Ozzy Osbourne's passing at the age of 76 after a long battle with Parkinson's disease has brought renewed attention to the disease and its deadly effects.
The Mayo Clinic describes the debilitative disease as "a movement disorder of the nervous system that worsens over time," and there is unfortunately currently no cure for Parkinson's.
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However, over the years, several A-list figures have come forward with their own diagnoses and bravely shed light on their own struggles as they spread awareness on research causes to find a cure. Take a look at some of those below…
Ozzy Osbourne
In 2003, Ozzy was diagnosed with Parkinson's disease, but he didn't go public with his diagnosis until 2020, following a bout of pneumonia the year prior and a fall at home that rendered him hospitalized.
The Black Sabbath frontman bid farewell to his fans with his final show beside the band's original members two weeks before his passing, revealed on July 22 with a statement from his wife Sharon and his kids.
Michael J. Fox
Michael J. Fox, now 64, was diagnosed with Parkinson's back in 1991 when he was just 29 and went public with it in 1998. Over the years, he has reduced his acting work due to complications from the disease.
In 2000, he and wife Tracy Pollan founded the Michael J. Fox Foundation, devoted to finding a cure for Parkinson's. They host the A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to Cure Parkinson's Gala every year, and have raised over $2 billion for the cause as of 2023.
Alan Alda
Alan Alda, now 89, first revealed that he had Parkinson's in 2018, having been diagnosed three years prior. He has continued to act well into his 80s, receiving acclaim for performances in the Oscar-winning Marriage Story and the Netflix miniseries The Four Seasons.
He recently told People: "Almost every day I'm finding a new way to do something. It's a little like a game. I've found whatever the little problem is, if I keep at it, I can eventually solve it, and then I feel like a million bucks. It's a way to have a good time under poor circumstances."
Muhammad Ali
Boxing legend Muhammad Ali made his Parkinson's diagnosis public in 1984 and became a global advocate for research on the disease. He remained an active figure until the early 2000s, when his health began to decline and was cared for by his family.
Ali worked actively with Michael J. Fox on Parkinson's advocacy, also partnering with the Michael J. Fox Foundation. Reports by the early 2010s suggested he was unable to function normally, and in 2016, he passed away aged 74 from septic shock.
Neil Diamond
Singer Neil Diamond, now 84, went public with his Parkinson's diagnosis in 2018, stating that he was actively retiring from touring due to his condition. While he has stepped away from his regular stage shows, he continues to make occasional appearances, singing "Sweet Caroline" at a showing of Beautiful Noise just earlier this month.
Neil spoke with CBS Sunday Mornings in 2023 about giving up touring, saying: "In a sense, I was in denial for the first year or two. When the doctor told me what it was, I was just not ready to accept it. I said, 'Oh, okay. I'll see you, you know, whenever you wanna see me. But I have work to do, so I'll see you later.'"
Linda Ronstadt
Linda Ronstadt, now 79, announced her retirement from music in 2011, after stepping away from touring and live performing due to her deteriorating voice, and went public with her Parkinson's diagnosis in 2013.
That diagnosis was later changed to progressive supranuclear palsy in 2019, a degenerative disease with similar symptoms as Parkinson's. While Linda no longer performs, she continued her work as an advocate, embarking on several nationwide speaking tours in the 2010s and releasing a pair of books since then.