Ozzy Osbourne has opened up about his recent struggles with mental health after suffering a serious fall in early 2019. In talks with NME, the rock legend has revealed that he “was feeling sorry for [himself], miserable and in fucking agony” during his recovery, but getting back into work has been his saving grace.
Ozzy’s newest album Ordinary Man was released last week, featuring tracks with Post Malone and Elton John. The album is his first solo album in nearly a decade, and comes after the singer was forced to postpone his tour due to ongoing health issues with Parkinson’s Disease.
Ozzy Osbourne reveals struggles with his Parkinson’s diagnosis, mental health, and the significance of his new album in a candid interview.
“If it’s not a big hit that’s fine, but this album is quite possibly one of the most important albums I’ve ever made because it saved my life,” the Black Sabbath frontman described.
“I didn’t say it before, but I knew I had Parkinson’s fucking 18 years ago,” Ozzy revealed. “I was diagnosed in 2003 and I’ve been doing gigs since then. I don’t like to think about it, because of the pressure.”
Despite his rockstar lifestyle, Ozzy now rates “staying alive” as his greatest achievement, with the tragic death of Motörhead frontman Lemmy Kilmister serving as a turning point in his life. Kilmister passed away in December 2015 from a combination of prostate cancer, cardiac arrhythmia, and congestive heart failure.
Yet, not one to stay sombre, the singer also told the story behind his new single, It’s A Raid (ft. Post Malone):
“I’m sitting in the fucking house and I’ve got a big fucking bowl of cocaine on the fucking table, It was when Black Sabbath were doing ‘Vol. 4’ and we’d rented a house in Bel Air,” he described.
“I was sitting there thinking: ‘It’s fucking boiling in here.’ So I press a button on the wall, thinking it’s the air conditioning. 10 minutes later six cop cars come screaming down the driveway. I’d pressed the alarm button. So I shout: ‘IT’S A RAID!’, grab the fucking dope and me and this roadie run into a back room. I’ve got the bowl of cocaine and I’m going… [he mimes shovelling the bowl into his nose].”
“I can’t fucking feel anything,” he continues. “My nose was caked in it. They said: ‘It’s alright, it was a false alarm.’ I was fucking gakked to the gills. I had to have a fucking valium after to mellow me out.”
Listen to the new single from Ozzy Osbourne, Ordinary Man, below.
