After speaking about the possibility of Ozzfest‘s return earlier this year combined with some social media teasing, Sharon Osbourne recently confirmed her intent to bring back Ozzfest in 2027.
What Did Sharon Osbourne Say About Ozzfest’s Return?
While joining Download Festival honcho Andy Copping in speaking on a panel at MIDEM in Cannes, France last month, Sharon this time confirmed that she does intend on bringing Ozzfest back in 2027.
“Yes, absolutely. Yeah, we’re gonna do it,” confirmed the promoter.
“The last one we did was 2018,” she continued. “It was just a month before Ozzy got sick and that was at the Forum in L.A. And there was no plans to stop it. We were still gonna do it, but Ozzy couldn’t. And Ozzy and I would talk about it and he’d say, ‘Do you think Ozzfest would work without me?’ And I’m, like, ‘Yeah, it’s a brand. It will work without you.’ And he said, ‘We should do it.’”
Sharon Osbourne Speaks at 2026 Midem Conference
What Else Has Sharon Said About Ozzfest’s Return?
Back in January of this year, Sharon started hinting at the possibility of an Ozzfest return. In speaking with Billboard, she shared, “All of the creative direction for visuals at Ozzfest was mine. I can’t sing a note — I’m tone-deaf — but I can be creative and I like to create things.”
“I’ve been talking to Live Nation about bringing [Ozzfest] back recently,” she continued. “It was something Ozzy was very passionate about: giving young talent a stage in front of a lot of people. 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.”
Though Osbourne has announced her intent to bring back Ozzfest, details concerning dates, locations and bands participating is still something that is in the works.
What Happened With Ozzfest?
Ozzfest initially started in 1996 after Lollapalooza denied including Ozzy on their touring festival, with Sharon vowing to start up a traveling event to feature heavy music acts. The initial year saw Ozzfest as a two-day festival held in two separate locations. After positive word of mouth, Ozzfest eventually expanded to a traveling festival featuring a mix of established acts and spotlighting some of the best young and emerging talent in heavy music.
READ MORE: Whatever Happened to the Acts From Ozzfest’s First Lineup?
With nu-metal taking over radio dominance, the demand for Ozzfest acts grew and eventually the brand expanded to include other countries throughout the world.
In 2007, organizers switched things up by making Ozzfest a “free fest” with sponsorship essentially backing the tour and tickets being offered through sponsor websites and for those buying advance copies Ozzy’s new album
In the years to follow, Ozzfest would move more into being destination-specific festivals and even partnering with Slipknot’s Knotfest for a collective weekend bill.
The final Ozzfest was a single-day event that was held at the Forum in Inglewood, Calif. on New Year’s Eve in 2018. In addition to Ozzy, the event featured performances from Rob Zombie, Marilyn Manson, Korn’s Jonathan Davis, Body Count, Zakk Wylde’s Zakk Sabbath, DevilDriver and Wednesday 13.
Sharon Osbourne was asked about the downsizing of Ozzfest in its latter years and she revealed on an episode of The Osbournes Podcast, “It was a very weird beast 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.”
To see other past Ozzfest lineups, check out our ranking of all of them below.
Every Ozzfest Lineup, Ranked
Ozzfest had some amazing lineups, but only one can be the best.
Gallery Credit: Bryan Rolli
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