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Ozzy Osbourne diagnosed with Parkinson’s disease

Getty Images
Getty Images

Ozzy Osbourne has been diagnosed with a form of Parkinson’s disease.

Osbourne, 71, revealed that he was diagnosed with Parkin’s II after suffering health complications due to a life-threatening fall in his bathroom in 2019.

Speaking on Good Morning America, he said: “It has been terribly challenging for us all. I had to have surgery on my neck which screwed all my nerves. I found out that I have a mild form of…”

Osbourne’s wife Sharon then took up the sentence, saying: “It’s Parkin’s II, which is a form of Parkinson’s. There’s so many different types of Parkinson’s. It’s not a death sentence by any stretch of the imagination, but it does affect certain nerves in your body.”

Ozzy added: “I’m on a host of medications, mainly for this surgery. I’ve got numbness down this arm from the surgery, my legs [keep] going cold. I don’t know if that’s Parkinson’s or what. That’s the problem, because they cut nerves when they did the surgery. It’s a weird feeling.”

Discussing his relief at finally sharing his diagnosis, he said: “To hide something is hard – you never feel proper. You feel guilty. I’m no good with secrets. I cannot walk around with it anymore. It’s like I’m running out of excuses. I feel better now that I have owned up to the fact that I have a case of Parkinson’s.”

Ozzy added: “Coming from a working class background, I hate to let people down. I hate to not do my job. When I see my wife going to work, my kids going to work – that gets me down because I can’t contribute to my family. I’m a lot better now than I was last February. I was in a shocking state.”

After postponing his 2019 tour dates, Ozzy is preparing to return to the stage.

His rescheduled tour kicks off in May, with its UK leg beginning 23 October in Newcastle.