Ozzy Osbourne, Family Extend Stay in US Due to Health Complications

Ozzy Osbourne attends the Ozzy Osbourne Album Special on SiriusXM's Ozzy's Boneyard Channel in Los Angeles on July 29, 2022. Matt Winkelmeyer/Getty Images for SiriusXM

The Osbournes’ move back to England is taking longer than intended.

In 2022, Black Sabbath lead singer Ozzy Osbourne announced his plan to permanently return to his native England with his wife, Sharon Osbourne, in February 2023 and leave Los Angeles behind.

Two years later, though, the couple has remained at their California residence due to the heavy metal rocker’s health, as addressed on a July 16 episode of “The Osbournes Podcast.”

Responding to a listener’s question about their move, Mr. Osbourne said, “We’re trying to get on a flight.”

Mrs. Osbourne added that her husband’s health obstacles have impeded their move, but she believes they will return eventually.

“It just seems that every time we’re set to go, something happens with Ozzy’s health, and so we’ll get there,” she said. “We want to go back so bad, but we’ll get there won’t we, Ozzy? We will.”

Mr. Osbourne’s health complications shifted his perspective. “When you lose your health, nothing else [expletive] matters,” the rock star said at the beginning of the podcast.

Mr. Osbourne, 75, has faced several health issues in recent years. In a January episode of “The Osbournes Podcast,” he revealed that he has undergone multiple surgeries, refusing to endure more after his last surgery in September 2023.

“When I came out of surgery, I said to Sharon ‘Whatever I’m gonna be at right now, that’s it. I can’t have any more surgery,’” he said. “I’ve had seven surgeries in five years.”

“It’s a slow recovery because I’m not as young as I used to be,” he said.

Suffering a devastating quad-bike accident in 2003, followed by a Parkinson’s Disease diagnosis, Mr. Osbourne continues to seek treatment for his symptoms. In 2019, the musician fell, injuring his already vulnerable neck. In recent years, he has endured multiple staph infections in his hand as well as depression, blood clots, and nerve pain.

“I’m taking it one day at a time, and if I can perform again, I will,” he told Rolling Stone UK in 2022.

“But it’s been like saying farewell to the best relationship of my life. At the start of my illness, when I stopped touring, I was really  [expletive] with myself, the doctors, and the world. But as time has gone on, I’ve just gone, ‘Well, maybe I’ve just got to accept that fact.’”

The Osbourne family also shared the changes they have seen in Los Angeles during their time in the city.

“L.A. used to be nice,” Jack Osbourne said. “Yeah, it did used to be friendly, nice,” his mother responded, to which he added, “Clean.”

Mr. Osbourne expressed political frustrations with the United States in an August 2022 interview with The Guardian.

“Everything’s [expletive] ridiculous there,” he said. “I’m fed up with people getting killed every day. God knows how many people have been shot in school shootings. And there was that mass shooting in Vegas at that concert… It’s [expletive] crazy.

“And I don’t want to die in America,” he said. “I’m English. I want to be back. But saying that, if my wife said we’ve got to go and live in Timbuktu, I’ll go.”

Ms. Osbourne agreed, sharing similar concerns, “America has changed so drastically. It isn’t the United States of America at all. Nothing’s united about it. It’s a very weird place to live right now.”