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Latest Ozzy Osbourne News
Below is our complete Ozzy Osbourne news coverage, including columns and articles pertaining to the band. Some articles listed may be indirectly related, such as side projects of the band members, etc.
Note: We began associating news directly with bands in late 2003. Therefore, earlier band news may not be listed on this page.
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Sharon Osbourne Blasts QOTSA Frontman
SHARON OSBOURNE has blasted Queens of The Stone Age frontman JOSH HOMME after he criticised the 2007 free Ozzfest tour for lining the pocket of the headliner and no one else. Speaking to Blender.com, Homme revealed he was approached to perform at the touring festival but declined the offer, stating, "I won't be playing Ozzfest again - they treat the bands like shit." Homme went on to criticise this year's (2007) Ozzfest, where bands are being asked to perform for free. He says, "This year you get to play for free under the guise of, 'We're doing it for the fans!' But it's really for the people who fan Sharon and Ozzy with palm fronds at their house."
Outraged Osbourne has wasted no time in firing back, telling the website, "I hope he gets syphilis and dies. I hope his dick fuckin' falls off so his mother can eat it."
Ozzy's "Black Rain" Details, Ozzfest Ticket Promo
Featuring Ozzy Osbourne's first new studio material in six years, his latest album entitled "Black Rain" is due out May 22 on Epic Records. OZZY co-produced the album with Kevin Churko and recorded it with his touring band: Zakk Wylde (guitar), Mike Bordin (drums) and Blasko (bass). OZZY says that he felt a new freedom while recording the album at his home studio in Los Angeles. The result: songs that are not only hard-hitting but adventurously arranged and sonically fresh. Explains OZZY, "It's a well-put together album. I think it's evident that it hasn't been just slapped out and put down. I took my time on the album and Zakk [Wylde] plays some amazing stuff as always." OZZY feels BLACK RAIN is the true follow-up to his classic No More Tears, the 1991 album that also challenged the expectations of what an OZZY OSBOURNE album should sound like.
Some of the songs on BLACK RAIN are ominous in their emotional tone--they examine a world teeming with greed, war, deception, bad drugs ("11 Silver," about crystal meth) and environmental havoc. OZZY also zooms in on the overriding sense of fear and dread that define our times--perpetrated, he feels, by news programs that make "entertainment" out of terrible news events.
Says OZZY: "I just thought there's so much fucking bad news, the only way I can release it is to put it in a song." On the other hand, the new track "Civilize The Universe" offers a sense of hope, as OZZY sings: "I'm alive/Watching better turn to worse/One more time/Try to civilize the universe."
OZZY will support BLACK RAIN with a world tour beginning in Moscow on May 27 which continues through July 6. Then starting July 12 in Seattle, he'll headline the 12th annual OZZFEST tour throughout America.
The pioneer and trendsetter has pulled the plug on ticket prices in America and given the power back to the fans, calling this summer's OZZFEST "FreeFest." That's right, this year's OZZFEST is entirely free for fans, an unprecedented move for an artist and tour of this stature.
On that note, look out for specially marked copies of "Black Rain" will be available at participating retailers on May 22. Fans will use the code found in the CD's packaging when they log onto ozzfest.com to redeem two tickets. This code will enable OZZY fans to go to livenation.com ozzfest and have the first chance at OZZFEST tickets beginning Friday, June 8, at 9:00 PM (ET) and prior to June 12 when tickets will be available to the general public--exactly one month before the first OZZFEST 2007 show in Seattle at the White River Amphitheatre.
OZZY is being honored in May on VH-1's "Rock Honors" telecast. He will perform three songs on the broadcast including a track from BLACK RAIN. Premiering on Thursday, May 24 at 9:00 PM ET/PT, "VH1 Rock Honors," will be taped at the Mandalay Bay Events Center in Las Vegas on Saturday, May 12.
You can log onto ozzy.com to hear samples of tracks from the album or check out the first single "I Don't Wanna Stop" on Ozzy's MySpace page.
