Photo: Getty Images North America
Ozzy Osbourne is not enthusiastic about the progress he's made in rehab since his latest spinal procedure last June.
While the surgery was a success and it seemingly allowed Ozzy to perform Black Sabbath's "Paranoid" with Tony Iommi a few weeks later, he said on a recent radio spot that his mobility is still severely limited.
Though Ozzy has faced a number of health challenges in recent years, it was a 2019 trip-and-fall at home that is to blame for his four-year live concert drought.
"That was nearly four years ago," Ozzy said of his fall. "It is really awful what is going on. It is a nightmare."
The fall dislodged metal rods in Ozzy's neck and back that were implanted in the early-'00s following a near-fatal ATV accident. Since the '19 fall, he's undergone at least three surgeries and hundreds of hours of physical therapy. But he still can't really get around on his own.
"Sometimes I forget," he continued of his physical limitations. "I am lying on the couch, go to get up and I cannot do that anymore. My sense of balance is all over the place. I have physical therapy and am trying to do things on my own. Progress is... f---ing hell, you have no idea."
While Ozzy never planned for so much time off the road (his fall was preceded by a battle with pneumonia that put him in the hospital), he has remained creative, issuing two new studio albums since suspending his tour.
He's grateful for the artistic outlet, but the goal remains performing a full-scale live show.
"The thing is my head is alright, my creativity is okay, my singing okay, but I just can't f---ing walk much now," Ozzy added. "But I am determined to be back on stage even if I am nailed to a board with wheels on it."
He called getting back onstage his "driving force."
"I miss my audience. I miss doing gigs. I miss my crew. I miss my band. I miss the whole thing," he said.
Ozzy is scheduled to hit the road again in Europe in May if he makes progress in his recovery. Go here for his list of tour dates.