Sharon Osbourne is in talks about bringing back Ozzfest, the travelling heavy metal festival which she founded 30 years ago.
In a new interview with Billboard, the music mogul, who managed and was married to Black Sabbath frontman and Ozzfest’s namesake headliner Ozzy Osbourne for 43 years until his death last July, says that she’s “talking to [concert promoters] Live Nation” about the return.
She adds that she’s eyeing a 2027 date for the comeback, and that the lineup would expand to include artists beyond rock and metal.
“It was something Ozzy was very passionate about: giving young talent a stage in front of a lot of people,” she says. “We really started metal festivals in this country. It was [replicated but] never done with the spirit of what ours was, because ours was a place for new talent. It was like summer camp for kids.”
Sharon started Ozzfest in 1996, after fellow travelling festival Lollapalooza refused to give Ozzy a spot on their lineup. The inaugural edition was a two-day tour with dates in Phoenix, Arizona and San Bernardino, California. Ozzy headlined with support from Slayer, Danzig, Biohazard, Sepultura and more.
As nu metal began to pick up steam in the late 90s, Ozzfest became famous for putting up-and-coming artists on its bill. Such acts as Slipknot, Limp Bizkit and System Of A Down all performed on the festival tour either around or shortly after the release of their debut albums. Ozzfest expanded to have international offshoots in markets including the UK, Germany, Belgium and Japan before hosting its final incarnation – a single show in Inglewood, California – in 2018.
In 2023, Sharon explained why Ozzfest went away, saying on her family podcast The Osbournes that other managers got greedy.
“It was a very weird beast,” she said, “because all the bands were our mates, but the managers were greedy, and for some reason they thought that we were making billions on it and we weren’t. We made a profit. But it was not like – we couldn’t retire on it. And managers and agents wanted more and more and more, and it just wasn’t cost-effective anymore. We stopped because it just wasn’t cost-effective.”
However, the following year, she added that “of course” Ozzfest can return one day. “You can do it for a baby stage, but you still need the headliners,” she said. “It’s always great to have the baby stage, I mean, that’s what it’s all about – breaking new bands. That’s why we did it.”
Ozzy died at the age of 76 following a cardiac arrest on July 22 last year. He passed just 17 days after playing his retirement show at a one-day festival in his honour, Back To The Beginning, where the bill was rounded out by the likes of Metallica, Anthrax, Lamb Of God and Gojira. Ozzy did sets with both his solo band and Black Sabbath, and all proceeds from the gig, held at Villa Park stadium in his hometown of Birmingham, went to local charities.
