CHAMPAIGN, Ill. -- Rock singer Ozzy Osbourne, undergoing rabies treatment because he bit off the head of a bat, apparently suffered a reaction to the rabies serum and collapsed during a performance, a doctor said.

Osbourne was taken to Carle Clinic, where he was treated and released late Tuesday.


Osbourne bit the head off a bat at a concert last week in Des Moines, Iowa, and was receiving rabies shots. Serum sickness, a reaction to the shots, causes vomiting and joint pain, a doctor at the clinic said. Osbourne also may be suffering from laryngitis, the doctor said.

The singer entered the stage at the University of Illinois' Assembly Hall from his trademark pyramid. He clutched his microphone with two hands and collapsed, a member of the audience said.

'I thought maybe it was just a hoax,' she said.

Osbourne's manager said the singer's tour would not be disrupted. He was scheduled to appear in St. Louis tonight.