The New Photo Of Ozzy Osbourne That Has Everyone Worried
Ozzy Osbourne once rocked stadiums across the world with Black Sabbath and then as a solo artist, but on March 11, 2024, a photographer snapped him as he appears today. An assistant wheeled him through the streets of Los Angeles and into a building. Known for his stage persona that included lots of spandex and leather, in the photo the 75-year-old wears a brimmed felt hat and a sports coat, which can't hide how frail the rocker has become.
Earlier in March, his wife, Sharon Osbourne, who is currently in the U.K. filming the reality television show "Celebrity Big Brother," said he was "miserable." But, she added, he's "doing okay, it's hard for him but he's doing okay" (via The Standard). After years of drug and alcohol overuse, he got sober about a decade ago. Unfortunately, he's had two accidents — just a few of the times Ozzy Osbourne almost died — that led to a series of surgeries on his spine and neck. Then in 2020, the singer revealed doctors had diagnosed him with the neurodegenerative disorder Parkinson's disease back in 2003.
A series of accidents
In 2003, Ozzy Osbourne had a quad bike accident that left him with a broken neck vertebra and collarbone, as well as broken ribs. But he didn't realize the extent of his injuries until a nighttime fall in his home in 2019 made things worse. "I carried on working with it, until I had a fall and then it just, everything came undone," he told "Piers Morgan Uncensored" in September 2023 following his final surgery. The gruesome injury eventually led him to cancel all future tour dates. "I don't gripe, I get on with it," he later said about his Parkinson's. "If you are still moving, you ain't going to be dead."
His ongoing health issues surrounding his two accidents put a strain on his family. "The main thing is over now, I'm done with the surgery," Ozzy said. "But it's been five years of absolute hell for me and my family." He went on to say that his family had "been supportive" of him, but that it had been "a really bad scene."
A history of drug and alcohol overuse
Ozzy Osbourne's drug and alcohol overuse began in the 1970s when he fronted Black Sabbath, a time that included a cocaine duel with Van Halen's David Lee Roth to see who could do the most without dying (just one of the craziest stunts Ozzy Osbourne pulled over the years). Even so, he not only lived but thrived after finally getting sober. "I'm lucky," he told Variety. "There's nothing special about me. I should have been dead 1,000 times. I'm not being big-headed about that, or invincible. It doesn't take much to kill you."
While there had been speculation that Osbourne's Parkinson's disease was somehow related to his history of drug and alcohol overuse, he has a rare genetic type of the disease. Beyond that, the link between drug use and Parkinson's isn't fully understood. "While there are still many unanswered questions about the causes of Parkinson's, there is no known link between Parkinson's and illegal drugs," Parkinson's UK chief executive Steve Ford told Metro in January 2020.
10 years to live?
The last five years in which Ozzy Osbourne has appeared to be in decline isn't due to his Parkinson's disease, his son Jack Osbourne said during the September 2023 interview with Piers Morgan. "That's the biggest misconception, so many people think what's happened with dad over the last five years is the result of Parkinson's but it's the neck injury and the fall he took in 2019," he said. Ozzy backed his son on this point, saying he has Parkinson's, but "never" thinks "about it."
What Ozzy does think about is the time he has left to live. "At best, I've got 10 years left and when you're older, time picks up speed," he told Rolling Stone UK in the December/January 2024 issue. "I do count my lucky stars," he later added. "I don't know why I'm still here and I do sometimes think I'm on borrowed time." But, despite the recent photo showing a frail-looking Ozzy Osbourne, he's been written off before. "I'm getting pissed off reading the papers, and they're saying things like 'Ozzy is fighting his last battle'," he said. "'He's sung his last 'Paranoid'. You know, I don't even think about Parkinson's that much."
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