It's Official: No OZZFEST This Year

[snakebite]

It's Official: No OZZFEST This Year - Feb. 12, 2009

Ozzy Osbourne is currently in the studio in Los Angeles co-producing his tenth studio album with Kevin Churko. The new CD is the rock and roll legend's follow-up to 2007's "Black Rain" which debuted in the Top Ten on the album charts in 11 countries and spawned Ozzy's first-ever #1 Active Rock track "I Don't Wanna Stop" (which also sat atop the Heritage Rock chart for more than 20 weeks). The two-time Grammy Award winner has decided that he will not be touring until he has a new album in stores (currently projected to be Thanksgiving 2009). Thus, Ozzy has decided to put his namesake festival Ozzfest on hold this year.

When MTV News caught up with the Osbournes at the Scream Awards in Los Angeles on October 18, 2008, they discussed their plans for Ozzfest's 14th year. Asked if 2009's festival would be free once again like it was in 2007, Ozzfest co-producer Sharon Osbourne replied, "No, don't you know that there's a depression on? Are you mad? We're going back to what we originally were. We've given the real good fans a free show for one time, and now, it's back to business as usual."

Video footage of the Osbournes talking to MTV News about Ozzfest can be viewed below.

The one-day Ozzfest 2008 festival, with METALLICA and OZZY OSBOURNE as headliners, was among the highest-grossing concert standa in the world last year, according to Billboard magazine. The AEG Live-promoted Ozzfest 2008 grossed nearly $3.5 million and almost 30,000 fans got to experience a 13-hour show filled with legends, cutting-edge acts and Ozzfest alumni who ignited three stages at Pizza Hut Park in the hard music-loving state of Texas, including one devoted to the state's bands.

The official Ozzfest web site was updated with a photo gallery from last year's event, which was held on August 9 in Frisco, Texas. Check it out at this location.

A three-minute preview of "Osbournes: Reloaded", a new Fox variety series starring Ozzy Osbourne, his wife Sharon, and their children Jack and Kelly, can be viewed below. Among the highlights shown are a blindfolded contestant fooled into making out with a grandmother, Ozzy serving at a fast food drive-through window, and the clan heading out into the country to meet other families with the name Osbourne. The series is scheduled to air this spring, although an exact premiere date has yet to be announced. Six installments have been taped so far.

"Osbournes: Reloaded" marks the Osbourne family's return to television following the phenomenal success of their MTV reality series, "The Osbournes".

Osbournes talking to MTV News about Ozzfest (October 2008):

[Six6VI]

I went to "Free Fest" in O7 and vowed that it would take something pretty fuckin' cool to get me to come back to any Ozzfest after that. What a fuckin' joke.

Lee

[Jenzy]

What?!? An Ozzfest without Ozzy?

I don't see why they just don't do it without him, it's not like many people stick around to the end to see him anyways. . . .

[pimp_randy_mack]

I think thats all she wrote for ozzfest.

[gunther]

yep, that fuckin bitch of his should have never thrown eggs at maiden...I think he needs a new guitarist also.

[Chris Slack]

It's official. There are so many good shows and better "festivals" that Ozzfest is irrelevant.

[Blake NWR]

I won't miss the 20-minute sets and $7 beer, that's for sure.

[Evil Red]

It's official. There are so many good shows and better "festivals" that Ozzfest is irrelevant.

Amen!

[Attila_the_Hun*S2C*]

I won't miss the 20-minute sets and $7 beer, that's for sure.

+1 Totally agree. Having to sit through 10 shit bands to see a short set with bad sound of the 2 or 3 you wanted to see, all for a ridiculous ticket price. Bye Ozzfest.

[imperator_Drakul]

good! ozzfest is a fucking crock! All of you above have made great points!

I went to free-fest in 07 at the gorge, it was quite horrible. The 2 best bands there: Nile and Behemoth-get 20 minute sets, while shitty bands like Lamb of Gods and Lordi get long as sets. Ozzy was a big fucking disappointment as well. Though I am still proud to say that my first heavy metal cd I bought when I was a wee young lad was Blizzard of Oz, I can't say I was proud to see Ozzy. He ruined the beginning of Mr. Crowley, wouldn't shut the fuck up during the solo in War Pigs, and they played all of the songs I didn't want to hear. Those songs, If I wanted to hear them, I'd turn on the crappy 99.9. No "Over the Mountain", no "Goodbye to Romance", no "Back on Earth" or "Perry Mason", etc...Just pure crap that Wylde ruined with his constant pinch harmonics.

Fuck you Sharon, you greedy cunt, can't you see there is a depression going on? Maybe a free show with GOOD bands, and relaxed prices of food and beverages would do this country good. Fuck you, go back to England! Wait, England don't want you! No one does! It's bad enough Ozzy is pussy whipped over you, and it's too goddamn fucking bad Ozzy didn't finish the fucking job that one time in the 80's!!

[Jenzy]

I know I will lose some glorious bonus points for this one, but. . . .I really don't give a shit:


All I gotta say is Sharon is one hell of a business man. . .that's right MAN!! She has more balls than most men I can think of in this industry. She may be a cunt, she may be crazy, she may do things from time to time that even I don't agree with (the Maiden incident) but come on, the woman deserves props. What woman created such a force at such an early time in which the biz was being run and dominated by men, let alone in the hard rock/metal genre?

Who else other than sharon could you turn a bumbling fucked up washed up druggie like Ozzy (don't get me wrong, I still give him and sabbath their props to early metal and the godfathers of metal but all the above is sooooooo true) into a profitable and recording selling ICON.


You had to be a wise and crafty businessperson to be able to make a profit for him and off of him after Sabbath was done with him.

I mean come on. . . the marketing ideas: Ozzfest, the show on MTV, etc, etc. . .it's like she's the female version of Gene Simmons. And yes I am still waiting for the Sabbath Casket.

[Blake NWR]

Sabbath Casket.

Holy shit! I want to name my next side project this!

[imperator_Drakul]

props to Sharon

I totally understand what you are saying, and yes, most of it is true, she is a "good" business man, women, thing, whatever, but that doesn't seperate her from the rest of the greedy scum vermin in the world, especially the USA. I don't think I'll have to delve deeper than that, or I will be called a "racist" or something retarded like that, but it's fucking true. She's a greedy piece of shit, just like the old momo Gene Simmons. I love old KISS, and non-make up KISS as well, have since I was a kid, which might not mean much to you old people, since you all were listening to KISS before I was even born, but really, that dude let me down. His show is retarded, but okay, whatever. Charging people for autographs? Come on! How fucking greedy can you get? And he's always thinking up ways of making money. Workaholic? My leb ass! All he has to do is sit on his saggy ass, pick up his phone, make a few phone calls, spit out a few medicore, overdone ideas, and w'allah, he has a new product on the line, and more money. Fuck him, and Fuck Sharon, they should both fuck each other and juice all over the old bat Ozzy, FUCK all three of them!