"After 10 years, the Ozzfest's name and reputation have been established," he said in a statement. "It's time for me to move on and do other things." His publicist noted in a statement, "Ozzfest will carry on in 2006, however Ozzy will limit his performances to only a few, select cities."

Osbourne, who's been performing with Black Sabbath this summer as the tour's headliner, has been dogged by throat problems, which have forced the band to drop off of the bill on several recent dates, reports MTV.com.

The August 7 concert - which had been slated for Somerset, Wisconsin's Float Rite Park Amphitheatre - was postponed until September 10 in an effort to give Osbourne time to rest his strained vocal chords; it will be the last date of this summer's trek, according to MTV.com. Sabbath have canceled three Ozzfest appearances so far this year - shows on July 27 in Holmdel, New Jersey, July 31 in Noblesville, Indiana and August 2 in Columbus, Ohio - as a direct result of Ozzy's stressed voice. Ticket holders for all three dates were offered full refunds, while co-headliners Iron Maiden were called upon to extend their set.

Ozzy Osbourne's wife/manager Sharon Osbourne confirmed in an interview with The Arizona Republic Friday (August 12) that this year's Ozzfest will be the last time Ozzy performs with the traveling festival.

"We're changing the format of the festival next year, and Ozzy will be going into arenas for a while. Because this outside business is just knocking the (expletive) out of him in the summer," she said.

On this year's Ozzfest tour, Osbourne has been plagued by health problems, causing him to cancel some appearances. On Thursday (August 11), he halted a song midway when his voice cracked.

"He's been having a lot of voice problems," Sharon Osbourne said. "Unfortunately for Ozzy, he suffers a lot from hay fever, and when we're on tour everything is outside. When the pollen count is high, he's just wiped out. And there's only so many things he can take for it.

"But he's struggling on."

Despite Osbourne's absence in future tours, his wife said Ozzfest will continue.

"We've proved the festival is solid as a rock, just other people will headline. And Ozzy will continue, but it is time for Ozzy to move on."