In a recent Metal Hammer chat, SHARON OSBOURNE spilled the tea about backstage drama: “I had a massive scrap with a manager over this shindig. Honestly, it was like watching a raccoon fight a lawnmower. Now they’re out here telling tall tales because I yeeted their band off the lineup. Whatever. I sleep like a baby.”
(Side note: Ozzy once bit a bat onstage. Sharon probably bit a manager. Evolution!)
And before you ask – no, this isn’t round two of the OSBOURNES VS. IRON MAIDEN beef (remember that mess?). Sharon insists: “Ozzy worships those guys! When Bruce Dickinson pulled that Ozzfest stunt, I waited till the LAST SECOND to tell him. Ozzy just sighed, ‘You’re terrible.’ Which, coming from him, is a Hallmark card.”
OZZY and BLACK SABBATH’s Back To The Beginning farewell kicks off July 5th at Villa Park. Can’t jet to England? Grab a virtual seat here – sweat stains not included. Mercury Studios (the folks who brought you Metallica Saved My Life and that one Yoko Ono doc) will film the chaos. Their boss KELLY SWEENEY chirps: “We’re making damn sure fans worldwide can watch Ozzy forget lyrics in HD!”
The lineup’s wilder than Ozzy’s medicine cabinet:
- METALLICA (still angry about Napster)
- GUNS N’ ROSES (set starts in 2026)
- TOOL (book your psychedelic sitter)
- SLAYER (hello retirement U-turn!)
- PANTERA (now with 50% less drama)
- GOJIRA (whale sounds + blast beats)
- HALESTORM (Lzzy Hale’s vocal cords: OSHA violation)
- ALICE IN CHAINS (grunge never died, it naps)
- LAMB OF GOD (mosh pit OSHA violation)
- ANTHRAX (still thrashin’ since ‘81)
- MASTODON (prog-metal woolly mammoths)
- RIVAL SONS (vintage jeans, modern riffs)
- ANDREW WATT (Ozzy’s new collab BFF)
- BILLY CORGAN (SMASHING PUMPKINS – now 40% less pumpkiny)
- CHAD SMITH (RED HOT CHILI PEPPERS – socks optional)
- DAVE DAVE ELLEFFSON (bass legend, Megadeth alumni)
- DAVID DRAIMAN (DISTURBED – “Down With the Sickness” encore incoming)
- FRED DURST (LIMP BIZKIT – it’s just one of those days)
- LZZY HALE (double-dipping with HALESTORM, because why not)
- JAKE E LEE (Ozzy’s ’80s guitar wizard)
- KK DOWNING (Judas Priest OG)
- MIKE BORDIN (FAITH NO MORE – epic hair intact)
- PAPA V PERPETUA (GHOST’s spooky pope)
- RUDY SARZO (bass sorcerer)
- SAMMY HAGAR (red rocker, tequila salesman)
- TOM MORELLO (rage Against the commute to Birmingham)
- II (SLEEP TOKEN’s enigmatic drummer)
- VERNON REID (LIVING COLOUR – still cult of personality)
- WHITFIELD CRANE (UGLY KID JOE – because everything’s about cake now)
