Everything Ozzy Osbourne & His Family Said About His Health Before His Death

On Tuesday, the legendary rocker's family announced the sad news that he had passed away at 76, sharing a statement that read: "It is with more sadness than mere words can convey that we have to report that our beloved Ozzy Osbourne has passed away this morning. He was with his family and surrounded by love."

The Black Sabbath frontman battled Parkinson's disease -- a neurodegenerative disorder -- for over two decades. Ozzy was diagnosed with Parkinson's disease in 2003, but didn't publicly share his diagnosis until 2020. In addition to his battle with Parkinson's, Ozzy underwent many back surgeries in an attempt to fix the damage done to his spine due to a fall in 2019. The accident exacerbated his existing back and neck problems from a 2003 bike crash.

However, the news of Ozzy's death came a little over a week after his daughter, Kelly Osbourne, slammed speculation that he was "dying" from Parkinson's. And just a few weeks prior, Ozzy's wife of over 40 years, Sharon Osbourne, shared that he was "doing really great" ahead of the Black Sabbath reunion concert.

Over the years, the Osbourne family was open about Ozzy's health struggles. Read on to see what Kelly, Sharon, and Ozzy himself have publicly shared about Ozzy's health in the years leading up to his death.

Last week, Kelly spoke out to defend her father after fans made "rude" comments about Ozzy's battle with Parkinson's.

The TV personality shared a screenshot to her Instagram Stories that featured a DM she allegedly received from another user. Per the screenshot, the person who wrote to Kelly said she does "not understand how Parkinson's disease works."

"This is the s--t I wake up to. Wtf is wrong with people?" Kelly wrote alongside a screenshot of the fan's message.

The user wrote, "Kelli, do you understand how Parkinson's disease works? The fact that you keep saying your dad isn't dying just shows that you do not understand how Parkinson's is disease works.!!"

"Parkinson's disease eventually stops the people from breathing and functioning and they die from Parkinson's if he's stage five and he just said that he doesn't feel good and his health is failing. You need to trust what he's saying not what you're hoping," they continued, "I'm sorry to be the one to tell you but stage five Parkinson's does mean that you are dying."

Alongside the screenshot, Kelly posted her bold response to the unnamed user, defending her father, and checking the user's understanding of his condition.

"Believe me I fully understand how this works. Your message is incredibly rude. So firstly I want to tell you to go f--k yourself! He is not in stage 5!!!" the former Fashion Police host wrote.

"That is not the way his kind of Parkinson's works. You are a nasty c--t for sending anyone a message like this," she continued. "Stop watching AI generated content and stop perpetuating the bulls--t. I don't really respond messages such as this but you really pissed me off how dare you!"

Before Ozzy hit the stage for a fundraising reunion concert with this Black Sabbath bandmates -- Tony Iommi, Geezer Butler and Bill Ward -- Sharon told the BBC that while the show would be Ozzy's last, he was doing well.

"He's doing really great," she shared, adding that he was "so excited about this, about being with the guys again and all his friends. It's exciting for everyone."

During an episode of the family's Osbournes Podcast in July 2024, Sharon said the status of Ozzy's health had delayed their plans to move back to the UK.

"It just seems that every time we're set to go, something happens with Ozzy's health," Sharon said. "We'll get there."

"We wanna go back so bad, but we'll get there. Won't we, Ozzy?" she added, to which he said, "Yeah."

Ozzy opened up about the severity of his health issues and reflected on his mortality during an interview with Rolling Stone UK in November 2023. Amid his battle with Parkinson's disease and the medical problems and surgeries resulting from his 2019 fall, Ozzy shared that he believed he had 10 years left to life -- at the most.

"Look, I said to Sharon that I'd smoked a joint recently and she said, 'What are you doing that for! It'll f--king kill you,'" Ozzy recalled. "I said, 'How long do you want me to f--king live for?!' At best, I've got ten years left and when you're older, time picks up speed. Me and Sharon had our 41st wedding anniversary recently, and that's just unbelievable to me!"

