Ozzy Osbourne is already excited to return to the stage after cancelling tour dates due to a hand infection.

Ozzy and Sharon Osbourne

Ozzy and Sharon Osbourne

The 69-year-old rocker has undergone surgery to treat an infection in his hand, and he has been forced to push back his North American run until 2019 to make sure he gives himself time to recover.

He told Rolling Stone magazine: "I was really looking forward to doing the Hollywood Bowl. I'm going to make those shows up next year. It could have been a lot worse. I could have been dead."

Now visiting a specialist once a week - initially it was three visits each week - Ozzy doesn't expect to feel like his old self, but he revealed he is "well on the mend".

He added: "To be honest with you, I didn't feel that bad all along. I said to the doctor at one point, 'When can I work out?' He said, 'You can do whatever you like, but I don't advise you to for at least 10 days.'

"I tried working out for two minutes and I thought I was gonna f***in' die, because the antibiotic knocks the wind out of your sails big-time. 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."

When he was hospitalised - which saw the Black Sabbath legend put on drip and pill antibiotics - the musician didn't consider cancelling any shows after the initial treatment.

He admitted: "I said to Sharon, 'What the fuck am I gonna do for the gig?' Then the doctor said, 'You must be f***ing crazy. You get another staph infection, and you could die.'

"He said, 'One's enough. You've got three individual ones.' "

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