Ozzy Osbourne insists he will never retire from music amid Parkinson’s diagnosis

He is 71 years old and has Parkinson’s which is now affecting his ability to walk, but “retirement” is a dirty word to Ozzy Osbourne, mention it and he will fire a few juicier expletives straight back at you.

Ozzy says: “You know the time when I will retire? When I can hear them nail a lid on my box. And then I’ll f***ing do an encore. I’m the Prince of Darkness.”

He has been quarantining against Covid-19 since March, but is adamant that he will return to finish his last tour.

He says: “When you feel that audience jumping, it’s a better feeling than orgasm. It is the best love affair of my life.

“The party is on, man. I feel honoured people still want to see me.”

The headbangers in the front row will maybe not include another music legend, one Ozzy is fond of taking a swipe at.

He says: “To be Ozzy Osbourne it could be worse… I could be Sting.”

Talking about his Parkinson’s diagnosis, which he went public about in January, Ozzy says: “Well the one questions from me was, ‘Is it a terminal illness?’, and the guy says, ‘No, but life is’.

“It’s just another thing on my plate I have got to deal with. I’m not in the slightest worried about it.

“I’ve not got any secrets. The initial shock is I’ve got Parkinson’s.

“Nobody knows what the f*** it is. I didn’t know anything about it apart from the name.”

Wife Sharon, 67, adds: “Why should it be a dirty little secret?” She admits Ozzy’s walk has become problematic, but says: “He’s always had a funny walk so f*** it, you know? Let’s make nothing different. No pity, he doesn’t need pity. He just needs a stage.

“He may not be able to run up and down like he used to on stage, but it’s still about the voice and he’s still a funny f***er.

“His voice is his legacy. You hear one note, you know that’s Ozzy. Everything you want to say is right there in the music.”

Ozzy has performed for more than 50 years. He formed Black Sabbath in 1969 and the band has sold 70 million albums,
but
he has also had a hugely successful solo career, with 15 Top 40 albums.

Reflecting on his 2020 album Ordinary Man and his desire to return to the stage, Ozzy says: “The best medication I’ve had in a long time. Doing the record saved my life. I’m just a very fortunate man to be still here talking to you about my life. Life goes on. Right now, right here, today. I’m f***ing great.

“I ain’t done yet? I’ve a lot left. We’re doing an album.

“My father said I would always be a big something one day. He said you are either going to do something special or go to prison. I had a dream and it came true. I have a good life”

In the interview, to be shown on US TV next month, Ozzy speaks of growing up in poverty in Aston, Birmingham, one of six children.

He says: “There was no inside toilet. You didn’t have soap and water. I had a lot of shame as a kid. I always felt dirty, unclean and like a peasant.

“As a kid I was afraid of everything. So when you do find a bit of booze or dope, you go f*** I’ve found it. Alcohol and dope and being the class clown sums it all up really. I used the talent of making people feel somewhat entertained and goofing around, to take it on stage with my music.”

His dad bought him a £250 microphone and PA system, which was key to forming Black Sabbath and turning Ozzy into a global star estimated to have earned more than £150million.

When Black Sabbath’s Paranoid topped the charts in 1970, Ozzy treated himself to a beer, a pair of shoes and socks and a bottle of Brut “to smell better” for women.

He went on to blow fortunes on drink and drugs. He says: “I never drank socially. I never took coke socially. I never did anything socially. I did it to get f***ed up, you know? Sobriety f***ing sucks.”

In 1971, he wed Thelma Riley. They had two kids, Jessica and Louis, but it ended, as he admits, because he behaved “f***ing badly”.

He says: “Chicks wanted to f*** me. From being a grubby little s*** from Aston – this is the big time.” When his dad died, he leaned on drugs and drink even more, then in 1979 Sabbath fired him for missing writing sessions.

He says: “That was one of the lowest points of my life.”

Sharon Levy pulled him back from the brink. As his girlfriend and manager, she put a band together to back him as a solo star.

They wed in 1982, but Ozzy carried on womanising, so much so Sharon said “his d*** might fall off”. In 1989, high on drugs, Ozzy tried to throttle her.

He was arrested and woke up in a cell without a clue why he was there. When he was told what he had done, he says it “hit me like a f***ing hammer between the eyes. I could have killed Sharon. That is a desperate feeling. She is my soulmate. I love her.”

She dropped the charges and the couple, who have three kids Jack, Aimee and Kelly, have stuck together.

Sharon says: “It’s been like a four ring circus, our life. It’s like a tornado.”

• Biography: The Nine Lives of Ozzy Osbourne, A&E, September 7, in US.

Do you have a story to sell? Get in touch with us at [email protected] or call us direct 0207 29 33033