Days after Ozzy Osbourne cancelled the remaining four shows of his 2018 North American “No More Tours 2” due to a serious infection in his right hand, they’ve been rescheduled for summer 2019. And on October 22, he announced that he’ll be headlining a New Year’s Eve edition of Ozzfest at the Forum in Los Angeles. Joining him at this year’s event: Rob Zombie, Marilyn Manson, Jonathan Davis of Korn, and Body Count.
“I asked Sharon what we’re doing this New Year’s Eve and she said ‘WE’RE DOING FUCK ALL!” says Osbourne. “So I thought ‘we didn’t do Ozzfest in 2018, so let’s do a New Year’s Eve Ozzfest.'” Tickets are on sale here.
Ozzy also revealed recently that he’ll be headlining 2019’s Download Festival Japan.
About that right hand… Osbourne told Rolling Stone that he had three staph infections and that his right thumb had swollen to “the size of a fuckin’ lightbulb. The doctor said ‘I don’t know if you realize, Mr. Osbourne, this is a very serious problem.’
“They cut all this stuff out… when it gets in the blood and goes in your body… It could have been a lot worse. I could have been dead.”
On October 25, Ozzy sent out this greeting…
Checking in pic.twitter.com/inuXXdRI5Z
— Ozzy Osbourne (@OzzyOsbourne) October 25, 2018
According to the original October 11 announcement from his publicist about his health, following additional evaluation from his doctors, Osbourne “will likely require another surgery in the coming days to treat multiple infections in his right hand.”
Following the postponement of his Oct. 6 show at the Shoreline Amphitheatre in Mountain View, Calif., Osbourne had originally postponed two additional shows. At that time, his publicist noted: “further consultations with his doctors at Cedars-Sinai in Los Angeles… advised that he take a few extra days to recover.”
Ozzy Osbourne 2019 Rescheduled Dates (Tickets are available here and here)
Jul 20 – Las Vegas, NV – MGM Grand Garden Arena (orig. Oct. 13)
Jul 23 – Chula Vista, CA – Mattress Firm Amphitheatre (orig. Oct. 9)
Jul 27 – Mountain View, CA – Shoreline Amphitheatre (orig. Oct. 6)
Jul 29 – Hollywood, CA – Hollywood Bowl (orig. Oct. 11)
Other 2019 Dates
Jan 30 – Dublin, Ireland – 3Arena
Feb 03 – Manchester, UK – Manchester Arena
Feb 05 – Newcastle, UK – Metro Radio Arena
Feb 07 – Glasgow, UK – SSE Hydro
Feb 09 – Birmingham, UK – Gentling Arena
Feb 11 – London, UK – O2 Arena
Feb 13 – Munich, Germany – Olympiahalle
Feb 15 – Frankfurt, Germany – Festhalle
Feb 17 – Hamburg, Germany – Barclaycard Arena
Feb 19 – Berlin, Germany – Mercedes-Benz Arena
Feb 22 – Stockholm, Sweden – Ericcson Globe
Feb 24 – Helsinki, Finland – Hartwall Arena
Feb 27 – Zurich, Switzerland – Hallenstadion
Mar 01 – Bologna, Italy – Unipol Arena
Mar 03 – Barcelona, Spain – Palau Sant Jordi
Mar 09 – Sydney, Australia – Download Festival Australia
Mar 11 – Melbourne, Australia – Download Festival Australia
Mar 13 – Christchurch, NZ – Horncastle Arena
Mar 16 – Auckland, NZ – Spark Arena
Mar 21 – Chiba, Japan – Download Festival Japan
Related: Black Sabbath’s debut: Where metal began
Ticketholders for all the postponed shows should hold on to their tickets, as they will be honored for the rescheduled dates. Refunds are also available at point of purchase. The tour is scheduled to resume on January 30, 2019 in Dublin, Ireland, with additional dates in the U.K., Europe, Australia, New Zealand, and Japan through March 21.
In a Q&A sent to journalists over the summer before the September 1 launch of the tour, Osbourne was asked if this is “really it” for his live touring days—as the tour’s title implies. He responded, at the time, “I have to say this, ‘I’m not retiring!’ I’m just not doing world tours anymore. I’m still doing gigs. I’m still going to do shows, just no more world tours. They’ll say, ‘You said you were going to retire on the No More Tours Tour 25 years ago,’ but I’m not retiring!” He then added, in response to a question about how he gets through the shows, “I have to hand it over to a power greater than myself. It’s a higher power. I’m not religious. There’s something out there that helps get me through. It’s too much for me to own it all.”
Watch Ozzy perform “Bark at the Moon” at the 2018 Download Festival
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