Ozzy Osbourne Reveals He Has Parkinson’s Disease

Ozzy Osbourne revealed on Tuesday (January 21st) in an interview on Good Morning America that he is battling Parkinson’s disease. The singer received the diagnosis last February after several health issues, including a near-deadly staph infection and a fall that damaged his nervous system. He’s treating the disease with medication.

The Black Sabbath frontman's wife Sharon explained that Ozzy has “PRKN 2, which is a form of Parkinson’s. 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. It’s like you have a good day, a good day and then a really bad day.”

Osbourne added he has been experiencing other symptoms that may or may not stem from Parkinson’s, saying, “I got a numbness down this arm for the surgery; my legs keep going cold. I don’t know if that’s the Parkinson’s or what, you know, but that’s — see, that’s the problem. Because they cut nerves when they did the surgery. I’d never heard of nerve pain, and it’s a weird feeling.”

Sharon said that Ozzy will head to Switzerland in April to see a professor who specializes in helping people with their immune systems, in order to distinguish between her husband's symptoms. Sharon remarked, “We’re going to go wherever we can go to seek answers,” to which Ozzy added, “We’re lucky enough to be able to afford to do that.”

Ozzy said that he feels “better now” that he's come clean about his illness, and expressed hope that his fans are “there for me because I need them.”

The metal legend told us that staying in touch with his fans has always been important to him: “I don't like to be that far separated from my fans. I like to go out and see what they're about, you know. If you read your e-mail or your website or your fan letters, it's like a piece of paper or numbers on a board. I like somewhat of human contact. I'm just a simple man. I have to touch you and hear you say you like my music. It does more for me than receiving letters.”

Ozzy is scheduled to return to North American arenas for another leg of his No More Tours 2 tour this spring, while his first new solo album in 10 years, Ordinary Man, is due for release on February 21st.