Ozzfest 2007 Release First Ticketing Details
You've heard about how Ozzfest is boldly redefining the concert industry this year by making all the tickets to the summer's premiere touring concert festival entirely free for fans.
Well, Ozzfest fans have a number of ways to score a pair of tickets to "FreeFest" — which will rock mightily with festival's namesake OZZY OSBOURNE and LAMB OF GOD, HATEBREED, LORDI, BEHEMOTH, MONDO GENERATOR, NILE, ANKLA, CIRCUS DIABLO, THE SHOWDOWN, 3 INCHES OF BLOOD, DAATH, CHTHONIC and IN THIS MOMENT.
Ticket codes will be distributed through sponsor websites beginning May 12. Details on these programs are available on Ozzfest.com, LiveNation.com, MonsterEnergy.com, JagerMusic.com and FYE.com. In the meantime, various sponsors will have offline initiatives, details of which will also be available via their respective websites.
These codes can be redeemed for tickets beginning June 12 — exactly one month before the first Ozzfest 2007 show in Seattle. Fans will return to the site where they registered or www.livenation.com/ozzfest, enter their code and download two tickets to the show of their choice. Note: To ensure that everyone gets the chance for free tickets, there is a limit of two tickets per customer. More...
Chthonic Added To Ozzfest 2007 Second Stage
Taiwan's CHTHONIC, the black metal band that has already broken down musical barriers in its homeland, will spend this summer on Ozzfest 2007 as a part of the second stage's rotating lineup alongside such acclaimed artists as HATEBREED, NILE, THE SHOWDOWN and 3 INCHES OF BLOOD, among others.
The Ozzfest billing is now shaping up as follows:
Main Stage:
OZZY OSBOURNE
LAMB OF GOD
[to be announced]
LORDI
Second Stage – Non-Rotating:
HATEBREED
BEHEMOTH
MONDO GENERATOR
Second Stage – Rotating:
NILE
ANKLA
CIRCUS DIABLO
THE SHOWDOWN
3 INCHES OF BLOOD
DAATH
IN THIS MOMENT
CHTHONIC More...
Behemoth Added To Ozzfest 2007 Second Stage
Polish extreme metal titans BEHEMOTH have been added to the Ozzfest 2007 lineup. The band has landed the direct-support, non-rotating slot right before second-stage headliners HATEBREED. This is the first time a Polish act has ever participated in Ozzfest.
The Ozzfest 2007 billing is now shaping up as follows:
Main Stage:
OZZY OSBOURNE
LAMB OF GOD
[to be announced]
LORDI
Second Stage – Non-Rotating:
HATEBREED
BEHEMOTH
MONDO GENERATOR
Second Stage – Rotating:
NILE
ANKLA
CIRCUS DIABLO
THE SHOWDOWN
3 INCHES OF BLOOD
DAATH
IN THIS MOMENT
[to be announced]
Nergal (vocals, guitars) states, "I couldn't be more proud about the fact that BEHEMOTH will be joining this year's Ozzfest! I'm speechless and beyond excited. No doubt it's going to be the brightest point of our career thus far, and I hope that this will help to spread dangerous and extreme music among the masses. It's an honor to team up with our longtime brothers in NILE and to share the stage with LAMB OF GOD and HATEBREED, not to mention the legend himself! With such a bill, you can expect nothing but pure metal carnage! What makes me even more excited is the little fact that we will be releasing our new album during the tour. So expect songs from 'The Apostasy', as well as some older shit. We'll definitely make sure the set is going to be brutal as fuck. You've been warned!" More...
