Ozzy Osbourne said he was bewildered about why he’d ever thought drinking and taking drugs was so much fun during his era of excess.

The former Black Sabbath frontman confirmed he’s substance-free and hopes to stay alive for a long time to come, with future plans including a potential Las Vegas residency.

In a new interview about his New Year’s Eve Ozzfest concert at the Forum in Inglewood, Calif., Osbourne told the Pasadena Star News that he was looking forward to quiet downtime in the coming years. “I’ll put on some music and doodle on some sketch pads and just drift away,” he said, reporting he’d had a room in his home set up for the purpose. “I’m just enjoying life now to the fullest. I don’t drink alcohol anymore. I don’t smoke tobacco. I don’t use drugs. … I’m doing good right now.”

He continued, “I now think, ‘How did I think going into a bar and getting smashed and doing all that cocaine was fun?’ I have come to think that if, right now, you had a gun, a bag of cocaine and a gallon of booze and you said, ‘Take your pick,’ I’d pick up the gun. It’s not worth it.”

He went on to say that, despite his No More Tours 2 road trip having been described as his farewell, he planned to keep playing concerts in the future – an assertion he's made in the past. “People have gotten that all wrong,” he stated. “The tour should have been the ‘Ozzy Osbourne Slowing Down Tour.’ What I’m actually doing is not going out on Jan. 1 and coming back on Dec. 31. I’ll still tour, but not as extensively like I have been for the last 50 years.

“I mean, I have grandchildren now and I’m 70 years old, and I don’t want to be found dead in a hotel room somewhere. I’m going to do it at a more leisurely pace and do some shows in Vegas … but I’ll never stop. The whole lifestyle I have lived, it has all come down to the fact that there are people who want to hear me and as long as they want to hear me, I’m there.”

He added that he didn’t believe in making New Year resolutions, but noted, “I just hope that God keeps me alive.”

 

Ozzy Osbourne Year by Year

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