# Why does Ozzy shuffle? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [March 17, 2002, 6:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-does-ozzy-shuffle/98708 "2002-03-17T06:14:08Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 15\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![samsmomma](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/57b2e6/32.png) [@samsmomma](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/samsmomma)\ **Post date:** [March 17, 2002, 6:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-does-ozzy-shuffle/98708/1 "2002-03-17T06:14:08Z")
I’ve been watching Ozzy Osbourne’s show on MTV, the Osbournes. My question for you all is, why does Ozzy shuffle when he walks,like an old man, he is only in his early fifties? I’ve heard the shuffling is due to a Grand Mal Seizures, but I’ve been unable to find any verifiable sources stating this as a fact. Anyone out there know for sure? If so, please let me know where I can see the evidence for myself, call me a skeptic. Thanks, Samsmomma ---
**Author:** ![honkytonkwillie](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/3da27b/32.png) [@honkytonkwillie](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/honkytonkwillie)\ **Post date:** [March 17, 2002, 9:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-does-ozzy-shuffle/98708/2 "2002-03-17T09:15:54Z")
He broke his leg in early December or thereabouts. Maybe they were filming sometime around then? I just saw him on concert a month ago and he wasn’t moving too well on stage either. Through his pants on his right leg, a large bulge was sometimes visible encircling his lower thigh. I’m guessing it was part of a leg brace. Great show. ---
**Author:** ![struct](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/f0a364/32.png) [@struct](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/struct)\ **Post date:** [March 17, 2002, 9:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-does-ozzy-shuffle/98708/3 "2002-03-17T09:48:02Z")
I fear that the explanation is that decades of frequent high-dosage ingestion of ethyl hydroxide mixtures have taken their toll. ---
**Author:** ![LorieSmurf](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/a587f6/32.png) [@LorieSmurf](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LorieSmurf)\ **Post date:** [March 17, 2002, 2:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-does-ozzy-shuffle/98708/4 "2002-03-17T14:13:35Z")
Whoa…you must be psychic or something. I was wondering this same thing a couple of nights ago watching his show for the first time. Funny-ass show by the way. All the swearing, the dog pooping and pissing all over the house, the pink haired girl…funny stuff. The first thing I thought of was “That looks like a Parkinson’s shuffle”. That particular shuffling walk is associated with Parkinson’s disease (I think so, anyway, if i recall correctly from my psyche nurse rotation) So then I thought if he had Parkinson’s it would be probably publicized. So then I thought “his brain must be totally friend by all the drugs he’s done.” So that’s my conclusion. ---
**Author:** ![ejrn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/a6a055/32.png) [@ejrn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ejrn)\ **Post date:** [March 17, 2002, 7:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-does-ozzy-shuffle/98708/5 "2002-03-17T19:44:03Z")
Could be what we sometimes call the “thorazine shuffle”. Antipsychotics have some pretty mean side effects that don’t always go away when the drugs are stopped. Wouldn’t be surprised if somebody put him on that kind of stuff at one point or another. ---
**Author:** ![DBK](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/779978/32.png) [@DBK](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DBK)\ **Post date:** [November 15, 2020, 12:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-does-ozzy-shuffle/98708/6 "2020-11-15T00:36:12Z")
I walk a lot like him and I’m only 15. I walk like that because I have a tremor and slight nerve damage and I was watching a documentary on him and it said the same thing so I think the answer is a tremor. ---
**Author:** ![bobot](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bobot/32/21622_2.png) [@bobot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bobot)\ **Post date:** [November 15, 2020, 12:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-does-ozzy-shuffle/98708/7 "2020-11-15T00:47:27Z")
15, wow, welcome to the community. This thread is older than you are. What do you mean by tremor, If I may ask? ---
**Author:** ![QuickSilver](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/quicksilver/32/7832_2.png) [@QuickSilver](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/QuickSilver)\ **Post date:** [November 15, 2020, 12:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-does-ozzy-shuffle/98708/8 "2020-11-15T00:47:28Z")
Kid, Ozzy’s been walking like that since before you were born. ---