In This Moment Added to Ozzfest 2007
IN THIS MOMENT will spend this summer on Ozzfest 2007 as a part of the second stage's rotating lineup alongside such acclaimed artists as HATEBREED, NILE, THE SHOWDOWN and 3 INCHES OF BLOOD, among others. This will be the group's biggest tour yet, and as guitarist Chris Howorth states, it is an opportunity they meet with open arms. "We are very proud and honored to be a part of this year's Ozzfest," he said. "Not only are we huge Ozzy fans and excited to be playing with him every day, but this year's festival is free, so everyone has a chance to come out and be a part of this amazing experience. It's going to be a great chance to reach out to an entirely new audience. We are also looking forward to playing with and getting to know all the rest of the bands on the tour. It's so surreal because not too long ago we were watching the Ozzfest as fans out in the crowd, and now we are performing. It's an unbelievable feeling — we are so blessed!"
The Ozzfest billing is now shaping up as follows:
Main Stage:
OZZY OSBOURNE
LAMB OF GOD
[to be announced]
LORDI
Second Stage – Non-Rotating:
HATEBREED
[to be announced]
MONDO GENERATOR
Second Stage – Rotating:
NILE
ANKLA
CIRCUS DIABLO
THE SHOWDOWN
3 INCHES OF BLOOD
DAATH
IN THIS MOMENT
[to be announced]
Nile Mainman: "We're Too Heavy For Ozzfest"
Nile frontman Karl Sanders has commented on Nile's involvement on this summers Ozzfest along with Ozzy Osbourne, Lamb of God, Lordi, Hatebreed and others.
Karl Sanders stated "Been getting a lot of messages about Ozzfest, and the general concensus is, we are either giving a good reason for metalheads to go to the show, or we're going someplace we don't belong because we're 'too heavy for Ozzfest.'
"Well, here's how I see it: There is a brief scene in 'Saving Private Ryan', during the opening sequence on the Normandy Beach, where just for a few seconds the camera moves to a viewpoint of a German machine-gunner — looking over his machine-gun sights down onto the beach — who is laying waste to countless U.S. soldiers as the doors open up to their boats and they are all just helpless and vulnerable, in the water and struggling onto the beach, exposed to devastating machine gunfire — and from this vantage point, one can not help but get the feeling, if only for a moment, of what it must feel like to be that machine gunner, with so many helpless targets right in your sights to mow down at will. Of course, for that machine-gunner, you also feel that, however awesome it must be for those priceless few moments of godly slaughter, it will inevitably be short-lived, because he is soon to be roasted alive in his bunker as soon as Tom Hanks and friends make it up the hill. But for those few moments of unimpeded opportunity to mow down wave after wave of helpless targets, it had to be utterly godly.
"That's why we are doing Ozzfest. We will be the first real death metal band to ever play Ozzfest, and the chance to lay waste to thousands and thousands of mall metal posers is just too once-in-a-lifetime to pass up.
"In the words of Ross Dolan, 'Metal will take place.'
"I could care less about how much incredible exposure it will be to play Ozzfest; I am just thrilled at the possibility of metal carnage on a mass scale. Those venues will look like Omaha Beach when we are done."
Daath, 3 Inches Of Blood Confirmed for Ozzfest 07
Roadrunner Records artists DAATH and 3 INCHES OF BLOOD have now been added to the Jagermeister sponsored 2nd Stage. Three more 2nd Stage bands are set to be announced, along with one final Main Stage artist.The most up to date list of confirmed bands to be revealed for this years OZZFEST 2007 are as follows:
Main Stage
OZZY OSBOURNE (Main Stage Headliner)
LAMB OF GOD
LORDI
2nd Stage
HATEBREED (2nd Stage Headliner)
MONDO GENERATOR
ANKLA
CIRCUS DIABLO
NILE
THE SHOWDOWN
DAATH (new - 3/22)
3 INCHES OF BLOOD (new - 3/22)
Breaking News
Initial Bands Confirmed For Ozzfest 2007
Lamb of God and Lordi will perform on the main stage with Ozzy Osbourne, while Hatebreed will headline OZZFEST 2007's reliably down and dirty second stage with Mondo Generator, Ankla, Circus Diablo, Nile and The Showdown. These are only the first artists who have stepped forward to be part of this ground-breaking touring extravaganza, with more artists to be announced in the coming weeks for the main and second stages.
