I should have been dead long before my rockstar drinking partners, admits Ozzy Osbourne as he is honoured
ROCKER Ozzy Osbourne’s legendary antics during his wild, five-decade career in music have included chomping the head off a bat and snorting ants.
Now, ahead of being given the Icon Award at last night’s inaugural Rolling Stone UK Awards, the singer admits he questions how he is still alive.
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Ozzy Osbourne admits he questions how he is still aliveCredit: Danielle Levitt/Rolling Stone UK
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The rocker is honoured with the Icon Award at the inaugural Rolling Stone UK AwardsCredit: Redferns
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Sharon Osbourne arrives to collect her ailing husband’s Icon AwardCredit: The Mega Agency
After years of long-term abuse of drink and drugs, the former Black Sabbath frontman has outlived so many of his close friends, including Motorhead’s Lemmy and UFO bass player Pete Way, who he performed with throughout the Eighties.
Ozzy, 74, said: “I’ve been doing a lot of reflection while I’ve been laid up, and all my drinking partners, I’ve realised they’re all f*ing dead.
“I should have been dead before loads of them. Why am I the last man standing? Sometimes I look in the mirror and go, ‘Why the f*k did you make it?’.
“I should have been dead a thousand times. I’ve had my stomach pumped God knows how many times.”
Ozzy has sold more than 100million albums during his incredible career, playing thousands of shows around the world and releasing 13 solo albums, plus nine with Black Sabbath, with whom he started his music career in Birmingham.
‘It’s pretty rough, man’
But his recent health issues led to the decision in February that he would retire from touring.
Ozzy has a mild form of Parkinson’s but insists it is surgeries following a fall in 2019 that have resulted in his biggest struggles.
The accident dislodged metal rods which had been put in his back following a quad bike accident at his home in Buckinghamshire in 2003.
Earlier this year, he underwent spinal surgery for a fourth time in a bid to repair another operation, where a tumour was also discovered.
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Sharon accepted Ozzy’s award at the star-studded bash at London’s RoundhouseCredit: Getty
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Yungblud and Sharon pose on the red carpetCredit: Getty
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After years of long-term abuse of drink and drugs, Ozzy has outlived so many of his close friends, pictured with daughter Kelly and SharonCredit: Getty
He explained in an interview with Rolling Stone UK magazine: “The second surgery went drastically wrong and virtually left me crippled.
“I thought I’d be up and running after the second and third, but with the last one they put a f*ing rod in my spine.
“They found a tumour in one of the vertebrae, so they had to dig all that out too. It’s pretty rough, man, and my balance is all f*ed up.”
Ozzy’s wife Sharon accepted his award at last night’s star-studded bash at London’s Roundhouse after it was decided he wasn’t well enough to fly from their home in California.
Other stars at the bash included One Direction’s Louis Tomlinson, Eurovision star Mae Muller, Big Brother host AJ Odudu, singer Jessie Ware and Radio 1 DJ Mollie King.
Sharon, 71, said: “At times I’ve just felt so helpless and so bad for Ozzy. He’s gone through all these operations and the whole thing has felt like a nightmare.
“He hasn’t lost his sense of humour, but I look at my husband and he’s here while everyone else is out on the road.
“This is the longest time he hasn’t ever worked for. Being at home for so long has been so foreign to him.”
Now, with his 75th birthday approaching next weekend, Ozzy doubts he will be here in a decade.
He said: “I don’t fear dying, but I don’t want to have a long, painful and miserable existence.
“I like the idea that if you have a terminal illness, you can go to Switzerland and get it done quickly. I saw my father die of cancer.
“I said to Sharon that I’d smoked a joint recently and she said, ‘What are you doing that for?
“It’ll f*ing kill you!’.
“I said, ‘How long do you want me to f*ing live for?’. At best, I’ve got ten years left and, when you’re older, time picks up speed.
“Me and Sharon had our 41st wedding anniversary recently and that’s just unbelievable to me.”
But while his own mortality has made Ozzy appreciate what he has, it hasn’t weakened his fiery personality, causing him to let rip in a fresh feud with Sabbath bassist Geezer Butler, 74.
They formed the band in 1968 with guitarist Tony Iommi and drummer Bill Ward, going on to record influential tracks such as Paranoid and War Pigs, which cemented heavy metal as a genre.
The pair were not on the best of terms after Ozzy was booted out of the band in 1979 for excessive drug issues and being unreliable.
But a feud between Sharon and Geezer’s wife Gloria is what he believes was the nail in the coffin of their friendship.
Now Ozzy has slammed his childhood pal for not once reaching out following his health struggles.
He ranted: “You do find out who’s a genuine friend when you’ve been through what I’ve had.
“Tony Iommi has been so supportive of me since my illness. Geezer Butler hasn’t given me one f*ing phone call. Not one f*ing call.
“When his son was f*ing born, I phoned him every f*ing night even though we were at war with each other. I thought, ‘F**k it, he’s my mate, I’m gonna call him’.
“But from him, not one f*ing call. It’s sad, man. We all grew up together, and he can’t pick up the f*ing phone like a man and see how I’m doing.
“Even Bill Ward has been in touch with me. I said some things about Bill, and I don’t know why I said it, but when I came through my illness he contacted me.
“I’m not in shock, I’m just very f*ing sad that he can’t just call me after all this time and say, ‘How you doing?’. F*ing a*hole.”
Tellingly, Geezer ruled out a Sabbath reunion in June when he said the band had been “put to bed” as he announced his retirement.
Now Ozzy himself is thinking about what his future on the stage will be.
He explained: “If I can perform again, I will. I’m not going to get up there and do a half-hearted Ozzy looking for sympathy.
“What’s the f*ing point in that? I’ve seen Phil Collins perform recently and he’s got virtually the same problems as me. He gets up there in a wheelchair! But I couldn’t do that.”
However Ozzy hopes that he may be able to do a handful of farewell shows to celebrate his incredible career. He mused: “My fans are what it’s all about.
“If I can’t continue doing shows on a regular basis, I just want to be well enough to do one show where I can say, ‘Hi guys, thanks so much for my life’.
“That’s what I’m working towards, and if I drop down dead at the end of it, I’ll die a happy man.”
Ozzy added: “I do count my lucky stars. I don’t know why I’m still here and I do sometimes think I’m on borrowed time.
“I said to Sharon the other day, ‘What a great f*ing life we’ve had and what a great f*ing experience’.”
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Ozzy wasn’t well enough to fly from their home in California for the bashCredit: Getty
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Big Brother host AJ Odudu stunned as she attended the bashCredit: Rex
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Radio 1 DJ Mollie King was among celebs present on the nightCredit: PA
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And singer Jessie Ware beamed for the camerasCredit: Rex
