It seems that Sharon Osbourne is open to the idea of bringing back Ozzfest as a traveling festival
The seventeenth episode of “The Osbournes” podcast, featuring Ozzy and Sharon Osbourne, as well as their children Jack and Kelly, has arrived and sees the foursome discuss the festival that was Ozzfest.
During the discussion, Ozzy asked Sharon if she would ever consider bringing back Ozzfest as a traveling festival. She responded (as transcribed by BLABBERMOUTH.NET): “Yeah, sure. Of course.”
Kelly stated that “it always comes down to” whether the bands and managers going to be “realistic” in terms of what they want to get paid for playing the festival, to which Sharon agreed, adding: “It’s great. That’s what we wanted — everybody to do spin-offs and do their own festivals, and it’s great. It’s great for fans; it’s brilliant. But why is it when it comes to us that everybody thinks that we are trillionaires, and so that every manager who wants their band on our festival wants one of the fucking trillions they think we’ve got to put on the festival?”
Ozzy then brought up the possibility of lesser-known acts playing the festival to which Sharon replied: “You can do it for a baby stage, but you still need the headliners. 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.”
She added: “It’s very hard for acts who are not known to suddenly go and be in front of 50,000 people on a main stage at a festival and understand what they’re meant to do. It’s very intimidating. You could have maybe five thousand people at that baby stage, and then to go from five to fifty to sixty thousand people, and it’s really, really hard for baby bands. They’ve paid their dues anyway. That’s what it’s all about.”
Jack then mentioned that many of the rock festivals in the United States today are “basically just Ozzfest,” Sharon said: “Well, it’s the same bands just going around and around and around. But that’s what’s so good, because we started something, people have taken it, and it’s still great for the genre. It’s really good.”
More than 25 years ago, Ozzfest emerged as the inaugural national music festival exclusively dedicated to hard rock music.
Since the “free” edition in 2007, Ozzfest has ceased its status as a traveling festival in the U.S. The format shifted to a singular event in Dallas in 2008, skipped 2009, and had a presence in only six cities in 2010.
In 2017, an all-day Ozzfest drew a crowd of over 17,000 concert-goers, with Ozzy headlining the event. The following day’s Knotfest bill concluded with a performance by Rob Zombie.
The year 2017 marked the second consecutive year of the merger between Ozzy‘s Ozzfest and SLIPKNOT‘s Knotfest, creating a two-day heavy metal extravaganza.
On December 31, 2018, a unique New Year’s Eve Ozzfest unfolded as a one-night-only spectacle at The Forum in Los Angeles, California. A substantial crowd of 12,465 fervent hard rock and heavy metal enthusiasts gathered for the event, as reported by Pollstar. Live Nation, the event’s producer, saw ticket sales soar to $1.2 million. Ticket prices ranged from a modest $59.50 to $179.50.
The star-studded lineup featured headliner Ozzy Osbourne, along with performances by Rob Zombie, Marilyn Manson, a solo set by KORN‘s Jonathan Davis, and BODY COUNT. ZAKK SABBATH, the BLACK SABBATH tribute band led by Osbourne‘s guitarist Zakk Wylde, headlined a second stage located outdoors.
