OZZFEST Is Top-Grossing Festival Of All Time

March 15, 2005

Billboard.com is reporting that Ozzfest is the top-grossing touring festival of all time, and, outside of the Vans Warped tour, is the longest-lived. Since 1996, Ozzfest has grossed $172 million and drawn 4.2 million fans to about 240 shows, according to producers Clear Channel Entertainment (CCE).

Jane Holman, general manager of CCE's touring division and producer of Ozzfest, is high on this year's lineup. "It was a real coup to get IRON MAIDEN this year," she told Billboard.com. "To have IRON MAIDEN playing with BLACK SABBATH is incredible. Heads will explode."

Osbourne admits the tour has grown beyond his wildest expectations. "It’s grown so fucking quickly, I can’t begin to tell you," he told Billboard.com.

He says the tour only got off the ground after his wife/manager Sharon "asked Lollapalooza if we could get a spot on their tour, and they said there’s no room, I don't know if it was me in particular or for that kind of music. And Sharon got pissed and said, 'fuck them, we’ll do our own thing."

Tickets will range from $35 on the lawn to $85 for gold circle. "We really, really try so hard to keep the costs down," says Sharon. "We’re not one of these that say, 'We've got great bands, we can really yank the ticket prices and squeeze Joe Public.' We try to bring the best talent for the best prices. I wish a beer cost the same as it did 10 years ago, too."

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