Ozzy Osbourne’s Five-Year Health Ordeal Revealed
I’m Kai Montgomery, here to grudgingly share this star-crossed saga with you. Fine, you asked for it so buckle up as I break down Ozzy Osbourne’s last five years of anguish and resilience.
Rock icon Ozzy Osbourne, who died at age 76 on July 22, 2024, admitted that his life had become “five years of absolute hell” after a string of medical catastrophes. In a 2023 appearance on Piers Morgan Uncensored, Ozzy delivered that stark verdict, adding that he could not have endured the ordeal without the unwavering support of his family.
Although many fans pegged his decline on the Parkinson’s disease diagnosis he received in 2019, his son Jack Osbourne clarified during the same interview that the worse blow was a neck injury suffered in 2019 after a fall. That injury aggravated a broken neck he first suffered in 2000 in a bicycle crash. “I just got up and carried on but I had broken my neck, and I carried on working with it, and then everything came undone,” Ozzy confessed.
Despite the progression of Parkinson’s and physical limitations from spinal damage, Ozzy refused to bow out quietly. Less than three weeks before his passing, he leapt onstage for one last hurrah. On July 5 he reunited with Tony Iommi, Geezer Butler and Bill Ward for a one-night-only Black Sabbath reunion. “It’s tough, I’ve been laid up for such a long time,” Ozzy told The Guardian in May, admitting that inactivity had sapped his strength. “I’ll be there, and I’ll do the best I can. So all I can do is turn up.”
His wife Sharon Osbourne had publicly revealed in February that Ozzy was determined to give fans a proper farewell. Speaking to the BBC, she called the reunion “his full stop” so that he could finally say goodbye to friends and supporters he felt he’d left hanging.
Ozzy’s storied career began in Birmingham, England, where John Michael Osbourne battled dyslexia and early academic ridicule. He repeatedly credited The Beatles for sparking his musical passion that led to forming Black Sabbath in 1968 alongside future legends Tony Iommi, Geezer Butler and Bill Ward. Their self-titled debut album redefined heavy metal and paved the way for worldwide success.
Outside of band lore, Ozzy’s personal life was equally headline-grabbing. He married Thelma Riley in 1971 and had three children: Jessica, Louis and Elliot. His battle with addiction led to a high-profile firing from Black Sabbath in 1979, an episode he later blamed on “too much money, alcohol and drugs.”
In the final stretch of his life, Ozzy transformed his suffering into a clipped but candid farewell. His five-year health ordeal may have sapped his body, but it never silenced his rock spirit.
Well, that was Ozzy’s final note of defiance. Now excuse me while I find some coffee.
Sources: Celebrity Storm and Piers Morgan Uncensored, The Guardian, BBC, Associated Press, E! Online
Attribution: Creative Commons Licensed
