ANAHEIM, Calif. — To help the Los Angeles Rams kick off the 2022 NFL season, rocker Ozzy Osbourne will perform at halftime during the team’s season opener against the Buffalo Bills on Thursday at SoFi Stadium in Inglewood. The appearance also comes a day ahead of the release of his 13th solo album, “Patient Number 9.”
“I’m going to be doing a bit of a medley,” the 73-year-old Black Sabbath frontman said of his SoFi performance during a phone interview this week from his home in Los Angeles. “I’m doing a little ‘Crazy Train’ and a bit of ‘Patient Number 9.’ It’s just a bit of fun really.”
Though the English singer is more of a European football fan, he said the New England Patriots have taken his hit “Crazy Train” and used it as an unofficial anthem. Back in 2005, Osbourne played at the Patriots’ NFL season opener against the then-Oakland Raiders at Gillette Stadium in Foxboro, Massachusetts, belting out “Crazy Train” alongside guitarist Zakk Wylde during kickoff.
That year, New England went on to win Super Bowl XXXIX against the Philadelphia Eagles. Osbourne said that he might be able to bring a little of that luck to the Rams, who may or may not need it since they enter the season having just won Super Bowl LVI against the Cincinnati Bengals earlier this year.
Osbourne, who has been battling Parkinson’s disease and recovering from more recent surgeries to correct previous operations on his spine, did a surprise performance — alongside Black Sabbath guitarist Tony Iommi — at the closing ceremony of the 2022 Commonwealth Games in his hometown of Birmingham, England, last month. It was the first time he’d been on stage since ringing in 2019 with a special one-night-only version of his Ozzfest at Kia Forum in Inglewood. He had a stabilizing stand behind him during the U.K. performance and said he was gripping onto the mic stand, too.
“I was kind of wedged in a bit because Sharon (Osbourne) was going ‘Don’t fall over,’” he recalled of his wife’s concern. After having major surgery in June, Osbourne said he’s on a lot of blood thinners and he’s prone to blood clots. He was diagnosed with Parkinson’s back in 2019, but wasn’t going to let that him stop from touring in support of his 2020 album, “Ordinary Man.” However, the COVID-19 pandemic forced the global jaunt to be postponed twice. Having to face even more health issues this year, Osbourne said he’s not ready to hit the road just yet, but come hell or high water, he’ll get back to it.
“I’m trying my hardest and if I have to get up there in a (expletive) wheelchair, I’m going to do it,” he said. “I can’t walk very well, which is so frustrating for me. It’s like I want to just scream. It’s not fair that the doctor who did the first surgery … that he made a mess of it. The thing is, you go to a surgeon and they tell you that you have to have this or that and you believe them. You don’t expect them to (mess) it all up.”
Osbourne said he misses the crowds and his fans. He was delighted that thousands showed up and stood in line to meet him and artist Todd McFarlane at San Diego Comic-Con back in July as the pair unveiled the new artwork for Osbourne’s “Patient Number 9” album and they signed a special edition comic. Until that outing, he’d been housebound and recovering from surgery, but said a handful of close friends kept his spirits high, including a rekindled relationship with Iommi.
“Tony Iommi and I struck up a really strong friendship and it’s been better than ever because I was always out of my mind, crazy when I was in Sabbath,” he said. “We’ve both matured and we’ve done our thing and he’s been very kind and helpful to me while I’ve been laid up. Slash [of Guns N’ Roses] has been very helpful and Jonathan Davis [of Korn] has been there. When you’re laid up, you can count on one hand the people that really give a [care].”
He’s excited for fans to hear the new album, on which he teamed up producer Andrew Watt for a second time. Much like with “Ordinary Man,” Watt recruited a superstar lineup in the studio to play on the tracks. While Red Hot Chili Peppers’ Chad Smith returned on drums and Guns N’ Roses’ Duff McKagan was back on bass, the latest album features Iommi on guitar, along with Jeff Beck, Eric Clapton, Pearl Jam’s Mike McCready and Zakk Wylde for different songs. Metallica’s Robert Trujillo and Jane’s Addiction’s Chris Chaney jumped in on bass and the late Foo Fighters anchor Taylor Hawkins appears on three songs.
“Andrew brought that all together,” Osbourne said. “He helped me get out of my own skin in some respect. I would have never asked someone like Jeff Beck or Eric Clapton, I’d be too embarrassed. I’m really pleased, though, with the album.”
The Osbourne family is currently making headlines since their L.A. area home hit the market and Sharon and Ozzy shared that they’re moving back to the U.K. Though there’s a myriad of reports buzzing about why the couple is leaving the U.S., Osbourne said it’s really because of the rising taxes in the state of California and they just really want to settle into their U.K. home for a while.
“I have 350 acres of land there,” he explained and added that Sharon has been remodeling the home and looking into adding air conditioning, since temperatures in that area have risen in recent years. “But our family, our kids and grandkids, they live here, so we will never be far away from here. It’s just a plane flight away.”
While his primary focus remains his physical therapy and recovery, Osbourne said he’s very much looking forward to becoming a grandpa again as his daughter, Kelly Osbourne, is expecting her first child with her boyfriend, Slipknot’s Sid Wilson.
“I am so excited and my Kelly, it’s nice to see her just so beautiful,” he said. “She said to me ‘Dad, it keeps kicking me in the ribs!’ I told her, ‘Well you have to slow down!’ She’s going to be a great mom.”
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