New Drama As Ozzy Recuperates
Ozzy Osbourne - once a wild man of heavy metal music, now a dazed dad in a reality TV show - is recuperating in intensive care from injuries including a broken neck vertebra suffered in an all-terrain vehicle accident.
The London Telegraph quotes the injured rocker's doctor as saying he is expected to remain on a ventilator for a few more days, is no longer in danger from the fractured vertebra, and might recover within two months.
Sharon Osbourne flew to Britain from Los Angeles to be with her 55-year-old husband after the latest dramatic incident in a colorful career that has included biting the head off a bat and urinating on the Alamo, among other antics.
While Ozzy has been unable to speak, Mrs. Osbourne did get an account of the accident from a family security guard.
"Apparently he was on his quad bike and he hit something and he fell and the bike landed on top of him," Sharon Osbourne told reporters Tuesday at London's Heathrow Airport.
A quad bike, akin to a four-wheel-drive motorcycle, is used for recreation and by hunters and farmers to reach inaccessible places.
Sharon Osbourne visited her husband at Wexham Park Hospital in Slough, west of London, where he underwent emergency surgery Monday to restore the flow to a damaged blood vessel, said Dr. Dick Jack, hospital medical director.
Osbourne fractured his left collarbone, eight ribs and a neck vertebra in the accident Monday on his Buckinghamshire estate in southern England.
"It's satisfactory but it's going to be slow. I don't expect any major changes certainly for 24 hours," Jack said of Osbourne's recovery.
He said he believed there was no risk of paralysis from the fractured neck vertebra, although doctors were awaiting a final report from radiologists before removing an immobilizing collar.
Osbourne's fans have been gathering outside the hospital, some holding signs to demonstrate their support. Bill Greer, Osbourne's tour manager, says there has been an outpouring of get well wishes and flowers for Ozzy, for which his wife, Sharon, is expressing their thanks.
The accident occurred while the singer was taking a day off from promoting "Changes," a duet with his daughter Kelly, his London publicity agency said in a statement.
The song, released Tuesday in Britain, is a likely contender for the Christmas No. 1 spot in singles charts.
Ozzy Osbourne, whose real name is John Osbourne, grew up in a blue-collar family in Birmingham, central England. He served two months in prison for burglary at age 17.
He rose to fame with the 1970s metal band Black Sabbath. He left for a solo career, shocking many with lyrics focusing on the occult and startling performances.
Osbourne bit the head off a live dove at a meeting with record company executives in 1981. The following year he did the same to a live bat at a concert in Des Moines, Iowa, although the bat reportedly bit back, and Osbourne reportedly had to undergo painful rabies shots.
The singer also used to throw raw meat into the audience and once urinated on a wall at the Alamo in San Antonio, Texas.
Some fans concluded that decades of alcohol and drug abuse had taken their toll when a rather confused-appearing Osbourne became an unlikely TV star with hit reality show "The Osbournes."
The third season of the MTV series, which follows the lives of Ozzy, Sharon and their children - Jack and Kelly - started production about a month ago and was to begin airing Jan. 13.
The Osbourne accident nearly coincided with a story last weekend on the Los Angeles Times Web site reporting a claim by Osbourne that he was prescribed excessive amounts of powerful anti-psychotic and tranquilizing drugs by a Beverly Hills physician.
Osbourne said he developed a 42-pill-a-day habit that accounted for his odd behavior on the expletive-laden MTV show, in which he has been seen mumbling, falling and appearing disoriented.
He blamed Dr. David Kipper, who has been investigated for the same practices with other celebrity patients.
On Monday, however, actor-director Danny DeVito issued a statement in support of Kipper. DeVito said he and his wife, actress Rhea Perlman, and other family members have relied on Kipper's care for more than 20 years.
Calls to Kipper's office Monday were not returned.
Earlier this month, Osbourne told a British newspaper he'd been sexually molested as a child and suffered emotional effects long into adulthood.