Ozzy Osbourne pulls out of October performance as battle with health continues: ‘I’m just not ready’
Ozzy Osbourne has pulled out of the 2023 Power Trip Festival amid ongoing health issues.
The three-day heavy metal music festival – which is scheduled for Oct. 6-8 at the Empire Polo Club in Indio, Calif. – was set to mark the Black Sabbath rocker’s long-awaited return to the stage amid his battle with Parkinson’s.
Osbourne, 74, cited his ongoing health concerns when he broke the news to fans via social media Monday.
“As painful as this is, I’ve had to make the decision to bow out of performing on Power Trip in October,” he wrote in a statement.
“My original plan was to return to the stage in the summer of 2024, & when the offer to do this show came in, I optimistically moved forward.”
Osbourne continued on, explaining, “Unfortunately, my body is telling me that I’m just not ready yet and I am much too proud to have the first show that I do in nearly five years be half-assed.”
The rocker confirmed that his replacement will be “announced shortly,” teasing that he’s “personal friends” with the new band on the lineup.
“I can promise that you will not be disappointed,” he assured fans. “Above all, I want to thank my fans, my band, and my crew for their unconditional loyalty and continual support. I love you all and I will see you soon. God Bless, Ozzy.”
Page Six has reached out to Power Trip for comment. The current lineup features Metallica, Iron Maiden, Guns N’ Roses, Tool and AC/DC.
As previously reported, Osbourne was diagnosed with Parkinson’s disease in 2019, but didn’t share his health struggles publicly until he suffered a nasty fall in a “pitch-black” bathroom.
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“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,” the Grammy winner’s wife, Sharon Osbourne, told “Good Morning America” viewers during a joint interview in January 2020.
She noted that her husband could have “a good day, a good day and then a really bad day.”
The musician most recently gave an update on his condition when he told The Observer that Parkinson’s felt like “walking around in lead boots.”
“You think you’re lifting your feet, but your foot doesn’t move,” he explained last year.
Ozzy credited Sharon, 70, with helping him get through the difficulties that came with the diagnosis, joking that he’d be “f–king gone” without her.
“We have a little row now and then, but otherwise we just get on with it,” he said of their decades-long marriage.
Last June, Ozzy also underwent a “life-altering” surgery to remove and realign a series of pins in his neck and back from a 2003 quad biking accident.
Although he has been walking with a cane since having the procedure, Ozzy was spotted walking unassisted during a rare outing in April.