"I don't fear dying, but I don't want to have a long, painful and miserable existence," he admitted. "I like the idea that if you have a terminal illness, you can go to a place in Switzerland and get it done quickly. I saw my father die of cancer."

Ozzy also told Rolling Stone UK that the time that his second spinal surgery didn't go as planned and left him "crippled," while doctors found a tumor during another procedure.

"It's really knocked me about," the singer said. "The second surgery went drastically wrong and virtually left me crippled. I thought I'd be up and running after the second and third, but with the last one they put a f--king rod in my spine. They found a tumor in one of the vertebrae, so they had to dig all that out too. It’s pretty rough, man, and my balance is all f--ked up."

Ozzy -- who previously struggled with drug and alcohol abuse -- said he "should have been dead way before loads" of his late friends.

"Why am I the last man standing? I don't understand any of it. Sometimes I look in the mirror and go, 'Why the f--k did you make it?!'" he told Rolling Stone UK. "I'm not boasting about any of it because I should have been dead a thousand times. I've had my stomach pumped God knows how many times."

Meanwhile, Sharon also weighed in on Ozzy's health at the time, telling the outlet that it's been difficult it's been to watch her husband struggle with his health.

"It's been nearly five years of heartache, and at times I've just felt so helpless and so bad for Ozzy, to see him going through the pain," Sharon said. "He's gone through all these operations and the whole thing has felt like a nightmare. He hasn't lost his sense of humor, but I look at my husband, and he’s here while everyone else is out on the road. This is the longest time he hasn't ever worked for. Being at home for so long has been so foreign to him."

In June 2022, Ozzy underwent a "major operation" that would "determine the rest of his life," Sharon said on her UK show Talk TV at the time. Sharon said the procedure would address Ozzy's neck issues that he'd been dealing with since his 2003 bike accident.

Following the surgery, Sharon gave an update, sharing a post on her Instagram Stories, writing, "Our family would like to express so much gratitude for the overwhelming amount of love and support leading up to Ozzy's surgery! Ozzy is doing well and on the road to recovery. Your love means the world to him."

Ozzy then shared an update himself on social media.

"I am now home from the hospital recuperating comfortably," he tweeted. "I am definitely feeling the love and support from all my fans and send everyone a big thank you for their thoughts, prayers and well wishes during my recovery."

Ozzy opened up about his health one month after he went public about his battle with Parkinson's disease.

"It's not a death sentence," he explained in an interview with Radio.com at the time. "It's a mild form of Parkinson's at the moment. I'm not shaking."

"The doctor told me that I probably walk by ten people a day who have got it and don't even know they've got it," he continued. "You don't get a pimple on your forehead, you just start walking a bit funny I suppose."

At the time, Ozzy told The Sun that his Parkinson's wasn't his biggest concern.

"If I had a choice between the Parkinson's and the f--king neck, I'd go for the Parkinson's," he said. "I've been laid up for a year now."

Ozzy shared that his neck injuries were leaving him in "unbelievable pain 24/7" and even prescribed painkillers weren't offering any relief.

Because of his past with drug abuse, though, he said he was "dying for all the opiate stuff I can't have."

Ozzy revealed his Parkinson's disease diagnosis for the first time during an appearance on Good Morning America in January 2020 alongside Sharon.

"It's been terribly challenging for us all," he said at the time. "I did my last show New Year's Eve at The Forum. Then I had a bad fall. I had to have surgery on my neck, which screwed all my nerves." It was shortly after the fall, Ozzy said, that he was diagnosed with the incurable neurodegenerative disorder that causes constant tremors in most patients.

"It's PRKN 2," Sharon said. "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. And it's -- it's like you have a good day, a good day, and then a really bad day."

Ozzy described the nerve pain and numbness as a "weird feeling," saying he "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."