For a certain generation of metalheads, Ozzfest wasn’t just a festival.
It was a yearly must, with the kind of line ups that made you feel like you were witnessing the genre’s bloodstream in real time. This is the kind of news you like to wake up to, because after years of silence, it sounds like the festival might be returning once again.
In a new interview with Billboard, Sharon Osbourne confirmed she’s currently in discussions with Live Nation about reviving Ozzfest, the iconic touring festival that helped define heavy music in the US through the late ‘90s and 2000s.
“I’ve been talking to Live Nation about bringing [Ozzfest] back recently. 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.”
As soon as 2027
According to Sharon, the festival could potentially return as soon as next year, but it may not come back exactly as fans remember it.
She’s also floated the idea of shaking up the line-up format, suggesting she’d like to “mix up the genres”, a statement that’ll either excite people or make lifelong Ozzfest diehards clutch their vintage tour shirts in horror.
This isn’t the first time Sharon’s teased a reboot, on an episode of The Osbournes Podcast, she previously discussed the reality check involved, including the difficulty of finding bands that were “realistic” about what they’d be paid to appear.
She also told Billboard she’d like to collaborate with Live Nation on a separate touring concept involving local orchestras performing classic Black Sabbath music, paired with “state-of-the-art” visuals.
Ozzfest returning is still only a possibility, but if it does happen, it’ll be fascinating to see whether a modern version can recapture the raw spirit that made it legendary in the first place.
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