The 24-city OZZFEST will now launch July 12 in Seattle, WA at the White River Amphitheatre. The tour was originally announced to start July 7 in Southern California but had to be moved to accommodate the extension of OZZY's European tour. OZZFEST 2007 will also hit Seattle, WA, George, WA, Sacramento, CA, Mountain View, CA, Devore, CA, Phoenix, AZ, Albuquerque, NM, Denver, CO, Kansas City, MO, Dallas, TX, San Antonio, TX, St. Louis, MO, Columbus, OH, Tinley Park, IL, East Troy, WI, Indianapolis, IN, Holmdel, NJ, Hartford, CT, Boston, MA, Philadelphia, PA, Pittsburgh, PA, Detroit, MI, Charlotte, NC and West Palm Beach, FL. More...
Ozzfest 2007 Tour Dates Revealed
While none of the bands performing - other than headliner OZZY OSBOURNE - have been announced, the routing for Ozzfest 2007 has been made public. Ozzfest will stop in the following 24 US cities:
July 12 - White River Amphitheatre - Seattle, WA
July 14 - The Gorge - George, WA
July 17 - Sleep Train Amphitheatre - Sacramento, CA
July 19 - Shoreline Amphitheatre - Mountain View, CA
July 21 - Hyundai Pavilion - Devore, CA
July 24 - Cricket Pavilion - Phoenix, AZ
July 26 - Journal Pavilion - Albuquerque, NM
July 28 - Coors Amphitheatre - Denver, CO
July 30 - Verizon Wireless Amphitheatre - Kansas City, MO
August 2 - Verizon Wireless Amphitheatre - San Antonio, TX
August 4 - Smirnoff Music Center - Dallas, TX
August 6 - UMB Bank Pavilion - St. Louis, MO
August 8 - Germain Amphitheatre - Columbus, OH
August 10 - First Midwest Bank Amphitheatre - Tinley Park, IL
August 12 - Alpine Valley Music Theatre - East Troy, WI
August 14 - Verizon Wireless Music Theatre - Indianapolis, IN
August 16 - PNC Bank Arts Center - Holmdel, NJ
August 18 - New England Dodge Music Theatre - Hartford, CT
August 20 - Tweeter Center - Boston, MA
August 22 - Tweeter Center - Philadelphia, PA
August 24 - Post Gazette Pavilion - Pittsburgh, PA
August 26 - DTE Energy Music Theatre - Detroit, MI
August 28 - Verizon Wireless Amphitheatre - Charlotte, NC
August 30 - Sound Advice Amphitheatre - West Palm Beach, FL
Jagermeister Stage Announced For Ozzfest 2007
Shortly after Sharon Osbourne made the big announcement about this year’s Ozzfest – it’s free – she followed it up with another big announcement: Jägermeister will sponsor the entire second stage.
Known as rock’s biggest juggernaut, Ozzfest is now turning to sponsors to provide added support for the festival’s new incarnation as a “FREEfest,” and Jägermeister is taking full advantage of the opportunity.
A longtime sponsor of Ozzfest, Jägermeister will roll out its own state of the art mobile stage for the summer’s biggest heavy metal festival. All second stage acts will play on the Jägermeister stage, a fully self-contained stage hauled cross country by a custom Showhauler toter home, complete with a full audio sound system provided by JVC Mobile and amped by one whopping generator. The stage measures 34’ long, 16’ deep, and 20’ high. The entire PA system, provided by Peavey Electronics and Schecter Guitars, will be hung for optimum sound. The stage will include state-of-the-art lighting by Chauvet. “Jägermeister has been kicking around this idea for a long time. The fact that we’ve spent a year designing and building this stage proves our dedication to music,” says Rick Zeiler, Director of Marketing and Brand Development for Jägermeister. “We can’t wait to showcase it at Ozzfest.”
“Jägermeister has been part of the Ozzfest family for the last eight years,” says Sharon Osbourne. “This year they are kind enough to be supplying Ozzfest ’07 with their revolutionary mobile stage. Jägermeister’s stage and their continued support are helping to make our FREE Ozzfest tour concept a reality.”
