Judas Priest release statement following Ozzy Osbourne tour postponement

Ozzy Osbourne released a video message last night where he told fans his recovery from a bad fall and subsequent surgery is “taking a little bit longer than everyone thought it would.”

The 70-year-old rocker explained: “I'm postponing the European tour because I'm not ready. I'm not retiring — I've still got gigs to do — but when I do come back on an American tour, I wanna be one hundred percent ready to come out and knock your f***ing socks off.”

He added: "Thank you to my band and my crew and Live Nation, and most of all, Judas Priest.

"I just wanna say one thing to the fans: I sincerely thank you for your patience and your loyalty. I love you. Now, will you f*** off and let me get better."

Originally scheduled to take place in February 2019, the UK and Ireland leg of Ozzy’s No More Tours 2 with special guests Judas Priest was initially postponed until early 2020 as Ozzy was hospitalised with pneumonia.

In response to the second tour postponement, Judas Priest have today thanked fans for their enduring “rock solid support”.

They wrote: “We are very grateful for the rock solid support from our wonderful UK & European fans as Ozzy gets well and strong - the UK/European tour will showcase the very best British Metal from the ones that started it all and we proudly look forward to celebrating our 50 Heavy Metal Years together with you!”

It's currently unclear when the UK & Ireland shows will take place, however Live Nation Sweden reports that the Stockholm Ericcson Globe show will happen "in the first half of 2021."

The postponed UK and Ireland dates are as follows:

JANUARY 2020
Nottingham Motorpoint Arena – Fri 31st

FEBRUARY 2020
Dublin 3Arena – Sun 2nd
Manchester Arena – Wed 5th
Newcastle Utilita Arena – Fri 7th
London The O2 – Mon 10th
Glasgow SSE Hydro – Wed 12th
Birmingham Resorts World Arena – Fri 14th