Ozzy Osbourne is reportedly headed back to UK after being "fed up with people getting killed every day" in the US, he told The Observer.
The 73-year-old recently made headlines after joining his band, Black Sabbath, at the Commonwealth Games' closing ceremony in Birmingham last week - the heavy metal icons received a roaring reception while performing the band's legendary songs 'Paranoid' and 'Iron Man.'
However, it was the Prince of Darkness' shock reveal that he would be returning to the UK that is sparking everyone's interest - especially since the Birmingham native has been living in Los Angeles for more than two decades.
Citing the violence in the US as a factor for the move, Osbourne told The Observer: "Everything's f***ing ridiculous there [...] I'm fed up with people getting killed every day. God knows how many people have been shot in school shootings."
Osbourne added: "And there was that mass shooting in Vegas at that concert… It's f***ing crazy," in reference to the 2017 mass shooting at a country music festival in Vegas that killed 20 people, per the New York Post.
"And I don't want to die in America. I don't want to be buried in f***ing Forest Lawn," Osbourne stated, alluding to the popular Hollywood resting place, before adding: "I'm English. I want to be back. But, saying that, if my wife said we've got to go and live in Timbuktu, I'll go. But, no, it's just time for me to come home."
Billboard reported that Osbourne and his wife, Sharon, will move into their 350-acre mansion in Buckinghamshire in 2023, which will eventually include his own private music studio.
Fans of the Osbourne family's reality show in the early 00s will remember just how much the iconic rocker's home music studio meant to him - in fact, at one point the studio became the only place the lovable but potty-mouthed father-of-two could have to himself amongst the drama of the family's chaotic lives.
It seems Osbourne is ramping up the publicity in anticipation of his upcoming album, Patient Number 9. The album is slated for release on September 9, and boasts features from Eric Clapton and Jeff Beck. The album's title song, 'Patient Number 9' already reached the number one position on Billboard's Mainstream Rock Airplay Chart in July.
Black Sabbath, and especially Osbourne, are widely regarded as the inventors of heavy metal. Their legacy in the genre is profound - singing about paranoia and drug abuse at a time when bands typically wrote about love and flower power. In fact, the band's early work even influenced a new genre - doom metal.
Akin to the Rolling Stones, Ozzy Osbourne's music has stood the test of time. He has been able to remain relevant in an era where people have extremely short attention spans and where music has a more formulaic approach. As a solo artist, Osbourne has been able to place top 10 in the US Billboard 200 in the 80s, 90s, 00s, 10s, and even in the 20s, per Ozzy.com.
The murmurings within the worldwide metal community are abuzz with anticipation for the new album, which could cement Osbourne's legacy in yet another decade - the (original) Iron Man lives again!