Ozzy Osbourne: “How did I think … doing all that cocaine was fun?”

Spencer Kaufman
In advance of Ozzfest New Year's Eve, the Prince of Darkness says he's living clean after past years of substance abuse.

Ozzy Osbourne is set to headline a special Ozzfest New Year’s Eve concert on December 31st at The Forum in Inglewood, California, and while he promises it will be a good time, the Prince of Darkness himself won’t be toasting the new year with champagne, let alone any illicit drugs. In fact, the metal legend wonders why he ever spiraled into a world of drug and alcohol abuse in the first place.

“I don’t drink alcohol anymore,” he told the Orange County Register while promoting Ozzfest. “I don’t smoke tobacco. I don’t use drugs … I’m doing good right now. I now think, how did I think going into a bar and getting (really) smashed and doing all that cocaine was (really) fun?”

Knowing Ozzy, we’re assuming the newspaper substituted the word “really” for a certain profanity.

He continued, “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. I don’t believe in making New Year’s resolutions, so I won’t be making one this year, I just hope that God keeps me alive.”

Elsewhere in the interview, Ozzy reiterated that his “No More Tours 2” trek is not a farewell tour, despite being billed that way. “People have gotten that all wrong,” he said. “The tour should have been the “Ozzy Osbourne Slowing Down Tour”. What I’m actually doing is not going out on January 1st and coming back on December 31st. I’ll still tour, but not as extensively like I have been for the last 50 years.”

He added, “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.”

Read the full interview here.

The Ozzfest New Year’s Eve bill also features Rob Zombie, Marilyn Manson, Jonathan Davis, Body Count, Zakk Sabbath and more. Full details and tickets are available here.