Black Sabbath frontman Ozzy Osbourne’s family have revealed the singer is “heartbroken” that he will not be able to perform at this year’s Power Trip festival in Indio, California.
Power Trip is an upcoming heavy metal music festival set to take place on 6th-8th October. Although this is the first instance of the event, it is being described as a sequel to 2016’s Desert Trip, a 6 day festival that also took place in Indio, California. Headliners of Desert Trip included Bob Dylan, The Rolling Stones, and The Who.
The rockstar was set to perform at Power Trip this October alongside headliners Metallica, AC/DC and Guns N’ Roses. However, in a statement released in July, Osbourne revealed that “Unfortunately, my body is telling me that I’m just not ready yet and I am much too proud to have the first show that I do in nearly five years be half-assed”.
As painful as this is, I’ve had to make the decision to bow out of performing on Power Trip in October.
My original plan was to return to the stage in the summer of 2024, & when the offer to do this show came in, I optimistically moved forward.
Unfortunately, my body is… pic.twitter.com/gHWEE8VuI6
— Ozzy Osbourne (@OzzyOsbourne) July 10, 2023
It has since been revealed that Judas Priest will serve as Ozzy’s replacement at the upcoming event.
The 74-year-old acquired a neck injury after a fall in 2019 that required 2 metal plates to be inserted into his spine. The result of this caused the singer more pain, and meant he required more surgery last year, from which he is still recovering. The heavy metal legend has also been diagnosed with Parkinson’s disease, all of which contributed to his decision to retire from touring. Osbourne made the announcement of his retirement on February 1st.
This is probably one of the hardest things I’ve ever had to share with my loyal fans… pic.twitter.com/aXGw3fjImo
— Ozzy Osbourne (@OzzyOsbourne) February 1, 2023
Although the English rocker was optimistic about being able to return to the stage, his wife Sharon Osbourne stated in an interview with Rolling Stone that “He’s doing a lot better, but he still has a long way to go before he can perform a full concert.”
Sharon was joined by daughter Kelly Osbourne, who, when asked about her father’s decision not to perform at Power Trip, claimed that “We can’t talk about it in the house because it is just so heartbreaking to see that all he wants is just one more show”.
“He said that if he can’t give his fans what they paid to see, he won’t do it”.
Although this decision was clearly very tough to make, Ozzy Osbourne assured fans in his announcement, “I love you all and I will see you soon.”