**Author:** ![Enjoy\_Slurm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/enjoy_slurm/32/3937_2.png) [@Enjoy\_Slurm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Enjoy_Slurm)\ **Post date:** [November 15, 2020, 8:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-does-ozzy-shuffle/98708/9 "2020-11-15T08:35:42Z")
I used to watch the show and remember that. I read several years after the show ended that the family came out and said he was on “medication” that gave him the tremblies. I don’t disbelieve them my mom is on some medication that make her hands shaky and hard to do detail stuff with her hands. ---
**Author:** ![richw697](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/ed8c4c/32.png) [@richw697](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/richw697)\ **Post date:** [November 17, 2020, 9:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-does-ozzy-shuffle/98708/10 "2020-11-17T21:09:55Z")
Side note (& possible explanation): Ozzy isn’t in his 50’s. He was born 12/3/48, he’s 71. ---
**Author:** ![kenobi\_65](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kenobi_65/32/13178_2.png) [@kenobi\_65](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kenobi_65)\ **Post date:** [November 17, 2020, 9:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-does-ozzy-shuffle/98708/11 "2020-11-17T21:14:14Z")
He was in his 50s when this thread was started, and the original question asked, which was in 2002. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Acsenray](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/acsenray/32/4519_2.png) [@Acsenray](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Acsenray)\ **Post date:** [November 17, 2020, 9:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-does-ozzy-shuffle/98708/12 "2020-11-17T21:34:17Z")
> [@samsmomma](#): > > I’ve been watching Ozzy Osbourne’s show on MTV, the Osbournes. My question for you all is, why does Ozzy shuffle when he walks,like an old man, he is only in his early fifties? I’ve heard the shuffling is due to a Grand Mal Seizures, but I’ve been unable to find any verifiable sources stating this as a fact. Anyone out there know for sure? If so, please let me know where I can see the evidence for myself, call me a skeptic. > Thanks, Samsmomma He fucked himself up with years of drug and alcohol abuse. He is also incontinent and routinely pisses himself on stage. ---
**Author:** ![Senegoid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/senegoid/32/6606_2.png) [@Senegoid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Senegoid)\ **Post date:** [November 18, 2020, 5:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-does-ozzy-shuffle/98708/13 "2020-11-18T05:45:26Z")
> [@Acsenray](#): > > He fucked himself up with years of drug and alcohol abuse. Watch your language! There’s a 15-year-old kid in this thread! 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Mijin](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mijin/32/9369_2.png) [@Mijin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mijin)\ **Post date:** [November 18, 2020, 9:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-does-ozzy-shuffle/98708/14 "2020-11-18T09:02:16Z")
It does look like a Parkinson’s-style shuffle. But it’s worth being aware that lots of different conditions can cause similar symptoms as Parkinson’s, hence we have the term Parkinson\*-ism\*, which, for example, Muhammed Ali suffered from (probably) as a result of various head trauma. Basically any drugs, trauma, lesion, ageing or infection that interferes with dopamine production or pathways can result in these kinds of symptoms. (FYI though dopamine is often depicted as the “pleasure” neurotransmitter in pop sci, and indeed many narcotics do function by stimulating dopamine production, dopamine actually plays many roles in the brain, including in basic movement). ---
**Author:** ![by-tor](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/by-tor/32/266_2.png) [@by-tor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/by-tor)\ **Post date:** [November 18, 2020, 8:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-does-ozzy-shuffle/98708/15 "2020-11-18T20:37:46Z")
Apparently, Ozzy has had PRKN2 or early onset Parkinson’s disease for quite awhile. He also was hurt in a quad-bike accident and recently fell, aggravating injuries from the accident. > **[Ozzy Osbourne has Parkinson's Disease](https://www.webmd.com/parkinsons-disease/news/20200121/ozzy-osbourne-has-parkinsons-disease)** > > In an appearance on Good Morning America, the 71-year-old musician also said he was diagnosed with pneumonia and suffered a fall in his Los Angeles home in the past 12 months, People reported.