Ozzy Osbourne has pulled out of what would have been his first live performance in almost five years, saying that “my body is telling me that I’m just not ready yet”.
The 74-year-old Black Sabbath singer was due to perform at Power Trip festival in California in October, alongside Metallica, Guns N’ Roses, AC/DC, Tool and Iron Maiden. But on Monday, Osbourne released a statement saying he’d made the “painful” decision to bow out.
“My original plan was to return to the stage in the summer of 2024, and when the offer to do this show came in, I optimistically moved forward. 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.
He said his replacement would be a band “who are personal friends of mine and I can promise that you will not be disappointed”.
“Above all, I want to thank my fans, my band, and my crew for their unconditional loyalty and continual support. I love you all and I will see you soon. God Bless, Ozzy.”
Osbourne’s last full concert performance was on New Year’s Eve in 2018, but he performed briefly during the Commonwealth Games closing ceremony in Birmingham, where he was raised, last year.
He has been dealing with ongoing health complications from a spine injury he sustained in 2003, when he fractured multiple bones, including a vertebra in his neck, in an ATV accident. He then had a fall at home in 2019 that “screwed up all the vertebrae in my neck”, which meant he had to postpone European tour dates while he recovered.
In May 2022, he revealed that he was awaiting surgery on his neck; his wife, Sharon Osbourne, said that the surgery would “determine the rest of his life”.
Osbourne’s tour, dubbed No More Tours II, was first announced in 2017 but postponed a number of times, due to both his ill health and Covid. But in February, Osbourne said he will soon retire from touring as he had “come to the realisation that I’m not physically capable … as I know I couldn’t deal with the travel required”.
“My singing voice is fine. However, after three operations, stem cell treatments, endless physical therapy sessions, and most recently groundbreaking Cybernics (HAL) treatment, my body is still physically weak,” he wrote.
“Believe me when I say that the thought of disappointing my fans really FUCKS ME UP, more than you will ever know. Never would I have imagined that my touring days would have ended this way.”
