Ozzy Osbourne to retire from touring before he hits 70

Ozzy Osbourne will retire from touring before he hits the age of 70, his manager and wife Sharon has insisted.

Black Sabbath’s The End Tour is currently set to wrap up at Sao Paulo’s Morumbi Stadium on 4th December, although it’s expected to continue into 2017 with Tony Iommi hinting recently that their final show will take place in Birmingham.

Ozzy plans to continue as a solo artist following Sabbath’s demise, however, speaking to Rolling Stone, Sharon Osbourne said he “won’t be long behind (Sabbath) when he calls it a day.”

Confirming he won’t be playing the live circuit as a septuagenarian, Sharon added: “(Retirement from touring is) not going to be within the next year, but it’s coming up. I don’t want Ozzy singing Crazy Train at 75. I think it’s best you go out before you hit 70, and go out on top.”

Mercifully, in a Billboard interview last week Ozzy suggested he’ll always be involved in music in some form or another.

Ozzy said: “I just get on with it. I’m not stopping, Terry (Geezer Butler) is not stopping, we’re just stopping Sabbath. We’re not gonna sit in our rocking chairs and look at our scrapbook.

“We’ll still be involved in the music scene, that’s what we’ve always done. It’s been the best thing that ever happened to me.”

The legendary vocalist also said he is definitely fearing the reaper following the surge in celebrity deaths in 2016: “Everybody’s dying, you know. I go, ‘I hope I don’t die tonight!’ It’s like the year of the dying rock star, isn’t it? It’s like one a week.”

Black Sabbath headline Download Festival alongside Rammstein and Iron Maiden next month. Tickets are on sale from Planet Rock Tickets now.