Sharon Osbourne has said Ozzfest will return in 2027 – just before it arrives in the US.
- READ MORE: Ozzy Osbourne, 1948-2025: culture-smashing revolutionary that redefined rock and reality TV
Ozzfest first took place in October 1996 as a two-day event, expanding into a tour the following year. The tour took place every year until 2018, which saw performances from Rob Zombie, Marilyn Manson, DevilDriver and the Black Sabbath frontman Ozzy himself.
Now, just days after confirming Ozzfest would “absolutely” return, Sharon – the music manager and widow of Ozzy – has said Ozzfest will take place in Birmingham in 2027. “We wanna do two days in Aston Villa and then come to America,” Sharon told her son Jack on The Osbournes podcast. “Then we wanna hear from everyone where we should go in America”.
“We’ve got to find a lot of young, new talent, because that’s what’s your dad would want”, Sharon added.
They also clarified that Ozzfest 2027 would not be a touring festival. However, Sharon commented that Ozzfest might expand into a tour in 2028, adding: “See how it does, and if people want it, we’ll be there”.
Sharon and Jack also discussed the possibility of bringing Ozzfest to India. “They just did Lollapalooza and it smashed,” Jack recalled. “I saw Yungblud after he got back and he said it was the craziest thing.” “He saw so many Ozzy and Sabbath T-shirts,” Sharon replied, going on to add: “It’s great, the way that countries that didn’t recognise the music before now are all being turned on – it’s this young generation. It’s amazing, it’s incredible”.
Watch the exchange down below:
In January, Sharon said she was considering bringing Ozzfest back, explaining: “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,” she added. “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.”
Aston Villa was also the site of Black Sabbath’s star-studded ‘Back To The Beginning’ show – the final show from both Ozzy and Black Sabbath, just two weeks before the Prince Of Darkness passed away.
The festival ran until 2018, where Sharon revealed that managers for artists playing at the festival became too “greedy”.
“We made a profit. But it was not like – we couldn’t retire on it,” she said. “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.”
She then gave an example of the demands that she received from some artists’ managers, including one act refusing to “go on stage until I agreed to give them $10,000 more”.
Elsewhere, watch Robbie Williams lead an Ozzy Osbourne tribute at BRITs 2026 with ‘No More Tears’.
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