just can’t give the show that the fans would be paying for. Shit, he’s used a teleprompter on stage for years because he can’t remember the lyrics to his own songs (Springsteen, too). He can’t do it anymore, hasn’t been able to for a long time now.
I agree with you on his performances though. The last time I saw him
live was probably in ‘05 or ‘06, and he wasn’t great at that point. Exactly. It’s almost 20 years later now, and he hasn’t gotten any better.
I personally don’t take issue with teleprompters. If you pay attention it seems that pretty much everyone uses them now. I’d much rather see a teleprompter than have someone faking it. I think most use them as a quick reference instead of using them to read the entire song. I don’t play in public anymore, but when I’m playing at home that second verse can be a bitch to remember for whatever reason. Give me the first line and the rest usually comes from memory after that.
I’d much rather see a teleprompter than have someone faking it.
A teleprompter is faking it. Everyone in the front row remembers all the lyrics. The performer should be able to, too.
Eh, I disagree. Look at a world-class symphony orchestra. Every musician as well as the conductor on that stage has sheet music in front of them. They likely have all of the music memorized, but still have it there for reference. I take zero issue with it. You do for some reason and that’s your right, but I couldn’t care less.
Look at a world-class symphony orchestra. Every musician as well as the conductor on that stage has sheet music in front of them.
First, an orchestra is not a rock band. Tell me which rock bands have music on stage. Second, go to an opera. The orchestra has music, the opera singers don’t.
They likely have all of the music memorized
Most actually don’t. I’ve always memorized music easily, but many, if not most musicians I’ve met & worked with struggle with it, no matter how many times they’ve played a particular piece of music.
I spent a lot of years playing trumpet, and that music was definitely harder to memorize than most rock music which is generally a lot simpler. I still memorized it though. For some reason I have a much harder time memorizing lyrics than music. Still though, I just don’t see the huge issue with a teleprompter as long as the performer doesn’t appear to be standing there reading off of it the whole time.
Curious what he has to physically prepare for. His stage show is generally walking back and forth across the stage while he sings. I think he threw out his back picking up Randy Rhoads that one time and hasn’t risked that kind of exertion since. Granted if he can’t even pace the stage, it must be pretty bad.
Saw Ozzy in the ‘80s. Ultimate Sin tour (I think). I would’ve been about 16. He seemed so old. The way he lumbered around the stage (“I love you all!” “CLAP YOUR GODDAMN HANDS!” “I love you all!”) I figured he’d be checking out at any time.He was in his thirties.
I’ve never seen him live but the concert clips I’ve seen from that era are exactly what I envisioned when writing that comment. He’s always looked sort of hunched over and frail.
Yeah it took me a while to realize he just kinda moved like that.
He was trying to retire back in the 80’s. Every tour was his last since then. He had said that the reason he was still touring was because of Sharon. She was spending money faster than he could make it and she was making him tour. I’d always said that she would eventually be pushing him out onto the stage, strapped to a hand truck.
strapped to a hand truck.I’ll bet she nicked Steve Vai’s.
Ozzy’s been a doddering old man since his 20’s, that’s his whole thing! That might even be a key to his longevity.
I saw him at Ozzfest about 20 years ago, and he spent about ten minutes of his set driving a little cart that sprayed water on the crowd. The previous year was a Black Sabbath reunion, and IIRC they all stood perfectly still, which was better.