Black Sabbath frontman Ozzy Osbourne was diagnosed with Parkinson’s Disease in 2003
Ozzy Osbourne, the lead singer of Black Sabbath, died Tuesday. He was 76.
“It is with more sadness than mere words can convey that we have to report that our beloved Ozzy Osbourne has passed away this morning,” the family said in a statement. “He was with his family and surrounded by love. We ask everyone to respect our family privacy at this time.”
Considered an icon of hard rock music, and one of the founders of heavy metal music, Osbourne recently performed his final concert with the band in Birmingham, England. The 10-hour show on July 5 was hosted by Jason Momoa, and featured performances from Metallica, Guns N’ Roses, Jack Black, Steven Tyler and more.
Osbourne is survived by wife Sharon, daughters Kelly and Aimee, and son Jack, in addition to daughter Jessica, and sons Elliot and Louis from his first marriage to Thelma Riley.
The “Iron Man” singer was diagnosed with Parkinson’s in 2003 but didn’t speak publicly about his diagnosis until 2020.
The Black Sabbath frontman admitted that he couldn’t walk anymore on a Jan. 29 episode of his Sirius XM show, “Ozzy Speaks.” “I may be moaning about how I can’t walk, but I look down the road and there’s people that didn’t do half as much as me, and they didn’t make it,” he said at the time.
Osbourne was a founding member of Black Sabbath in 1968.
In a July post, daughter Kelly noted that Ozzy’s mobility had declined.
“He’s not dying,” she emphasized. “Yes, he has Parkinson’s, and yes, his mobility is completely different than it used to be, but he’s not dying. What is wrong with you?”
Kelly shared her response earlier this month to a social media user who still insisted her father was dying.
“Believe me I fully understand how this works. Your message is incredibly rude,” she wrote. “So firstly I want to tell you to go f— yourself! He is not in stage 5!!! That is not the way his kind of Parkinson’s works.”
The heavy metal singer-songwriter struggled with a number of physical ailments over the years. In 2003, he almost died in an ATV accident when his quad flipped onto him while he was riding around his London estate.
In 2022, the “Mama I’m Coming Home” singer underwent surgery to remove and realign pins in his neck and back. Ozzy’s back problems likely stemmed from the all-terrain vehicle collision.
When asked if he ever thought about his own mortality, Ozzy said he felt optimistic about his future as he looked back on the past.
“At f—ing 73, I’ve done pretty well,” he said. “I don’t plan on going anywhere, but my time’s going to come.”
Years after his success as a heavy metal rock star, the Osbourne family became a household name in the early 2000s when MTV took fans inside their lives as famous stars — and the children of rock royalty — with an unscripted show about the family. The series premiered in 2002 and ran for four seasons until 2005.
He is survived by his wife, Sharon and five children, three from his marriage to Sharon Osbourne and two from a previous marriage.
