Osbourne will play the Rams’ season opener

ANAHEIM, Calif. — To help the Los Angeles Rams kick off the 2022 NFL season, rocker Ozzy Osbourne will perform at halftime during the team’s season opener against the Buffalo Bills today at SoFi Stadium in Inglewood. The appearance also comes a day ahead of the release of his 13th solo album, “Patient Number 9.”

“I’m going to be doing a bit of a medley,” the 73-year-old Black Sabbath frontman said of his SoFi performance during a phone interview this week from his home in Los Angeles. “I’m doing a little ‘Crazy Train’ and a bit of ‘Patient Number 9.’ It’s just a bit of fun really.”

Though the English singer is more of a European football fan, he said the New England Patriots have taken his hit “Crazy Train” and used it as an unofficial anthem. Back in 2005, Osbourne played at the Patriots’ NFL season opener against the then-Oakland Raiders at Gillette Stadium in Foxboro, Massachusetts, belting out “Crazy Train” alongside guitarist Zakk Wylde during kickoff.

That year, New England went on to win Super Bowl XXXIX against the Philadelphia Eagles. Osbourne said that he might be able to bring a little of that luck to the Rams, who may or may not need it since they enter the season having just won Super Bowl LVI against the Cincinnati Bengals earlier this year.

Osbourne, who has been battling Parkinson’s disease and recovering from more recent surgeries to correct previous operations on his spine, did a surprise performance — alongside Black Sabbath guitarist Tony Iommi — at the closing ceremony of the 2022 Commonwealth Games in his hometown of Birmingham, England, last month. It was the first time he’d been on stage since ringing in 2019 with a special one-night-only version of his Ozzfest at Kia Forum in Inglewood. He had a stabilizing stand behind him during the U.K. performance and said he was gripping onto the mic stand, too.

“I was kind of wedged in a bit because Sharon (Osbourne) was going ‘Don’t fall over,’” he recalled of his wife’s concern. After having major surgery in June, Osbourne said he’s on a lot of blood thinners and he’s prone to blood clots. He was diagnosed with Parkinson’s back in 2019, but wasn’t going to let that him stop from touring in support of his 2020 album, “Ordinary Man.” However, the COVID-19 pandemic forced the global jaunt to be postponed twice. Having to face even more health issues this year, Osbourne said he’s not ready to hit the road just yet, but come hell or high water, he’ll get back to it.

“I’m trying my hardest and if I have to get up there in a (expletive) wheelchair, I’m going to do it,” he said. “I can’t walk very well, which is so frustrating for me. It’s like I want to just scream. It’s not fair that the doctor who did the first surgery … that he made a mess of it. The thing is, you go to a surgeon and they tell you that you have to have this or that and you believe them. You don’t expect them to (mess) it all up.”

Osbourne said he misses the crowds and his fans. He was delighted that thousands showed up and stood in line to meet him and artist Todd McFarlane at San Diego Comic-Con back in July as the pair unveiled the new artwork for Osbourne’s “Patient Number 9” album and they signed a special edition comic. Until that outing, he’d been housebound and recovering from surgery, but said a handful of close friends kept his spirits high, including a rekindled relationship with Iommi.