Ozzy Osbourne [ tickets ] plans to start his touring year in the Far East early next month, but the heavy-metal legend will return to North America by month's end for a pair of Alaskan concerts and a benefit concert in Los Angeles, followed in March by a string of Canadian dates.

Tickets for all seven of Osbourne's Canadian performances are scheduled to go on sale on either Friday (1/25) or Saturday (1/26), according to tour promoter Clear Channel Entertainment. Details appear in the itinerary below.

Osbourne's Feb. 24 and 25 concerts in Alaska will be followed by his Feb. 26 performance at the Los Angeles Sports Arena, which will also feature recent tour mate Rob Zombie and fellow metal act Korn. The latter event is part of the Recording Artists Coalition's multi-venue fundraiser, which will raise money to help the advocacy group--founded by Eagles member Don Henley and solo artist Sheryl Crow--in its efforts to protect artists' rights.

Last month, Osbourne and Zombie wrapped up their ill-fated Merry Mayhem tour. It was waylaid early on after Osbourne fractured his leg following the tour's inaugural show--causing the cancellation of nine dates--and it ended abruptly after the final three concerts were scrapped due to routing problems and other concerns.

Osbourne is touring in support of his October release, "Down to Earth," his first new solo album in six years. The album debuted at No. 4 on the Billboard 200 album chart.

Earlier this month, Osbourne and his Black Sabbath bandmates were nominated for a Grammy award in the Best Metal Performance category for their live rendition of "The Wizard," which appears on last year's "Ozzfest 2001: The Second Millennium" compilation album.

Also this month, MTV announced the launch of its forthcoming reality-based television series, "The Osbournes." The show, which is scheduled to debut on March 5, will feature "the real-life drama of the first family of rock-n-roll, the Osbournes, as they deal with everyday life in southern California," according to a press release. Osbourne and his family gave MTV cameras round-the-clock access for six months, according to the release.