Is Ozzfest Coming Back? Sharon Osbourne Shares New Details

Is the legendary Ozzfest coming back? Sharon Osbourne shared new details about some plans she's had in mind.

Sharon organized the first Ozzfest in 1996 after her attempts at getting Ozzy booked for Lollapalooza were rejected. The following year, it was turned into an annual tour that lasted over 20 years before coming to an end in 2018.

What Did Sharon Osbourne Share About Bringing Back Ozzfest?

Five months after Ozzy's death, Sharon hinted at the festival's potential return during a conversation with Billboard.

“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,” she said.

"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.”

When Would Ozzfest Come Back and What Would It Look Like?

Before officially planning Ozzfest's return, Sharon has some other plans to honor her husband that she'd like to tend to first — a classical tour featuring local orchestras playing Black Sabbath's catalog and a scripted movie about the Prince of Darkness' life.

“Everybody thought Ozzy’s career was never going to happen as a solo artist — in those days, there weren’t that many people that had left bands and actually gone on and done really well,” she asserted.

“They thought Ozzy and I would just end up in the toilet. It was really about getting up every day and showing everyone: Fuck you, this is what we’re going to do. I never took no for an answer.”

As for when Ozzfest could actually return, Sharon said as early as 2027. Sharon is still inspired to discover new talent but she's not limiting herself to heavy music only. Thus, she wants to "mix up the genres" for the revamped version of the festival.

It also could return as a full-scale touring festival, which hasn't happened since 2007.

Why Did Ozzfest End in 2018?

Sharon opened up about the end of Ozzfest several years ago, revealing that the increasing costs to put on tours was the catalyst for its demise.

"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," she recalled during an episode of The Osbournes podcast.

"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."

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.

To see other past Ozzfest lineups, check out our ranking of all of them below.