Ozzy Osbourne has insisted to his legions of followers that he’s not pulling the pin on the music game following his upcoming tour.
Earlier this year, Ozzy Osbourne announced that he was embarking on his final tour. Dubbed the ‘No More Tours 2’ tour, these dates were named in reference to the series of dates he performed in 1993 after being incorrectly diagnosed with multiple sclerosis. Two years later though, he was back on the road, performing on ‘The Retirement Sucks Tour’.
“I’ve been extremely blessed to have had two successful music careers,” Ozzy explained in a statement back in February. “I’m looking at this final tour as being a huge celebration for my fans and anyone who has enjoyed my music over the past five decades.”
“I’m not retiring,” he noted. “People have to understand that. I don’t want someone coming up the road and saying, ‘You said you’re not going to do it anymore.’ I’m not retiring. I’m just taking it easier on myself.”
Despite this, Ozzy Osbourne’s fans appear to be taking the tour’s name to heart, causing the rocker to set the record straight.
In an interview with The Inquirer, Ozzy Osbourne hit back at those who can’t seem to understand that he’s not pulling up stumps after this tour.
“What I’m stopping is doing what I’m doing now, going around the world all the time,” he explained. “I wish people would understand I’m not retiring. Is it my bad English accent? It’s called the ‘No More Tours’ tour. It doesn’t say ‘No more tours ever.‘”
“I’ve got grandchildren that I want to spend time with,” he reasoned. “I never spent that much time with my own kids. But I don’t punch a card every morning. This is not my job; it’s my passion. It’s been the best thing that’s ever happened to me in my life.”
Of course, this jives with what the Prince of Darkness said to Rolling Stone earlier this year as well. “It’s ‘No More Tours,’” he explained. “So I’m just not doing world tours anymore. I’m still going to be doing gigs, but I’m not going on tour for six months at a time anymore. I’d like to spend some time at home.”
So far, Ozzy Osbourne has a bunch of European, and North American tour dates up his sleeve, but nothing for our neck of the woods. Considering that this farewell tour is set to take him through to at least 2020, it looks as though we might have some hope about when we’ll be seeing some of Ozzy Osbourne’s final tour dates on our shores.
Check out Ozzy Osbourne’s ‘Crazy Train’:
