Ozzy Osbourne has cancelled his North American tour to undergo treatment amid a continuing period of poor health. A statement on his website says the decision will help him “to continue to recover from various health issues he has faced over the past year”.

Osbourne himself said: “I’m so thankful that everyone has been patient because I’ve had a shit year. Unfortunately, I won’t be able to get to Switzerland for treatment until April and the treatment takes six to eight weeks. I don’t want to start a tour and then cancel shows at the last minute, as it’s just not fair to the fans.”

Osbourne has been hospitalised frequently in recent months. In October 2018, he was treated for a staph infection, and then suffered flu and bronchitis in early 2019. As a result, he postponed the European leg of his final No More Tours II world tour to autumn 2020, having already rescheduled it once.

He also suffered a bad fall and required surgery to his neck – during the treatment, he was diagnosed with what he described as a “mild form” of Parkinson’s disease, which he revealed in January. “I got a numbness down this arm for the surgery, my legs keep going cold,” he said. “I don’t know if that’s the Parkinson’s … They cut nerves when they did the surgery. I’d never heard of nerve pain, and it’s a weird feeling.”

Osbourne’s wife, Sharon, had previously detailed the Swiss treatment: “We’ve kind of reached a point here in this country where we can’t go any further because we’ve got all the answers we can get here. So in April, we’re going to a professional in Switzerland. And he deals with getting your immune system at its peak.”

Osbourne’s new album, Ordinary Man, is released this week, and features guest appearances from Elton John, Post Malone, Travis Scott and Slash.