Judas Priest vocalist Rob Halford has shared his ideas on Ozzy Osbourne‘s latest retirement from touring.
Speaking to Metal Hammer, Halford stated he had not spoken to Osbourne in particular person because the latter introduced his retirement from touring in early February. However, Halford texted Osbourne to congratulate him on his latest two-Grammy win for finest rock album and finest metallic efficiency.
Digging deeper into the subject of retirement, Halford stated: “I can only reinforce what all of Ozzy’s fans, including us in Judas Priest, have said to him though, which is that he has done so much for all of us in rock and metal. He’s done so much for his fans, and we all know how bad he feels about having to cancel because he lives for those fans. You can see that every time he goes onstage, he’s beaming and connecting with everybody.”
He added: “It was terrible for him to have to make that important – and, to be honest, right – decision. He made the right call. I don’t think he wanted to put himself through a thing where it’s like ‘Okay, we’ll have a go’ then have to cancel after a couple of shows. Even though there’s a lot of love for him and a lot of care and understanding, I’ve seen what the British metal maniacs have been saying and it’s exactly how I feel too – put your feet up, you’ve earned it!”
Ozzy Osbourne introduced his retirement from touring on February 1, writing that it was “probably one of the hardest things I’ve ever had to share with my loyal fans. As you may know, four years ago, this month, I had a major accident, where I damaged my spine,” the previous Black Sabbath frontman wrote, speaking a couple of fall which resulted within the singer getting neck surgical procedure. He would go on to cancel all of his remaining tour dates in Europe and the UK.
Last week, Osbourne would make clear his retirement announcement, saying “So, if I can ever get back to where I can tour again, fine,” earlier than explaining “If I get OK today. If the doctor said to me today, ‘Oh, you can tour.’ It would take another six months to get it together, you know? The only thing I’ve got that keeps me going is making records. But I can’t do that forever. I gotta get out there.”
