Ozzfest is coming back. Sharon Osbourne confirmed it at the MIDEM conference in Cannes, and there is no ambiguity in her language this time.
"Yes, absolutely. Yeah, we're gonna do it."
That's the quote. No hedging, no "we're exploring options," no publicist language. The festival that launched nu-metal, gave Ozzy a platform after Lollapalooza turned him away, and spent more than a decade functioning as the most important incubator in heavy music is returning in 2027.
What Sharon Said
Osbourne made the confirmation while appearing on a panel at MIDEM alongside Download Festival's Andy Copping. She gave context alongside the confirmation — context that makes the announcement land differently than a typical festival announcement.
"The last one we did was 2018. It was just a month before Ozzy got sick, and there was no plans to stop it. We were still gonna do it, but Ozzy couldn't."
She went on to describe conversations she and Ozzy had about whether the festival could survive without him. His answer was direct: "We should do it."
That framing matters. This isn't Sharon mounting a legacy cash-out. This is her executing something Ozzy specifically wanted to exist, built around a model he believed in — a festival that elevated new talent, not just headliner draws.
What Ozzfest Was
If you need the history: Ozzfest started in 1996 because Lollapalooza told Ozzy no. Sharon's response was to build something better. What followed became the defining heavy music festival circuit of its era — a traveling event that combined massive established acts with a second stage that gave developing bands in front of crowds they couldn't have reached otherwise.
The list of bands that broke through Ozzfest reads like a syllabus for early 2000s heavy music. System of a Down, Disturbed, Slipknot, Lacuna Coil, Lamb of God — all of them used Ozzfest as a launchpad. The format worked because Sharon understood the difference between curation and pure commerce. The second stage wasn't filler. It was the point.
By 2007, the festival went free — sponsorship-backed, available to anyone willing to show up. At its peak it was pulling six-figure attendance and running internationally. When Ozzy's health forced it to stop after the 2018 Forum show in Los Angeles, there was a gap left behind that no other festival has fully filled.
What It Means Now
The landscape that Ozzfest returns to in 2027 is dramatically different from the one it left. Download, Aftershock, Louder Than Life, and Sonic Temple have carved up the major festival market between them. The arena-rock festival circuit is operating at capacity. Getting an Ozzfest on the calendar means competing directly with established properties that have had nearly a decade to consolidate their position.
Sharon knows this. Her comments in January framed the revival explicitly around the original mission — spotlighting new talent, giving young bands a stage, functioning as "summer camp for kids." That positioning is smart. If Ozzfest returns as a nostalgia vehicle for legacy acts, it's redundant. If it returns as what it actually was — an entry point into heavy music for both artists and fans — it fills a real gap.
No lineup has been announced. No dates. No cities. Sharon is still in talks with Live Nation. What exists right now is a confirmed intent and a framework borrowed from three decades of institutional knowledge about how to run a heavy music festival.
The Bottom Line
Ozzfest 2027 is happening. The details will come. When they do, the festival's track record gives it more credibility on announcement day than most properties earn after years of operation.
It's one of the few brand names in heavy music that still means something specific — a set of values around talent development, genre diversity within the heavy spectrum, and a commitment to scale that never sacrificed the underground pulse of the thing. Sharon built that. Ozzy blessed the comeback. In 2027, we'll see if it holds.
