Ozzy Osbourne postpones entire UK & Ireland tour due to illness
Ozzy Osbourne has postponed his entire UK and Ireland tour due flu and a severe upper-respiratory infection.
Special guests on the UK & Ireland tour, Judas Priest, announced on Monday that the opening four shows in Dublin, Nottingham, Manchester and Newcastle had been postponed due to Ozzy’s illness, however there had been no word from Ozzy’s camp until this evening.
A post on Ozzy’s official website confirmed that the remaining dates in Glasgow, Birmingham and London - together with his dates on mainland Europe in February and March - have also been cancelled on doctor's orders.
It reads: ‘After seeing his physician again, Osbourne has been diagnosed with a severe upper-respiratory infection which the doctor feels could develop into pneumonia given the physicality of the live performances and an extensive travel schedule throughout Europe in harsh winter conditions.’
Confirming the rearranged dates will start in September, Ozzy said: “I’m completely devastated for having to postpone the European leg of my tour. It just seems that since October everything I touch has turned to s***.
“First the staph infection in my thumb and now coming down with the flu and bronchitis. I want to apologize to all of my fans who have been so loyal over the years, my band, my crew and to Judas Priest for letting you all down.
“However, I promise the tour with Judas Priest will be completed. It’s being rescheduled right now to start in September. Again, I apologize to everyone. God Bless. Love you all, Ozzy.”
Alongside the UK & Ireland shows, Ozzy has also axed his dates in Germany, Sweden, Finland, Switzerland, Italy and Spain that were due to continue into early March.
All tickets to the postponed shows will be honoured at the rescheduled dates, and refunds are also available from the point of purchase.
The No More Tours 2 trek is due to resume on Sunday 9th March in Australia before hitting New Zealand, Japan and North America.
Last Thursday (24th January), Ozzy took to Twitter to share a photo of a burst blood vessel in his left eye, writing: "Coughed so hard I burst a blood vessel in my eye."
> Coughed so hard I burst a blood vessel in my eye pic.twitter.com/EPuDnN8Mpa > > — Ozzy Osbourne (@OzzyOsbourne) January 24, 2019
Last October, Ozzy was forced to postpone his four remaining US tour dates after being hospitalised with three separate staph infections in his right hand.
Ozzy explained to Rolling Stone at the time: “The doctor said, ‘I don’t know if you realize, Mr. Osbourne, this is a very serious problem you have.’ Sharon said, ‘Would you stop f***ing making jokes?' So I said, ‘Well, it’s my hand.’
“They’re all extremely, deadly serious about it. I judge it based on the expression and the body language of the doctor. If he comes in with a really solemn face, I go, ‘Oh, OK. My time to go is up.'”
Reflecting on the surgery, Ozzy said: “You put your thumb in front of your face on your right hand, they went in by the side of the nail on the left side for the flesh under the nail.
“They cut all this stuff out. Even with the numbing stuff, it was agony. It wasn’t pus, but it was the stage after pus, when it gets in the blood and goes in your body and fing kills you. It may sound fed up what I’m saying to you, but he was really concerned about checking my blood.”
Asking doctors where he got the infection from, Ozzy continued: “The doctor said to me, ‘Can you remember talking to someone and shaking hands?' Well, I do that meet and greet at the gig and I must shake f***ing 200 hands a day. He said, ‘That explains it.'”
Ozzy Osbourne and Judas Priest's postponed European tour dates are as follows:
JANUARY 2019
Dublin 3Arena - Wed 30th - POSTPONED
FEBRUARY 2019
Nottingham Motorpoint Arena – Fri 1st - POSTPONED
Manchester Arena – Sun 3rd - POSTPONED
Newcastle Metro Radio Arena – Tue 5th - POSTPONED
Glasgow The SSE Hydro – Thu 7th - POSTPONED
Birmingham Resorts World Arena – Sat 9th - POSTPONED
London The O2 – Mon 11th - POSTPONED
Munich Olympiahalle – Wed 13th - POSTPONED
Frankfurt Festhalle – Fri 15th - POSTPONED
Hamburg Barclaycard Arena – Sun 17th - POSTPONED
Berlin Mercedes-Benz Arena – Tue 19th - POSTPONED
Stockholm Ericcson Globe – Fri 22nd - POSTPONED
Helsinki Hartwall Arena – Sun 24th - POSTPONED
Zurich Hallenstadion – Wed 27th - POSTPONED
MARCH 2019
Bologna Unipol Arena – Fri 1st - POSTPONED
Barcelona Palau Sant Jordi – Sun 3rd - POSTPONED