Ozzy Osbourne has opened up about the cancellation of some recent shows, revealing a staph infection was to blame.

A couple of weeks ago, music fans received the news that Ozzy Osbourne was forced to cancel a handful of US shows after needing to undergo surgery on his hand. Of course, some fans found it ironic that after a lifetime of hard-living, it was a hand infection that caught up with Ozzy. But now, the iconic rocker has revealed that his recent medical episode was in fact a rather serious one.

Speaking to Rolling Stone, Ozzy Osbourne opened up about his recent health scare, noting he realised something was wrong when his thumb had swollen to “the size of a fuckin’ lightbulb”.

“I didn’t feel sick, so I was cracking jokes,” Osbourne explained. “The doctor said, ‘I don’t know if you realize, Mr. Osbourne, this is a very serious problem you have.’ Sharon said, ‘Would you stop fucking making jokes?’”

Today’s show at @ShorelineAmp in Mountain View, CA has being postponed due to illness. Ozzy is being treated for an infection and will spend a couple of days at Cedars-Sinai in LA. Today’s show has been rescheduled for Tues, Oct 16 (support act is TBA)https://t.co/QCgoPDBGdJ pic.twitter.com/YPh4yam82L — Ozzy Osbourne (@OzzyOsbourne) October 6, 2018

“They’re all extremely, deadly serious about it,” he continued. “I judge it based on the expression and the body language of the doctor. If he comes in with a really solemn face, I go, ‘Oh, OK. My time to go is up.’”

As for how he actually contracted a staph infection, Osbourne noted that the doctor suggested it may have come from something as simple as shaking hands with someone. “I do that meet and greet at the gig and I must shake fucking 200 hands a day,” Ozzy explained to the doctor. “He said, ‘That explains it.’”

“They cut all this stuff out. Even with the numbing stuff, it was agony,” he continued. “It wasn’t pus, but it was the stage after pus, when it gets in the blood and goes in your body and fucking kills you. It may sound fucked up what I’m saying to you, but he was really concerned about checking my blood.”

Feeling better after surgery. Ice cream helps pic.twitter.com/L3JWScrOI5 — Ozzy Osbourne (@OzzyOsbourne) October 7, 2018

While Ozzy Osbourne noted that the doctors diagnosed him with three seperate staph infections, he almost felt as though the recovery process was the worst part. Despite resting up in hospital with ice cream, the rocker was eventually sent home on antibiotics, unable to partake in many of his usual activities.

“I tried working out for two minutes and I thought I was gonna fuckin’ die, because the antibiotic knocks the wind out of your sails big-time,” he recalled. “So I went, ‘You know what? I’ll let the doctor be the doctor and I’ll be the patient.’ So now compared to what I was like, I feel about 85 to 90 percent better. So I’m well on the mend.”

While Ozzy Osbourne is set to make what is ostensibly his final trip to Australia next year for the 2019 edition of Download Festival, he says he’s planning to make up for his cancelled US shows as well.

“I’m going to make those shows up next year,” he promises. “It could have been a lot worse. I could have been dead.”

Check out Ozzy Osbourne’s ‘Crazy Train’:

Download Festival 2019 Lineup

Ozzy Osbourne

Slayer

Judas Priest

Alice In Chains

Ghost

Rise Against

The Amity Affliction

Anthrax

Halestorm

Behemoth

Me First And The Gimme Gimmes

I Prevail

Converge

Frenzal Rhomb

Luca Brasi

Code Orange

Andy Black

The Fever 333

War On Women

High Tension

Outright

Ruins

Alien Weaponry

Plus Loads More To Be Announced!

Download Festival Australia 2019

Saturday, March 9th, 2019

Parramatta Park, Sydney, NSW

Monday, March 11th, 2019 (Long weekend)

Flemington Racecourse, Melbourne, VIC