Ozzy Osbourne's Doctors Can't Agree Whether He Should Have Had Neck Surgery

Ozzy Osbourne And Corey Taylor Special Announcement

Sharon Osbourne says the surgery her husband Ozzy Osbourne had this past spring to repair his injured neck might not have been necessary.

Ozzy was back home this spring after being hospitalized with pneumonia when he tripped and fell late at night while walking to bed. The Black Sabbath co-founder said he hit a bedside table so hard and felt such a rush of pain that he was sure he broke his neck and feared he might be left paralyzed.

In fact, what reportedly happened was that metal rods and screws in his neck and shoulders (installed after a near-fatal 2003 ATV accident) became "dislodged."

Sharon tells The Sun in a recent interview that she often thinks about the fall and the resulting ordeal for her family. While Ozzy's broken collarbone was fixed "straight away," doctors couldn't perform the spinal operation for a week due to inflammation.

Sharon, who has also been Ozzy's manager since 1980, says she wishes they had used that time to do some more research. Now she worries they acted too reflexively. But what's most frustrating is that they don't know for sure.

"He was in surgery for five hours, and afterwards they told us it would take him a year to recover," Sharon said.

She then explained how "terrifying" it was to see her rockstar husband "incapacitated."

"They can't do a thing, and you're so engulfed with fear that you can't think clearly," she continued. "We didn't do any research or ask the right questions. Now, certain doctors say, 'Well, maybe he shouldn't have had this operation.' ...It's a nightmare. Every doctor seems to have a different opinion."

Ozzy's 'No More Tours 2' farewell tour was supposed to resume last January. It was postponed several times while he battled the flu and then pneumonia and then his neck injury. Now, as Ozzy working on getting better in rehab, with a new album on the way, the singer is set to resume his tour next spring.

Ozzy released the first single, "Under the Graveyard," from the new album last Friday. The album, Ordinary Man, is due out in January.

Both Sharon and Ozzy have suggested that the album would not have happened if Ozzy was able to tour. But with little to do but watch TV and think about music, Ozzy was eager to work with producer/guitarist Andrew Watt on a new album, that eventually included a Rock and Roll Hall of Fame rhythm section with Guns N' Roses bassist Duff McKagan and Red Hot Chili Peppers drummer Chad Smith.

Get all Ozzy's 2020 tour dates here.

Photo: Getty Images


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