“We are incredibly jazzed that Jägermeister is bringing their innovative and state-of-the-art mobile stage on this history-making tour,” says Jane Holman, Vice President of Touring for Live Nation, Ozzfest’s organizer. “Jäger has been a great supporter of Ozzfest and the metal genre for years, and we couldn’t be happier to be able to help them showcase their new baby.”
Bands will play the Jägermeister stage every day from 1-7 p.m. In addition to Ozzfest being free, this year will also see the return of Ozzy Osbourne to the main stage as headliner. He’ll be unleashing new songs from his forthcoming album. It’s going to be a groundbreaking show, and Jägermeister will be there every thundering step of the way. Lineups and ticket information to be announced as details become available. The first show is slated for July 7 in Los Angeles. More dates and cities to be announced.
Osbourne: Ozzfest "Nearly Destroyed Us" Last Year
Brad Kava of The Mercury News spoke to Ozzfest promoter Sharon Osbourne by phone on Tuesday (February 6) about the organizers' announcement that admission to the 25-city heavy metal tour will be free this summer. Sponsors will pick up the tab for the tickets, bands will not be paid to perform and expenses will be covered from sales of food, drinks and merchandise. It will be the first national tour ever to do so.
"We needed to change something and we didn't want to change the format," Osbourne said.
"We were putting offers to all these bands we wanted to tour with and they were coming back to us with exorbitant prices that would have meant we had to put the ticket prices up, which I won't do. With Ozzy's audience being younger, they can't afford any higher prices."
Gary Bongiovanni, analyst with Pollstar, the concert industry trade magazine, said: "I don't think this will become a new business model, but it is a great marketing tool for them."
"They want $300,000 plus to do an hour's work onstage," Sharon Osbourne said of some young bands. "I'm just not doing it. Last year nearly destroyed us, paying, paying, paying, and we just can't do it again."
Tickets would be paid for and distributed by sponsors, such as J?germeister, which will present acts at the second stage, located in amphitheater parking lots.
Osbourne, 54, said she plans to upgrade the festival's midway atmosphere, losing the tattoo parlors and cheesy carnival games and replacing them with interactive booths sponsored by technology and video game companies.
"There has to be another way to do it,'' she said. "If you get the sponsors that believe in you and you get new great cutting-edge bands that just want an audience, we'll give them the audience and we'll let everyone in free."
Last year, though, she said, the fees earned by bands, including about $325,000 a show for the group SYSTEM OF A DOWN, almost sank the festival.
"They're taking four years off, we paid them so much, and we're still working," she said. "I'm not doing that again."
Read the full article at The Mercury News.
Critics Say Free Ozzfest Will "Screw Artists"
Critics have leveled some heavy charges against Ozzfest after the announcement of a free Ozzfest this summer. The problems began when founder Ozzy Osbourne described the festivals previous financial problems as due to "artists demanding more and more money for summer tours" and the ensuing rumour that the event actually charged new acts in the vicinity of $75,000 for a slot on the tour in previous years (this has actually been confirmed by a number of bands to be 75-80k and only applies to non-headlining second stage acts -ed).
Established music publication CMJ argues that the event will force artists to depend entirely on already venue-taxed merch sales to cover their costs:
In fact, whereas Ozzfest allegedly required an investment from these up-and-coming acts, they now simply require that the bands agree to play for merch money.
Furthermore, while the festival now allows band's to perform in the same city even the same day as the festival, the article describes this as a "crafty manipulation" arguing that no one will pay for a show after a free performance takes place the same day.
Catalyst News Network goes even further, accusing the organizers of "sucking the lifeblood from young artists" and concludes that "Art is truly being used to promote corporate profits -- while the artists, once again get screwed. "
It should be noted that very few details on the financial arrangements of the festival have been announced, but these allegations, if true, could pose very real problems for artists aiming for a position in summer's festival tours.
