Ozzy Osbourne health battles which marred his final years

Ozzy Osbourne had been suffering from a series of helath issues in recent years before his death at the age of 76 on July 22. The effects of his conditions became evident when he took to the stage for his last ever show with Black Sabbath entitled Back To The Beginning which took place at Villa Park in Birmingham on July 5. He was wheeled onto the stage in an imposing looking gothic throne as he was unable to stand due to the effects of Parkinsons Disease. Ozzy had undergone a strict training programme in order to be able to headline the giant show which saw him perform songs from his solo catalogue before joining his former bandmates on stage for one last hurrah.

Prior to that epic show, which saw titans of the heavy metal scene come together to play live before the Prince of Darkness took to the stage, he had been forced to take a step back from performing and had last played live during the halftime show of an NFL football game between the Los Angeles Rams and the Buffalo Bills in September 2022. One month prior to that, he performed at the closing ceremony at the Birmingham 2022 Commonwealth Games.

Although he was famed for his hard living ways his health woes began because of an ATV accident rather than his lifestyle. In 2003 he had a quad-bike accident at his Buckinghamshire home that left him with a broken neck vertebra a broken collarbone and six broken ribs. He was forced to have extensive back surgery, and had metal rods placed in his spine.

Sixteen years later in 2019 he suffered a nasty fall at home, which dislodged the metal rods and began the health nightmare that would plague him until his death.

Speaking about the 2019 fall, he told Rolling Stone UK: "It really knocked me about. 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 [rod] in my spine." He also revealed doctors found a tumor in his back at the time, "so they had to dig all that out too".

In the aftermath of the accident he was diagnosed with Parkinson's Disease. He kept the news to himself until January 2020 when he revealed it to fans.

Discussing his condition on Good Morning America with wife Sharon the father of five admitted the diagnosis was "terribly challenging".

"I had to have surgery on my neck which screwed all my nerves. I found out that I have a mild form of...." he trailed off, unable to get the words out."It's Parkin 2 which is a form of Parkinson's," Sharon chimed in. There are so many different types of Parkinson's. It's not a death sentence by any stretch of the imagination but it does affect the nerves in your body. It's like you'll have a good day, then a good day, and then a really bad day."

The star's condition progressed to the point where it affected his legs forcing him to sit on stage during recent appearances. "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," he poignantly recently said on Sirius XM.