Jonesboro, AR – (JonesboroRightNow.com) – Locals may not know Ozzy Neil Rose by name, but they may recognize him as “The Dancing Man” they see around town.
He can be found dancing down a Jonesboro sidewalk or on his social media pages, where he goes by the name “Lunatic Fringe.” Rose, 58, said he is just trying to spread some daily cheer as he struts down the street listening to his favorite music.
Born in Paragould and raised in Trumann, Rose has seen his share of challenges over the course of his life. He served his country in the U.S. Army National Guard. He’s also seen a significant amount of loss, including both his wife and sister, the first to a surgery gone wrong, the second to cancer. And, he lost over half of his promising rock band in a fiery crash.
However, Rose stays upbeat (and on beat) as he strides around town singing songs he knows from the classic rock era.
“The number one question people ask me is what music I listen to,” said Rose. “Out here, I listen to classic rock, but I love all music, even rap. You know, I’m hip to everything, so if I’m not out here strutting. Sometimes I listen to hip hop, rap, or country.”
Tragedy in the past
After he lost his band unexpectedly, Rose met the love of his life in southwest Oklahoma. They would only be married a few short years before tragedy struck again. A routine gastro bypass surgery would take her life at the age of 31.
A lifelong struggle with depression took a turn with the death of Rose’s wife, and he was diagnosed with PTSD (post-traumatic stress disorder) and manic depression.
“Mentally and physically, I was shocked,” Rose said. “I mean, my health, everything just went to hell in a handbasket.”
Rose said he attempted to take his own life five different times after her death.
“But I just didn’t want to live anymore, you know? It’s like this. When you suffer greatly physically and mentally, you’re not going to want to stick around,” Rose recalled.
Then, after moving back to Trumann, Rose said he hit his total breaking point when his sister died of cancer. The cancer was caused by 25 years of substance abuse. When his sister died, he started using methamphetamine.
“I never got hooked on a drug or a drink until I moved back there,” Rose said, noting that he felt like he couldn’t deal with what was going on in his life. “I just had enough, but I didn’t have the will to try to commit suicide for the sixth time either.”
About two years ago, Rose found himself at the breaking point.
“As soon as I’d done the eight hot lines of meth, I felt really hot. So I got up to shut my air conditioner off, and that’s when I passed out. When I woke up, my mouth was to the right, and I couldn’t talk,” he recalled.
Not having a phone and fearing ridicule, Rose waited a full week before finally asking a neighbor to call an ambulance.
The hospital confirmed his fears: he’d had a stroke.
“It was caused, not from the Schnapps, but from the meth,” he said. “They did tell me that the good thing was that it just affected my speech. My mouth would eventually go back as it should.”
Although his mouth and speech were back to normal within a couple of months, Rose said there are still times it goes to the right, which serves as a reminder every day when he looks in the mirror.
Redemption
While he still regrets ever doing drugs, since then, Rose said he has gotten sober, become a Christian, and transformed his life, with the help of God.
“Well, the day that I got clean from the drug and the drink, July 3rd of 2024, the next day is when I got right with the Lord,” said Rose.
“The Lord just gave me a vision to just walk out of that apartment. There was nothing left in there anyway,” he recalled. “I walked 13 and a half hours straight to Paragould. When I got there, I rented a motel. And it was that night that [God] let me know that He wants me to live a survivalist life and get shaped because it would be the key to taking care of my physical, emotional, and mental health.”
After strutting around Paragould for a couple of months, Rose checked himself into a rehab in Searcy, before moving to Jonesboro, where he has been clean and strutting ever since.
Looking back, Rose said that if any of his family and friends who had passed were alive today, they would say his life was a total transformation.
“I was shot in every department… even spiritually, I was shot. When my wife first died, I hated God. I blamed God,” Rose recalled.
“People see me happy out here, which I am, but like everybody else, there’s times I get mad, there’s times I get a little sad,” he said. “I don’t get ‘in the gutter sad’ because I know what will happen, and I don’t take my anger too far either. I release both. Usually, if I’m a little angered or a little sad before I go strutting, then it goes away immediately.”
Though he still likes to sleep in a tent at night, Rose said he is finally happy with himself and his life.
He has even started sharing his thoughts and adventures with his many fans on social media through the “Ozzy Neil Rose Show” on Facebook at 8:30 p.m. every day (weather permitting), “The Sh*t Show” on TikTok between struts, and highlights on Instagram.
While he doesn’t have to work out at the gym anymore, he still does one of his shows from 24/7 Workout Anytime every night, and he likes to give shoutouts to many of the people and businesses that show him support.
Although Rose has been considered a disabled man since 1999, with diagnoses such as rheumatoid arthritis, peripheral neuropathy, fibromyalgia, bulging vertebrae, and emphysema, he said his health could be worse, and he is thankful for his life.
“My life is good. It’s the best it’s ever been,” Rose said. “I’m starting to get some advertising jobs that pay, and I do some for free. That’s what I really want to do, is advertisement [work] and not just on social media either. I’d like to do it for TV and radio as well. I have a lot of fun out here.”
As for what’s next, Rose said he wants to build a homeless shelter someday, but for now, he said he is happy doing volunteer work and strutting around town listening to his favorite music and doing his shows for his fans. He said he will be strutting every day, even during the winter months, weather permitting, of course.
“The people know me here. I’ve made it clear I won’t do a video for any business, paying or not, that I don’t believe in. If I don’t believe in it, you can’t pay me enough to do it,” he said.
“The hits I’ve gotten on my videos have been astounding,” Rose said. “And I just like to really thank everybody because nobody had to hit on my videos. They could have done something else with their time. I’m very thankful, humbled, and glad that I’m living here in Jonesboro. I don’t plan on living anywhere else.”
If you or someone you know is struggling with suicide/mental health, call or text 988 to reach the Suicide and Crisis Hotline. For more suicide prevention resources, click here.