Breaking News
Ozzfest 2007 Will Be Free
2/9 UPDATE: You can watch the Ozzfest 2007 Press Conference online now.
OZZY and SHARON OSBOURNE and tour producer LIVE NATION broke the news today at the Concert Industry Consortium in Los Angeles that their 12th annual hard rock spectacular--a 25-date extravaganza launching July 7 in Los Angeles--is pulling the plug on ticket prices and giving the power back to the fans calling this summer's OZZFEST "FreeFest." The other OZZFEST 2007 cities as of now are San Diego, San Francisco, Seattle, Denver, Albuquerque, Phoenix, Dallas, San Antonio, Kansas City, St Louis, Chicago, Indianapolis, Columbus, Pittsburgh, New York, Boston, Philadelphia, Hartford, Charlotte, Atlanta, West Palm Beach, Nashville. Note: a final confirmed list of cities and dates is forthcoming.
"For the last few years," says SHARON, "ticket prices have steadily climbed as artists demand more and more money for summer tours. We certainly want everybody to make money, however we also want the kids to be able to afford to come out and have an incredible experience. If we continued with the traditional touring festival model, we would have no choice but to raise ticket prices again this year."
Cited as "one of rock's biggest juggernauts" in the cover feature of Sunday's New York Times' "Arts and Leisure" section (6/25/06), OZZFEST and Live Nation will turn to sponsors to provide added support for the festival's new incarnation. This summer's OZZFEST will provide select sponsors with a unique opportunity to engage fans one-on-one utilizing one of music's best known brands.
"We're reaching the same point we did years ago when kids no longer wanted to pay for overpriced CDs," compares Sharon. "As a result, they found alternative ways of getting music. That's what's happening with summer touring in this country, it's out-pricing itself. We started this and we want to keep it and we want to make it bigger and bigger each year by getting bigger sponsors to be involved with the festival and underwriting the festival. That's what it's about."
"For the past 11 years, music fans have made OZZFEST the most successful and enduring rock music festival in the United States," said Jason Garner, Live Nation President of North American Concerts. "What better way to say 'Thank You' to the music fans who have made this possible than inviting them to attend OZZFEST for free."
To gain entry into the event, fans will go to www.ozzfest.com or www.livenation.com to find links that will direct them to special sponsor sites where tickets can be secured. More details regarding the process are forthcoming. More...
Groundbreaking Ozzfest 2007 Announcement Promised
Ozzy and Sharon Osbourne will make a "surprise groundbreaking, historic announcement about this summer's Ozzfest" at CIC 2007 (Concert Industry Consortium) on Tuesday, February 6 at 11:00 a.m. PT at the Hyatt Regency Century Plaza Hotel (The Westside Room), located at 2025 Avenue Of The Stars in Century City, California at a media-only event (not open to the public).
Current rumors about the summer festival include the tour being scaled back to indoor arena's that will be headlined by Ozzy with 5 to 6 other bands on the bill. One of these rumored bands, Alice in Chains.
Bassist Rudy Sarzo Remembers Randy Rhoads
Debby Rao of KNAC.COM recently conducted an interview with veteran hard rock/heavy metal bassist Rudy Sarzo (OZZY OSBOURNE, WHITESNAKE, QUIET RIOT, DIO). A couple of excerpts from the chat follow:
KNAC.COM: What are your thoughts on HEAVEN AND HELL?
Sarzo: I am a huge fan of that version of SABBATH. I am very excited. I have heard the three new songs that are going to be included in the box set, "Black Sabbath: The Dio Years". A couple of the tunes are songs that Ronnie [James Dio] brought to the table to be included in the new DIO record. But he got together with Tony, and Ronnie said,"Hey listen, I have these riffs here." So they have become part of the new box set. Also Ronnie, has his studio at home. I go there and help him out recording. So I get to hear everything first hand. It sounds amazing.
KNAC.COM: Do the new songs on the box set sound like early SABBATH?
