Ozzy Osbourne on final show amid health woes: 'I'll be there, and I'll do the best I can'
Ozzy Osbourne has admitted all he can do is "turn up and do the best I can" at his final concert.
Ozzy Osbourne insists all he can do is "turn up" and do "the best I can" at Black Sabbath's final concert amid his ongoing health battle.
The heavy metal legends will stage the star-studded charity concert 'Back To The Beginning' at Villa Park in Birmingham, England, July 5, and the 76-year-old frontman has recently started endurance training for the show as he has had neck and spinal issues, as well as Parkinson's disease, and sometimes uses a wheelchair as a result of his mobility problems.
In an interview with his Sabbath bandmates for The Guardian, Ozzy said: “I’ll be there, and I’ll do the best I can.
"So all I can do is turn up.”
On his never-ending issues, he said: "You wake up the next morning and find that something else has gone wrong. You begin to think this is never going to end."
Ozzy's wife, music mogul Sharon Osbourne, came up with the idea for the gig to give Ozzy "a reason to get up in the morning”.
This week, Tool frontman Maynard James Keenan suggested it would take "modern miracles" for Ozzy to perform.
The singer is part of the stacked lineup for the Birmingham show and having seen Ozzy struggling at the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame induction ceremony last year, Maynard is "preparing for the worst but hoping for the best" at the gig.
Speaking on Loudwire Nights, he said: “I think for me, seeing Ozzy moving around at [the Hall of Fame ceremony], the idea of him playing a show at all, if we’re being honest, the conversation about going to do the song was like, ‘We’ll have this conversation, but, ahh… I don’t know that this [concert] gonna happen.'
“And even now, I’m cautious about saying, ‘Yeah! All in, he’s gonna do it.’ Because man, I don’t know what kind of modern miracles we’ll come up with to get him on stage to do the songs, but this is gonna be a challenge for them.
"So, I’m honoured to be a part of it, but I’m kinda preparing for the worst – but hoping for the best, as they say.”
Due to Ozzy not being able to walk, it's anticipated he will perform from a throne.
The lineup also includes Metallica, Smashing Pumpkins' Billy Corgan, Duff McKagan and Slash of Guns ‘N Roses, Limp Bizkit's Fred Durst, Korn star Jonathan Davis, Anthrax, and Wolfgang Van Halen.
