The show will raise funds for Cure Parkinson’s, the Birmingham Children’s Hospital and Acorn Children’s Hospice
Sharon Osbourne has revealed her rock star husband Ozzy, who is suffering from Parkinson’s, can no longer walk.
The 76-year-old music legend will bow out later this year with one final performance dubbed ‘the greatest heavy metal show ever’.
He will return to the stage for one last time with Black Sabbath at Aston Villa’s Villa Park on July 5. However, wife Sharon has admitted the moment will be bittersweet as he can no longer walk.
Music manager Sharon teamed up with Ozzy’s bandmate Tony Iommi to announce the landmark gig, Back to the Beginning.
It will signify the first time that Black Sabbath’s original line-up of Ozzy, Tony, Geezer Butler and Bill Ward have played together in over 20 years.
They will be joined by several bands they inspired over the years including Metallica, Pantera, Slayer, Gojira and Anthrax.
Ozzy is set to play a short solo set before joining his bandmates on stage for the epic reunion but has recently been forced to halt touring due to his Parkinson’s battle.
He was diagnosed with the disease in 2020 and largely stepped back from touring after playing the closing ceremony of the commonwealth Games in 2022.
Sharon recently told The Sun: “He’s very happy to be coming back and very emotional about this. Parkinson’s is a progressive disease. It’s not something you can stabilise. It affects different parts of the body and it’s affected his legs. But his voice is as good as it’s ever been.”
Meanwhile, Ozzy told Sirius XM: “I have made it to 2025. I can’t walk, but you know what I was thinking over the holidays? For all my complaining, I’m still alive. I may be moaning that I can’t walk but I look down the road and there’s people that didn’t do half as much as me and didn’t make it.”
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Proceeds from the show will support Cure Parkinson’s, the Birmingham Children’s Hospital and Acorn Children’s Hospice, a Children’s Hospice supported by Aston Villa.
He has been very open about his health battle in the past describing the diagnosis as ‘terribly challenging’ adding that the diagnosis has caused him to suffer from depression and mobility issues.
In 2022, Ozzy underwent major spinal surgery, and less than a year later, he announced he was retiring from touring because he was no longer “physically capable”.
However, he recently told Rolling Stone UK, that he has strong desires to return to the stage.
He said: “I’m taking it one day at a time, and if I can perform again, I will. But it’s been like saying farewell to the best relationship of my life.
“I’m not going to get up there and do a half-hearted Ozzy looking for sympathy. What’s the [expletive] point in that? I’m not going up there in a [expletive] wheelchair.”
