It’s Official: Sharon Osbourne Announces Ozzfest Is Returning
LONDON, ENGLAND - OCTOBER 30: Ozzy and Sharon Osbourne attend the Pride Of Britain Awards at Grosvenor House, on October 30, 2017 in London, England. (Photo by Mike Marsland/Mike Marsland/WireImage)
Sharon Confirms the Festival’s Comeback
Sharon Osbourne has confirmed that Ozzfest will return, saying the long-running festival has the full support and blessing of her late husband, Ozzy Osbourne. Speaking at the MIDEM 2026 conference in Cannes, France, the television personality and music manager made clear that plans are moving forward after years of uncertainty surrounding the event’s future.
“Yes, absolutely. We’re gonna do it,” Sharon said when asked whether the festival would come back. Her statement marked the strongest confirmation yet that the influential rock and metal gathering will once again take place after its long absence.
Ozzfest first launched in October 1996 as a two-day event created by Sharon and Ozzy. What began as a single festival quickly grew into a traveling tour the following year, becoming a yearly fixture that helped shape heavy music culture for more than two decades. From 1997 onward, the event toured regularly across North America and occasionally abroad, later shifting back to single-day editions starting in 2008.
The final installment took place on New Year’s Eve 2018 in Inglewood, California. The lineup included Rob Zombie, Marilyn Manson, DevilDriver, and Ozzy himself. At the time, there were no plans to end the festival permanently, but Ozzy’s health problems soon changed those expectations.
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Ozzy’s Influence and the Festival’s Legacy
Sharon explained that discussions about continuing Ozzfest without Ozzy had already taken place before his illness forced the festival to pause. “The last one we did was 2018. It was just a month before Ozzy got sick, and that was at the Forum in L.A. And there [were] no plans to stop it. We were still gonna do it, but Ozzy couldn’t,” she said.
She added that Ozzy himself encouraged the idea of continuing the brand even if he could no longer perform. “And Ozzy and I would talk about it, and he’d say, ‘Do you think Ozzfest would work without me?’ And I’m, like, ‘Yeah, it’s a brand. It will work without you.’ And he said, ‘We should do it.’”
Earlier this year, Sharon revealed that reviving the festival had long been under consideration and could happen as soon as 2027. She emphasized that Ozzfest was always meant to support emerging artists and give younger performers exposure to large audiences.
“It was something Ozzy was very passionate about: giving young talent a stage in front of a lot of people,” she said. “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.”
Sharon also suggested that future editions may expand beyond strict rock and metal programming, opening the event to a wider range of music styles while keeping its original identity.
Financial Challenges and Changing Industry Demands
Despite its success, Sharon has been open about the financial pressures that eventually led to Ozzfest’s pause. Speaking on The Osbournes podcast in recent years, she explained that rising artist fees and management demands made the festival harder to sustain.
After daughter Kelly Osbourne noted that organizing such events depends on realistic expectations from artists and managers, Sharon responded bluntly: “Why is it when it comes to us that everybody thinks that we are trillionaires?”
She continued, “Every manager who wants their band on our festival wants one of the fucking trillions they think we’ve got to put on the festival?”
Sharon had previously shared similar concerns in 2023, explaining that growing costs played a major role in ending the festival’s run. “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 recalled one incident where an act refused to perform unless additional payment was approved, saying the group would not “go on stage until I agreed to give them $10,000 more.”
Recent Tributes and Ozzy’s Lasting Presence
Sharon has remained active in honoring Ozzy’s legacy through major events. Last year, she helped organize the “Back To The Beginning” concert at Villa Park in Birmingham, which served as the final performance for both Ozzy and Black Sabbath. The show took place just weeks before Ozzy’s passing and raised significant funds for charity.
In a later episode of The Osbournes podcast, Sharon revealed the concert generated about $11 million (£8.24 million) for charitable causes. The event reinforced the lasting influence Ozzy held within the music world and among fans.
More recently, Sharon appeared alongside Kelly Osbourne at the BRIT Awards to accept a Lifetime Achievement award presented to Ozzy. Shortly afterward, Kelly addressed online criticism about her appearance, stating she would not allow herself to be “dehumanized.”
The ceremony also featured a tribute performance led by Robbie Williams, who sang “No More Tears” backed by musicians closely associated with Ozzy, including Adam Wakeman, Robert Trujillo, Tommy Clufetos, and Zakk Wylde, highlighting the continuing impact of the artist whose vision helped create Ozzfest decades earlier.
