Sharon Osbourne has shed light on the factors that led to the cancellation of Ozzfest, revealing that it was ultimately due to managers becoming “greedy”.
READ MORE: Ozzy Osbourne: a rock’n’roll showman like no other
Sharon – alongside her husband and ex-Black Sabbath frontman Ozzy, and children Kelly and Jack – opened up in a new episode of their revived Osbournes podcast about the now-defunct hard rock festival.
In the latest installment of the podcast, which is the eighth episode of the series, the family reminisce about the unforgettable moments they witnessed at the annual event and the mammoth names they saw perform including Limp Bizkit, System Of A Down, TOOL and Rob Zombie.
When asked why the festival ultimately came to an end, Sharon responded: “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.”
“We made a profit. But it was not like – we couldn’t retire on it,” she continued. “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 went on to give an example of the demands that she received from some artists’ managers. “Years and years ago, one of the bands – it was the second Ozzfest we did, or the third – wouldn’t go on stage until I agreed to give them 10,000 more dollars. And they were holding everything up, and I said, ‘Of course, of course I’ll give it you.’”
Sharon added that in the end she “didn’t give them the money”, which led to a falling out.
The inaugural Ozzfest took place in October 1996 and spanned two days. The following year it expanded into a tour rather than a one-time event and continued annually almost every year up until 2018 (although it reverted into a single-day event from 2008).
The final installment was held in Inglewood, California on New Year’s Eve 2018 and saw performances from Rob Zombie, Marilyn Manson, DevilDriver and Ozzy himself.
This isn’t the first time that the Osbournes have made headlines with their recently revived podcast series.
Last month, Ozzy caught his family members and viewers off guard by admitting that he would willing wet himself on stage as he was “wet anyway” from the on-stage antics.
In other news about the heavy metal icon, Rick Astley recently claimed that Osbourne once attempted to recruit a backing band for him.
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