Ozzy Osbourne Postpones European Leg of Tour Due to Illness

Ozzy Osbourne is postponing the U.K. and European leg of his No More Tours 2 Tour due to illness. Previously, he had postponed the first four dates of the tour because of the flu, and now his doctor has diagnosed him with an upper-respiratory infection that could develop into pneumonia if Osbourne were to travel and perform onstage. The tour was set to kick off on the 30th. He’ll announce rescheduled dates, ostensibly for the fall, at a later date.

Late last year, Osbourne had to postpone a number of dates in the U.S. after contracting a staph infection. He rescheduled those dates for this summer, when he’ll be touring the U.S. with Megadeth, and was able to recover in time to perform at a New Year’s Eve one-off Ozzfest. His health took a turn for the worse after that.

“I’m completely devastated for having to postpone the European leg of my tour,” Osbourne said in a statement. “It just seems that since October, everything I touch has turned to shit. First, the staph infection in my thumb and now coming down with the flu and bronchitis. I want to apologize to all of my fans who have been so loyal over the years, my band, my crew and to [European tour-leg openers] Judas Priest for letting you all down. However, I promise the tour with Judas Priest will be completed. It’s being rescheduled right now to start in September. Again, I apologize to everyone. God Bless. Love you all, Ozzy.”

Osbourne is encouraging anyone with tickets to the European dates to hold onto them, as they will be honored for the new dates. Refunds are also available from wherever they were purchased.

The tour will resume in March with a handful of dates in Australia, New Zealand and Japan. In late May, he’ll kick off another North American leg of the trek with dates that run through the end of July.

In an in-depth interview with Rolling Stone last year, Osbourne said that despite the tour’s title, he’s not retiring. He still plans on doing short runs of dates and one-offs as he pleases. “I’m no good at anything else,” he said. “I literally can’t do anything else.”

via:: Rolling Stone