Sarzo: It is more like the Dio version of SABBATH with Vinny Appice playing on it. It has a lot of the "Mob Rules" and "Dehumanizer" sound and feel to it.
KNAC.COM: Congratulations on your new book, "Off The Rails". How does it feel to have it finally in stores?
Sarzo: Well, I had that book years, just sitting. I was dying to release it. It is out.
KNAC.COM: Did you have to change anything or it is true to the original manuscript?
Sarzo: Not at all. Not a single letter. I had nothing to hide. There was nothing defamatory towards the Osbournes, or anything else. It is what it is. What came out came down without any real knowledge of what the book is all about. (Sarzo attempted to release the book in 2005 under the title "Off The Rails: My Adventures In The Land Of Ozz", but met with a legal complaint from the Osbourne camp, the book was pulled from distribution.)
My goal was, when I traveled around the world and I played with Randy Rhoads, every time that I would sit down and talk with somebody, I always walked away feeling that I hadn't said enough. There is so much more to say about Randy. So I figured, I would write everything that I know, all of my memoirs and all of the information that I have regarding Randy, let me put it into a book form, so I won't feel that I left anything out. It is all there.
KNAC.COM: How would you describe Randy Rhoads?
Sarzo: Randy Rhoads was an amazing musician. But that wasn't the whole picture about Randy. Randy was many things. He was an amazing teacher, musician, friend, performer, composer, and all these things.
KNAC.COM: You were really the only person to perform with Randy in both QUIET RIOT and OZZY OSBOURNE.
Sarzo: I was blessed. It gave me the opportunity to see the two different Randy guitar players. There was the Randy with QUIET RIOT, and the Randy with Ozzy. The Randy with QUIET RIOT had a lot of perimeters that were set by what the industry in Los Angeles was all about. Let's face it: QUIET RIOT was a band that was looking for a record deal. So we were pretty much at the mercy of what the industry was dictating. The last metal band to get signed out of the '70s was VAN HALEN. Right after that, they shut the door. The industry started signing bands like THE KNACK, THE MOTELS, and DEVO?new wave bands. Even back then, they were going, "Metal is dead. That's it, no more metal." So we go, "What are we going to do?"
You have to take into consideration, there is no Internet. Nobody knew about the new wave of metal that was coming over from England, or OZZY OSBOURNE. Nobody knew about MAIDEN. The industry was just focusing on what was outside of their door. What was happening on The Strip. What bands were coming in from let's say, Ohio? DEVO comes into town, these guys are new, so they thought they were amazing and signed them. They didn't care about all of the L.A. bands that were around doing metal, or hard rock or glam, whatever it happened to be. In the '80s, metal wasn't known as it is today.
The original QUIET RIOT was a blend of SWEET, THE FACES, and a bit of QUEEN, all of those influences and seventies rock. QUIET RIOT became heavier, the second time around. I have to give a lot of that credit to the way that Frankie (Banali) plays his drums. Frankie gave it more a heavier edge to it, more of a drive. More of that John Bonham (LED ZEPPELIN) feel and sound to it, and made it heavier. So to me, there were two completely different QUIET RIOTs. Just the same, as there were two completely different Randys. There was the Randy with QUIET RIOT, who was more poppy. There are no signs of comparing the heaviness to "Mr. Crowley" or "Diary of a Madman". So once Randy joined Ozzy, Ozzy told him, "Just be yourself. Just compose what comes to you naturally." So Randy had no perimeters and played what he really wanted to play with Ozzy. Because, there was a record deal already in place.
Read the full article at KNAC.com.
