Ozzy Osbourne says he's back on drugs and hiding it from wife Sharon

Former Black Sabbath singer Ozzy Osbourne, 75, has battled alcohol and drug addiction most of his life but praises wife Sharon, 71, for making sure he doesn't go back to his bad old ways

Ozzy Osbourne has confessed to sneaking a smoke of weed behind his wife Sharon's back.

The rock legend, aged 75 and grappling with Parkinson's as well as neck and back issues, shared: "I am happier but I am not completely sober. I use a bit of marijuana from time to time."

Despite his long history of battling substance abuse, Ozzy credits his wife Sharon, 71, for keeping him in check and preventing a full relapse into his darker days. He expressed gratitude for her tough love, saying: "I am lucky my wife kicks my butt all the time and she would make life so difficult," and admitted, "Even with marijuana she will f***ing find it and get rid of it."

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Living in Los Angeles where cannabis is legal, Ozzy spoke on his Madhouse Chronicles podcast about experimenting with ketamine at a doctor's office.

"I went to a doctor recently and started to have this ketamine," he recounted. "He put a tiny bit in me but that was enough to spark me. That thing came back and weighted my brain.", reports the Mirror.

Ozzy revealed he's given up on AA meetings but is reconsidering that choice, adding: "If you are out there and you are using dope and you want to get off, there is plenty of help," and noting, "AA is a 12-step programme. It got me sorted out to a certain degree. I do not go to meetings myself anymore. Maybe I should do, I don't know."

Ozzy, always candid about his battles with addiction, has voiced concern about the current trend of "micro dosing" drugs among musicians in California, saying it wouldn't work for him. He shared his perspective, explaining that to him micro dosing is a dangerous path: "They do not make smack light. The thing is for me, that is lighting the fuse. The old saying in the program (Narcotics Anonymous) is one is too many and ten is not enough. That is it in a nutshell. I watched a programme years ago where once a month a guy used heroin to get loaded - I do not understand that. It starts off as a little bit, but I can guarantee at the end of the f***ing night there would be none left."

Reflecting on his past, the now 75 year old laments the years lost to indulgence during the peak of his stardom in the 1970s: "I was the king of the world, a rock star and I had the biggest party ever. The thing is I never thought I could do a f***ing thing of creativity (if I was sober)."

The iconic metal figure is scheduled to make a rare outing for his induction into the Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame in Cleveland come October 19.