Ozzy Osbourne has survived decades in the spotlight and levels of substance abuse that have become music-business legend. Earlier today, he announced another thing he's going to have to take on. On Good Morning America, Osbourne revealed that he has been diagnosed with Parkinson's Disease.
As Brooklyn Vegan points out, Osbourne appeared on GMA with his wife and manager Sharon this morning, and he said that he was first diagnosed with Parkinson's last February: "It's been terribly challenging for us all. I did my last show New Year's Eve at the Forum, and I had a bad fall. I had to have surgery on my neck, which screwed all my nerves. I found out that I have mild form, as some call it." Osbourne also spoke about the guilt of keeping his diagnosis a secret, and he says that he can't wait to tour again.
Sharon said that Ozzy's form is PRKN 2, which is "not a death sentence, by any stretch... It's like you have a good day, a good day, and then a really bad day." Here's the interview:
.@ABC NEWS EXCLUSIVE: Rock legend @OzzyOsbourne sits down with @RobinRoberts and breaks his silence about his private health battle with Parkinson's disease. https://t.co/tYd0K3rQet pic.twitter.com/ANaS82xakY
— Good Morning America (@GMA) January 21, 2020
Last year, Osbourne, appearing on Post Malone's "Take What You Want," scored his first top-10 hit in 30 years. Next month, Osbourne will release the new LP Ordinary Man, his first solo album in a decade. (We've posted the songs "Under The Graveyard," "Straight To Hell," and the title track.) Later this year, Osbourne is planning on heading out on a long international tour, including North American dates with Marilyn Manson and European dates with Judas Priest. Speaking as someone whose father has Parkinson's -- Osbourne's symptoms, at least from that interview, look a lot like my dad's -- that tour, which has been delayed once, is going to be a challenge.
