Nothing says American football like British heavy metal icon Ozzy Osbourne, who announced he will perform at the NFL season opener when the Los Angeles Rams take on the Buffalo Bills at SoFi Stadium in Inglewood, CA on Thursday, September 8th. The halftime performance marks the latest baby step back to the stage for the 73-year-old Black Sabbath co-founder who has been kept off the road the past few years due to health issues.
The appearance will come one day before the release of Osbourne’s new album, Patient Number 9. According to a press release, the Prince of Darkness will perform a multi-song medley at halftime, some of which will air during NBC‘s broadcast of the game set to begin at 8:20 p.m. ET.
This news comes after Osbourne recently took the stage for the first time since 2019. During the closing ceremonies of the Commonwealth Games in Black Sabbath’s birthplace of Birmingham, U.K., Osbourne made a surprise appearance alongside Sabbath guitarist Tony Iommi for a performance of “Paranoid”. The single-song appearance marked his first public performance since singing “Take What You Want” with Post Malone at the American Music Awards in November 2019. Ozzy’s last full performance was on New Year’s Eve 2018, per Rolling Stone.
The timing of Osbourne’s California performance is also of note as he and his wife Sharon Osbourne last week announced their plans to move back to England. Citing mass shootings, high taxes, and general division as their reasons for leaving L.A. in an interview with The Guardian, it also recently came out that the Osbournes might have had another reason for their repatriation.
It was announced this week that Ozzy and Sharon will return to the small screen with a new “docuseries” Home To Roost. According to Variety, the BBC series “will follow the Osbournes as they celebrate one of their most important years yet–with everything from Sharon’s 70th birthday to Kelly’s soon-to-be-born baby, Ozzy’s tour, and of course the big move itself.” The announcement comes exactly 20 years after The Osbournes helped pioneer reality television on MTV.
The Ozzman has faced a number of health setbacks in recent years, including a staph infection and fall that stunted his No More Tours 2 farewell tour, originally launched in 2018. In addition to the limitations posed by the pandemic, Ozzy also revealed a Parkinson’s Disease diagnosis in 2020. Even in the face of these mortal hindrances, the heavy metal icon has long maintained that he will never retire. His tour is scheduled to resume in May 2023 in Europe.