Ozzy Osbourne has revealed in an interview with the Los Angeles Times that he was first diagnosed with Parkinson's disease back in 2003. The legendary singer disclosed that he was stricken with the disease last month during an appearance on Good Morning America.
Ozzy told the Times, “I'm not dying from Parkinson's. I've been working with it most of my life. I've cheated death so many times. If tomorrow you read 'Ozzy Osbourne never woke up this morning,' you wouldn't go, 'Oh, my God!' You'd go, 'Well, it finally caught up with him.'”
Ozzy has told us before that he's been spooked by the number of musicians who have died in recent years: “I mean, of late everyone's dropping dead. I'm only hoping my number don't come up soon. You hear me talking, I'm lucky I'm not one of the dead ones, 'cause I used to — I mean, when there's drugs involved or alcohol, I should have died a thousand times.”
Ozzy, who noted that the medication he takes for tremors can cause short-term memory loss, hopes to resume his solo farewell tour later this year. He had neck surgery early last year to correct an old injury that he aggravated, forcing him to stay off the road for all of 2019.
But he cautioned that he wasn't sure when he would hit the stage again, adding, “I don't want to go back out there until I'm ready.”
For now, Ozzy is scheduled to resume the North American leg of tour this spring. His first new solo album in 10 years, Ordinary Man, is due for release on February 21st.