The festival was created in 1996, when organizers of musical festival Lollapalooza refused to let Ozzy Osbourne join the tour. As a response, Sharon & Ozzy Osbourne decided to create their own, more heavy metal-focused tour. The tour was very well-received, which prompted the Osbournes to have the festival become a yearly occurrence.
In 1998, Ozzfest ventured outside the United States for the first time, adding dates in the United Kingdom, which featured a different lineup. After 4 shows, however, Main Stage act Korn dropped out of the tour, due to the wife of one of the band members giving birth. They were immediately replaced by Therapy?. Other Main Stage act Soulfly's set included a guest appearance by ex-Dub War/Skindred frontman Benji Webb. The festival would eventually return to the UK, appearing in 2001, 2002, and 2005.
In 2002, Ozzfest broke new ground by expanding its borders into central Europe. Included were 16 venues across Germany, the UK, the Netherlands, Italy, Austria, Denmark, Finland and Russia among other nations. The festival, however, was marked by the death of Drowning Pool frontman Dave Williams, who was found dead of an undiagnosed heart condition on their bus. Tommy Lee replaced the band for the rest of the tour.
On-stage footage of the Ozzfest 2004 tour was shown on MTV. They hosted a show titled Battle for Ozzfest where Ozzy and Sharon chose eight out of hundreds of bands to compete for a spot on the following years Ozzfest. Ozzy selected one member of each band to "tag along" on the tour doing various tasks (some just to anger the contestants) and there were occasional meetings to decide which contestant was to leave that week for whatever reason. Marc Serrano from A Dozen Furies was the winner.
Ozzy said the 2006 shows will be the last Ozzfest in which he will make a "regular appearance" meaning that although Ozzfest will continue, it will no longer be a guarantee that Ozzy himself will perform.
"The Camden Incident"On the August 26, 2004 show in Camden, New Jersey, Judas Priest frontman Rob Halford memorably filled in for Ozzy on Black Sabbath vocals after he came down with bronchitis. Ozzys illness was not revealed to the audience until immediately before Black Sabbath was scheduled to take the stage, at which time Black Sabbath drummer Bill Ward and local Philadelphia DJ Tommy Conwell took the stage. Conwell announced that he had a message from Ozzy to the audience and proceeded to read the following:
""Philadelphia, you are about to witness a once in a lifetime performance. Unfortunately, I've come down with bronchitis and will not be able to perform tonight. However, my good mate from Birmingham, the "Metal God" himself - Mr. Rob Halford, has graciously agreed to step in and sing for me this evening." Conwell went on to explain - "This is from Ozzy. Let me hear you go fucking crazy for Mr. Rob Halford."
After being met with a series of boos from the crowd drummer Bill Ward then addressed the crowd, assuring them that although they may feel "cheated" and "ripped off" he and the band intended to "play their balls off". The lights then immediately dimmed and the concert began.
There were no refunds offered to the audience, many of them who had purchased expensive seats simply to see the original Black Sabbath up close. For weeks after the show controversy raged among the fans. The "Camden Refund Petition" was launched on petitononline.com and sent to Sharon Osbourne. The petition, among other criticism prompted Sharon Osbourne to release the following statement to the press on September 1, 2004: To those who attended the Ozzfest show in Camden on August 26:
"I would like to address the few complaints that have arisen from Black Sabbath's performance with Rob Halford in Camden last Thursday, August 26th. The situation quite clearly was that Ozzy was suffering from bronchitis. He was hoping from the morning of the show until the afternoon that he would have some sort of voice so that he could perform that evening. Unfortunately by late afternoon he was advised by doctors that that just wouldn't be possible. So, our options were:
1. Have Black Sabbath not to perform at all and inform the crowd at 4:00 p.m. in the afternoon, which might have lead to a riot;
or
2. Ask one of the legends of the genre, Rob Halford, if he would step in for Ozzy that evening so that people wouldn't leave feeling disappointed not seeing Black Sabbath perform at all.
"Of course Ozzy's more disappointed than the fans and he feels incredibly guilty that he let everyone down."
Sincerely,
Sharon Osbourne
P.S. Ozzy and I would like to personally thank Gil Edwards and WYSP-FM for their enormous and continued support of OZZfest and hard rock music in Philadelphia. "
Following the apology much of the controversey died down, but some still pointed out glaring holes in Sharons argument. Many people took issue with the claim that making the announcement to a largley intoxicated audience at 9:00 at night without offering recourse was somehow less likely to cause a riot then making the announcement earlier in the day with the option of a refund.
Due to Ozzy's deteriorating physical conditions, Black Sabbath had to cancel several shows which were filled in by extra-long sets from British band Iron Maiden. Maiden were well received, although Sharon Osbourne was apparently angered by several onstage comments made by Iron Maiden singer Bruce Dickinson about her family.
Sharon took vengeance and during the San Bernardino, California show (the final one with Iron Maiden, who would hand down their supporting slot to Velvet Revolver for the last 4 shows) arranged for road crews and daughter Kelly to throw eggs and various objects at the performing Iron Maiden. Bury Your Dead band members, likely among others, were asked to join in but refused. Sharon managed to cut off Iron Maidens's PA at critical moments during their set. Sharon Osbourne then went onstage herself to call Bruce Dickinson a prick. At this point many Maiden fans walked out before Black Sabbath's set. These actions have started a war of words between Bruce Dickinson and the Osbournes.
"Criticism"
Ozzfest has been criticized for being a corporative event. Overpriced items such as beer and food are sold during the event. Concert organizer Sharon Osbourne has been known to charge underground, not well known bands large sums of money for a slot on the Second Stage. During an interview for E Entertainment TV, about the money bands pay to be at the second stage, Sharon said "If you believe in your band you`re gonna pay, then I take the money and buy myself something nice" which led people to believe that the money that bands invest doesn´t go to pay for the actual tour expenses but to Sharon´s own pocket. Even in an episode of MTV`s "The Osbournes", Ozzy got mad with Sharon because she set two concerts one after the other and he believed that his voice was going to be affected by the hard schedule. He ended up saying to Sharon "You only care about money". Also she has been criticized for some acts that have performed on the main stage in later years like Incubus, and Crazy Town, because they are not metal, which led people to assume that there was a financial interest behind their selection to play at the festival.
