SHARON OSBOURNE Explains Difficulty In Booking OZZFEST

Sharon Osbourne was the surprise guest at Ozzy Osbourne's elaborately staged news conference on Wednesday afternoon (May 19) at Casa Loma's Great Hall in Toronto, Ontario, Canada to promote his new album, "Scream".

When asked about the billing of this year's edition of Ozzy's travelling festival, Ozzfest, which is set to hit six cities from August 14 to August 24, after skipping last year, tour co-organizer Sharon said, "I felt that at the time that after we did free Ozzfests [Sharon Osbourne experimented in 2007 by making the show admission-free, with fans obtaining tickets through corporate sponsors. But the bands were not paid either, leading to a lack of big names. — Ed.] that it was time to take a break. And then when you take your break, it's like you stay away for a year and then your spot's filled with other festivals. They come in and take your place, and then the competition gets more and more, which is healthy; it's natural.

"But coming back out this time, it was like, 'Whoa!' It just seems to me that in the space of two years everybody wants to be something else — and everybody still wants to be bloody alternative. Or, um, hard rock. 'We're not metal. We're not metal, no no no.'

"Going to ALICE IN CHAINS, who are really good friends of ours and a great band, great friends, they're 'too alternative' for us. That's why they took PAPA ROACH to support. So when you're dealing with people that think like that, it's very hard [laughs] to put a tour together, but I think we did extremely well at the end of the day. I think it's more of an event with what we've put together."

The 2010 Ozzfest will kick off August 14 in San Bernardino (the birthplace of the first Ozzfest in 1996) and then make stops in Chicago, Illinois; Hartford, Connecticut; Camden, New Jersey; Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania; and Boston, Massachusetts.

The main stage will feature full sets from OZZY, MÖTLEY CRÜE and HALFORD (whose frontman Rob Halford last appeared on Ozzfest in 2004 with JUDAS PRIEST). DEVILDRIVER and NONPOINT will round out the main-stage lineup. Second-stage headliners and six-time Ozzfest veterans BLACK LABEL SOCIETY will be joined by DROWNING POOL, KINGDOM OF SORROW, GOATWHORE, SKELETONWITCH, SAVIOURS and KATAKLYSM.

Each Ozzfest date will include 13 bands on two stages with music beginning at 1:00 p.m. In addition, concert-goers can once again visit the Ozzfest "Village of the Damned" featuring a mix of interactive activities, shopping and entertainment throughout the venue concourses.

These Ozzfest dates mark the first concerts in the U.S. in connection with the June 15 release of "Scream" (Epic Records),the Ozzfest founder's first album in three years and 10th studio album overall. Produced by Ozzy and Kevin Churko, both of whom did the same honors for Ozzy's 2007 worldwide million-seller "Black Rain", the album will feature the first single "Let Me Hear You Scream".

Ozzfest 2010 Main Stage:

OZZY OSBOURNE
MÖTLEY CRÜE
HALFORD
DEVILDRIVER
NONPOINT

Ozzfest 2010 Second Stage:

BLACK LABEL SOCIETY
DROWNING POOL
KINGDOM OF SORROW
GOATWHORE
SKELETONWITCH
SAVIOURS
KATAKLYSM

The dates are as follows:

Aug. 14 - San Bernardino, CA – San Manuel Amphitheater
Aug. 17 - Chicago, IL – First Midwest Bank Amp.
Aug. 19 - Pittsburgh, PA – First Niagara Pavilion
Aug. 21 - Hartford, CT – Comcast Theater
Aug. 22 - Camden, NJ – Susquehanna
Aug. 24 - Boston, MA – Comcast Center

Ozzfest did not take place in 2009 after Osbourne stated that he did not want to tour until he had a new album in stores. The move was not really surprising, given the festival's scaled-down reconfiguration as a one-day event in 2008 after more than a decade as a full-length summer tour.

In addition to the general slowdown in both the economy and the concert business, Ozzfest began facing competition in 2008 from the Rockstar Energy Mayhem tour and Crüe Fest.

The 2008 "destination festival" took place on August 9, 2008 in Dallas and featured METALLICA, SERJ TANKIAN and others along with headliner Ozzy.