Ozzy Osbourne reveals Parkinson’s diagnosis: ‘I’m not good with secrets’
Rocker Ozzy Osbourne has Parkinson’s disease, he revealed Tuesday with wife Sharon Osbourne on “Good Morning America.â€
The revelation explains many of the symptoms he’s been struggling with since a fall a year ago forced him to postpone his entire 2019 touring schedule.
Sharon Osbourne said her husband has “Parkin 2,†which may mean Stage 2 Parkinson’s, an early form of the disease. Ozzy called his present situation “mild.â€
“There’s so many different types of Parkinson’s. It’s not a death sentence by any stretch of the imagination, but it does affect certain nerves in your body,†Sharon told “GMA’s†Robin Roberts.
“It’s like you have a good day, and a good day, and then you have a really bad day,†she said.
Parkinson’s is a degenerative, incurable neurological condition that affects movement and includes tremors. Non-movement symptoms include depression, constipation, loss of smell and cognitive impairment, according to the Parkinson’s Foundation. It tends to progress slowly in most people, and symptoms vary.
Ozzy said he’s on a very low dose of Parkinson’s medication. He’s also antsy to get back on the road to perform, which his wife called “the air that he breathes.â€
“In April, we’re going to a professor in Switzerland and he deals with getting your immune system at its peak,†added Sharon, who said they had gotten all the answers they could domestically. “So we’re going to go wherever we can go to seek answers.â€
The diagnosis came in February, and the family kept it quiet until now. Osbourne fell a year ago after getting up during the night to use the bathroom.
“I came down really, really hard,†he told Rolling Stone last August, months into his recovery. “I went slam — on my face.â€
He spent months recovering from neck surgery, experiencing (among other things) severe limitations in his ability to exercise and blood clots in his legs.
“I’m wobbling all over the place. And since they cut through the nerves, my right arm feels permanently cold,†he said at the time. He said later in the interview, “It’s scary stuff .… From 40 [years old] to 70 was OK and suddenly you get to 70 and everything caved in on me.â€
His 2020 tour, which was rescheduled from last year, is slated to begin in Atlanta at the end of May and includes a July stop at the Hollywood Bowl before the rocker heads overseas.
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