The festival was created in 1996 by Ozzy Osbourne's wife and manager, Sharon Osbourne, after she was rebuffed by Lollapalooza when she tried to get Ozzy on that festival circuit.[4] The tour was well-received, which prompted the festival to become a yearly occurrence.[2]
The first Ozzfest was not a national tour, but rather a two-day festival held in Phoenix, Arizona, and Devore, California, on 25 and 26 October 1996 respectively. Ozzfest Live, a compilation of ten live tracks recorded during this festival, was released on April 29, 1997.
In 1997, there were large protests outside of the festival to cancel Marilyn Manson's performance. However, no dates were cancelled. There were also protests of a similar nature in 2001, following the Columbine High School massacre, which some groups had blamed on Marilyn Manson.
In 1998, Ozzfest ventured outside the United States for the first time into the United Kingdom, which featured a different line-up of bands. The festival would eventually return to the UK in 2001[5] and 2002.[6]
The 1998 US Tour also featured for the first time an Ozzfest web site. Photographs were made during the tour using an early generation Sony Mavica FD-7 digital camera and uploaded each night after the show, and a tour diary was kept from the road.[7]
The concert on 18 July 1998 at Float Rite Park was merged with Warped Tour 1998. Some 39,000 fans were at the 12-hour, six-stage, 48-band event.[8]
On-stage footage of the Ozzfest 2004 tour was shown on MTV, as Ozzy and Sharon hosted a show on the network titled Battle for Ozzfest where they chose eight out of hundreds of bands to compete for a spot on the following year's Ozzfest. Ozzy selected one member from each chosen band to "tag along" on the tour. Each contestant had to complete numerous challenges to improve his/her band's chances of winning the contest. Occasionally, meetings would be held and certain contestants would be eliminated for various reasons. The person who prevailed as the winner and guaranteed his band's spot on the Ozzfest tour was Marc Serrano from metalcore act A Dozen Furies.[12] Serrano had appeared at Ozzfest the year prior with his former band Ünloco.
At Iron Maiden's last Ozzfest performance, on 20 August 2005 at the Hyundai Pavilion at Glen Helen in San Bernardino, California, several detrimental events took place. During the first song, several members of the crowd, brought on by Sharon Osbourne, bombarded the English metal band Iron Maiden with eggs, bottle caps and ice after vocalist Bruce Dickinson allegedly ridiculed Ozzy's need for a teleprompter during his performances, as well as the Osbourne family's ventures into reality television (The Osbournes, Battle for Ozzfest).[13] During three of Iron Maiden's songs, the P.A. system was switched off, cutting power to Dickinson's microphone and then to all the band's instruments. During the concert, Bruce Dickinson can be heard accusing the festival's organizers of deliberately cutting off the band's power. On Iron Maiden's departure, Sharon Osbourne came on stage to make a few statements, telling the audience that she "absolutely loved Iron Maiden" but thought that Dickinson is a "prick."[14]Rod Smallwood, manager for Iron Maiden, issued a statement shortly after the debacle condemning the attack on the band.[15] In 2006, Bruce Dickinson commented, "Did I have a go at Ozzy and Black Sabbath? No. Why would I? But I do find The Osbournes TV series loathsome, and the whole cult of reality TV celebrities disgusting."[16] In response to claims that he had apologised to Ozzy for Dickinson's behaviour, Steve Harris stated "No I didn't [apologise]. What I actually said was that, if there was anything to apologise for, then I'd do it. But that was twisted around to seem like I'd said sorry – that never happened!"[16]
2007–2008
On 7 February 2007, it was announced that tickets to Ozzfest 2007 would be offered free of charge, dubbing the 2007 Ozzfest as "free fest."[17] Tickets were made available through sponsor websites, the Ozzfest web site and to those buying an advance copy of Ozzy Osbourne's new release, Black Rain.
Sponsorship money provided the revenue for the tour, but organizers did not pay any of the bands appearing. Ozzy Osbourne returned to the headlining slot on the tour after only headlining the second stage in 2006. Ozzfest 2007 featured well-established acts such as Lamb of God, Static-X, and Hatebreed.
There were problems with distribution of the free tickets. Fans were given codes to receive tickets through the official Ozzfest website, but due to the heavy load on Live Nation's secure servers, there were issues with ticket redemption. Another problem was that many "eBay scalpers" charged fans to pay for the free tickets, often turning out to be unusable duplicates of other tickets.[18] Then, on 26 July, Ozzfest gave away free tickets without requiring its "redemption code" previously required.[19]
At the show of 16 August 2007 in Holmdel, New Jersey, at the PNC Bank Arts Center, controversy was generated as 83 attendees were arrested at the show, most of them underage and arrested prior to 8:00. In addition, two men died, one after overdosing on alcohol and energy drinks.[20]
Black Label Society (cancelled in Mansfield & Camden and Bristow due to inclement weather), Drowning Pool (canceled in Mansfield due to inclement weather, Kingdom of Sorrow (Exodus played instead on the San Bernardino date), Goatwhore (canceled on the Hartford date due to a medical emergency with their bassist), Skeletonwitch, Saviours, Kataklysm (canceled in Mansfield due to inclement weather), California Wildebeest (San Bernardino date only), Immune (San Bernardino date only).[citation needed] The guitar prodigy Yuto Miyazawa was invited by Ozzy to play "Crazy Train" at the event.[citation needed]
The 2017 Ozzfest was held again in conjunction with Knotfest, under the title "Ozzfest Meets Knotfest 2017" on 4 and 5 November 2017, in San Bernardino, California, at the Glen Helen Amphitheater.[citation needed]
Black Sabbath were an English rock band formed in Birmingham in 1968 by guitarist Tony Iommi, drummer Bill Ward, bassist Geezer Butler, and vocalist Ozzy Osbourne. They are often cited as pioneers of heavy metal music. The band helped define the genre with their first three albums Black Sabbath, Paranoid, and Master of Reality (1971). Following Osbourne's departure in 1979, the band underwent multiple lineup changes, with Iommi being the only constant member throughout its history.
