Ozzy Osbourne postpones UK and European tour for a second time

I'm postponing the European tour because I'm not ready."

Ozzy Osbourne postpones European tour
Author: Scott ColothanPublished 9th Oct 2019
Last updated 9th Oct 2019

Ozzy Osbourne has postponed his UK and European No More Tours 2 tour for a second time as he continues to recover from a series of health setbacks.

The 70-year-old metal legend shared a new video this evening where he gave fans an update on his health and confirmed his entire European tour – including his UK arena dates in January and February - has been postponed.

His North American dates in the spring and summer 2020 are still scheduled to go ahead as planned.

Ozzy said: "I'm here to give you an update on my condition. As you probably know, or you may not know, at the beginning of this year, I had a bad fall.

“I screwed all the vertebrae in my neck and had to have surgery. I've got a lot more nuts and bolts in my neck now than in my car. I'm not dying, I am recovering. It's just taking a little bit longer than everyone thought it would. I'm bored stiff of being stuck on a f***ing bed all day. I can't wait to get off my ass and get going again. But you're just gonna have to be a little bit more patient.

“I'm postponing the European tour because I'm not ready. I'm not retiring — I've still got gigs to do — but when I do come back on an American tour, I wanna be one hundred percent ready to come out and knock your f***ing socks off. And also, there's a new album on the way.

"Thank you to my band and my crew and Live Nation, and most of all, Judas Priest.

"I just wanna say one thing to the fans: I sincerely thank you for your patience and your loyalty. I love you. Now, will you f*** off and let me get better."

There's no word on when the UK & Ireland shows will be rescheduled for, however Live Nation Sweden reports that the Swedish dates will happen "in the first half of 2021.

After contracting a potentially deadly staph infection in autumn 2018, Ozzy’s health woes continued when he contracted flu in January, which soon developed into pneumonia in the Intense Care Unit.

With his UK & Ireland tour already postponed, Ozzy axed all his 2019 tour dates in April following a serious fall in his bedroom that aggravated injuries he previously suffered in a 2003 quad bike accident.

In an interview with Rolling Stone in August, Ozzy said he was in “agony beyond anything I ever experienced before in my life” for four months after the fall.

Ozzy said he “came down really, really hard” in the fall and the injuries impeded the way fluid went down his spinal cord, so he was forced to undergo surgery.

“When they do surgery on your neck, they cut through all the nerves, and it f***ed everything up,” Ozzy said. “So I’m wobbling all over the place. And since they cut through the nerves, my right arm feels permanently cold."

Reflecting upon his lengthy road to recovery, Ozzy said at the time: “I’m taking physical and occupational therapy classes, but the progress is very slow. They say it’s going to take at least a year. I’m hoping that I’ll be OK and ready to go by January (when the UK tour kicks off). I’m really keeping my fingers crossed.”

He added: “I’m used to getting up, getting on my elliptical and going for an hour or so and breaking a sweat. But I can’t do it. One day, I was doing an hour or two on the elliptical; now I can do just barely half an hour. I go out with a walking stick, and I walk up the road and I’m bushed.”

The postponed UK and Ireland dates are as follows:

JANUARY 2020

Nottingham Motorpoint Arena – Fri 31st

FEBRUARY 2020

Dublin 3Arena – Sun 2nd

Manchester Arena – Wed 5th

Newcastle Utilita Arena – Fri 7th

London The O2 – Mon 10th

Glasgow SSE Hydro – Wed 12th

Birmingham Resorts World Arena – Fri 14t