Ozzy and Black Label Society European Tour Dates
Ozzy Osbourne will tour Europe with Black Label Society starting in May. Tour dates include:
May 27th in Moscow, RUS @ Olympissky Stadium
May 29th in St. Petersburg, RUS @ New Arena
May 31st in Riga, LAT @ Arena Riga
June 2nd in Vilnius, LIT @ Siemens Arena
June 4th in Estonia @ Saku Arena
June 6th in Helsinki, FIN @ Hartwell Arena
June 8th in Trondheim, NOR @ Lerkendal Stadium
June 10th in Oslo, NOR @ Spektrum Arena
June 13th in Copenhagen, DEN @ Forum
June 15th in Hultsfred, SWE @ Hultsfred Festival
June 17th in Holland @ Fields Of Rock Festival
June 19th in London, UK @ Wembley Arena
June 22nd in Spain @ Monsters of Rock
June 24th in Belgium @ Graspop Metal Festival
June 26th in Prague, CZE @ Saska Arena
June 28th in Munich, GER @ Olymialle
June 30th in Milan, ITA @ Idropark Festival
Iron Maiden, Ozzy To Share Stage at Fields of Rock
According to Muziekagenda.nl, IRON MAIDEN and OZZY OSBOURNE will perform at the Fields of Rock festival, which is scheduled to take place June 16-17 in Biddinghuizen, Netherlands. An official confirmation is expected to arrive soon.
In other MAIDEN-related news, DNAIndia.com reports that Bruce Dickinson and company will play at least one show (Bangalore) in India later this year. A "battle of the bands" has been launched to give one local act an opportunity to open the concert, which is being organized by Venkat Vardhan of DNA Networks.
IRON MAIDEN's new album, "A Matter of Life and Death", has sold almost 160,000 copies in the United States since its Sept. 5 release, according to Nielsen SoundScan.
Ozzy Promises A Classic, Zakk Disses Metallica
Ozzy Osbourne and his guitarist Zakk Wylde spoke with Revolver magazine about Ozzy's new album, which the Black Sabbath frontman promises is "in the same league as 'No More Tears', 'Blizzard of Ozz', and 'Diary'." Meanwhile, Wylde took a stab at Metallica for working with Bob Rock. "We just went in and jammed out the riffs, just like how they made 'Back in Black' and all the Sabbath record," said Wylde. "I don't need Bob Rock there to tell me what to do, like that 'Vagina Monologues' band Metallica. When you know where you're going, you don't need to ask for fu**ing directions! It sounds like classic Ozzy — there's piano ballads, there's an acoustic thing, and then there's the heavy sh**. From the beginning, Oz kept saying to me, 'Zakk, we need another 'No More Tears' — we've gotta piss all over that fu**in' record. This thing's gotta be able to hang with 'Diary of a Madman'!'"
Read the full article at Ultimate Guitar.
Ozzy To Tour and Release Two Albums In 2007
Ozzy Osbourne is "getting ready to tour next April" in support of his new solo album, Ozzy's wife/manager Sharon Osbourne revealed during an appearance on the "Dr. Phil" show earlier today (Thursday, December 14). "Three years this Christmas, [he's] clean and sober," she added.
Osbourne was previously said to be working on two brand new studio CDs. The first album is tentatively set for release in February 2007. Most of the music was recorded before Ozzfest in May with Mike Bordin (drums), Rob "Blasko" Nicholson (bass) and Zakk Wylde (guitar). Wylde recently announced that he had to cancel three tour dates in October with his band BLACK LABEL SOCIETY to finish up obligations in the studio in connection with the new album. The second effort will be the soundtrack to Ozzy's musical about controversial Russian politician Grigory Rasputin. The album will be released first, and then the play will debut on Broadway or as a touring show according to Osbourne.
In a recent interview, Ozzy said, "We wrote a song called 'Rasputin' (for the 1995 'Ozzmosis' album), but then it never got used, you know, and then every now and again I'd try to find this tape of songs. We wrote a bunch of songs, and I put this tape on and thought, 'You know what? That would be a great musical.' It kind of grew on its own. It's the traditional 'Fiddler on the Roof'-type of music, plus the kind of BEATLES-y kind of influence. There's this wonderful song that goes, 'How dark it is before the dawn, the day begins, a child is born.' It's beautiful. I'm really happy about it. I hope the rest of the world is. I spent 10 years of my f-king life in this thing."
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