John Michael "Ozzy" Osbourne is an English musician and media personality. He rose to prominence during the 1970s as the lead singer of the heavy metal band Black Sabbath, during which period he adopted the nickname "Prince of Darkness".
Sharon Rachel Osbourne is an English television personality, music manager, and author. She is married to heavy metal singer Ozzy Osbourne and came to prominence while appearing on The Osbournes (2002–2005), a reality television show that aired on MTV, which followed her family's daily life. Osbourne later became a judge on television talent competition shows, including The X Factor and America's Got Talent (2007–2012).
Zachary Phillip Wylde is an American musician. He is best known as the lead guitarist for Ozzy Osbourne and as the founder, lead guitarist, lead singer, songwriter and producer of the heavy metal band Black Label Society.
Paul Bruce Dickinson is an English singer who is best known as the lead vocalist of the heavy metal band Iron Maiden. Dickinson has performed in the band across two stints, from 1981 to 1993 and from 1999 to the present day. He is known for his wide-ranging operatic vocal style and energetic stage presence.
The Dos Equis Pavilion is an outdoor amphitheatre located in Fair Park, Dallas, Texas.
Monsters of Rock is a hard rock and heavy metal music festival. It was originally held annually in Castle Donington, England, from 1980 to 1996, taking place every year except 1989 and 1993. It later branched into other locations such as the Netherlands, Poland, Spain, Italy, Germany, France, Sweden, Argentina, Brazil, Chile, Colombia, the United States, and Russia.
Fields of Rock is a Dutch rock music festival. It was first conceived in 2002. Metallica's agent called, announcing that the band was planning to tour the Netherlands, and Metallica wanted to do a festival. At that point in time there really was not a suitable festival. And so Fields Of Rock was created. The location selected was the Goffertpark in Nijmegen.
RobNicholson also known as Blasko, is an American bassist, musician and manager. He's the bassist and backing vocalist of Rob Zombie and bassist for Ozzy Osbourne, And he's a manager for Black Veil Brides. He's also the former bassist of Cryptic Slaughter and live bassist for Danzig.
Kingdom of Sorrow is an American sludge metal band that features Kirk Windstein of Crowbar and Down, along with Jamey Jasta of Hatebreed.
Eddie Rips Up the World Tour was a concert tour by English heavy metal band Iron Maiden, in support of their 2004 DVD, The History of Iron Maiden – Part 1: The Early Days.
Terra Vibe is a park in Attica, Greece, covering 40 acres (160,000 m2), which opened in 2004. It is used as a venue for concerts and other large-scale outdoor events. The Rockwave Festival and the Terra Vibe Festival are among the gatherings that have taken place there.
Over the years, a variety of bands have made up the yearly lineups of Ozzfest, a yearly heavy metal music festival that usually tours the United States in summer.
"Metal" Mike Chlasciak is a Polish-American musician, best known as the guitarist for heavy metal band Halford, led by Rob Halford.
The Blizzard of Ozz Tour was the debut concert tour as a solo artist by English heavy metal singer Ozzy Osbourne, who had been fired from the English group Black Sabbath a year prior. The tour started on 12 September 1980 and concluded on 13 September 1981.
The Reunion Tour was a concert tour by heavy metal band Black Sabbath, celebrating the band's 2012 reunion and in support of their album 13, which was the group's first album to feature their original singer Ozzy Osbourne since 1978's Never Say Die! and original bassist Geezer Butler since 1994's Cross Purposes.
The Ozzy and Friends Tour is a concert tour that replaced the majority of the original 2012 dates of the Black Sabbath Reunion Tour.
The Diary of a Madman Tour was the second concert tour by English heavy metal singer Ozzy Osbourne. It was undertaken in support of Osbourne's second album Diary of a Madman and covered Europe, North America, and Asia. This was Rhoads's last tour as he died in a plane crash at a small airport in Leesburg, Florida, on 19 March 1982, during the North American leg of the tour. The band took a two-week break after his death. Ozzy and Sharon Osbourne restarted the tour with ex-Gillan guitarist Bernie Tormé, who only performed seven shows before being replaced by future Night Ranger guitarist, Brad Gillis.
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