Ozzy Osbourne, 74, opened up about being diagnosed with a vertebral tumor during a recent back surgery and revealed he has 10 years left to live “at best,” in a new interview with Rolling Stone UK. He also discussed whether or not he has a fear of dying after his various health struggles in the past.
“I should have been dead a thousand times,” the rock and roll star, who revealed his Parkinson’s disease diagnosis in 2020, said after previously being open about his addictions and overdoses over the years. “I’ve been doing a lot of reflection while I’ve been laid up, and all my drinking partners, I’ve realized they’re all f***ing dead! The graveyard’s full of them! You’re dead and you’re dead and you’re dead.”
“I don’t fear death, but I don’t want to have a long, painful and miserable existence,” he continued. “I like the idea that if you have a terminal illness, you can go to a place in Switzerland and get it done quickly. I saw my father die of cancer.”
“But look,” he added. “I said to Sharon [Osbourne] 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.”
It’s unclear if the ten years left to live comment is Ozzy’s own guess or what doctors informed him, but he also went into more details about undergoing a fourth spinal surgery earlier this year after suffering from a fall that happened in 2019. The surgery led to the diagnosis of the vertebral tumor.
“It’s really knocked me about,” he said. “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 tumor 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, whom he married in 1982, also admitted she sometimes feels “helpless” when it comes to her husband’s health battles. “And at time I’ve just felt so helpless and so bad for Ozzy, to see him going through this pain,” she told the outlet. “He’s gone through all these operations and the whole thing has felt like a nightmare. He hasn’t lost his sense of humor, 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.”
Despite having to cancel touring due to his recent health issues, Ozzy, who is the father of six children, said getting back on stage is still his goal. “For whatever reason, that’s my goal to work to. To do those shows,” he said. “If it’s Ozzfest or somewhere, or even a f***ing gig at the Roundhouse. 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.”