Sharon Osbourne has promised OzzFest will “absolutely” happen.
The long-running metal festival last appeared as a standalone event in 2018, followed by a one-off New Year’s Eve edition in 2019.
While at the MIDEM (The Global Meeting for Music Industry Leaders) 2026 conference recently, Sharon said when asked if it’s actually happening: “Yes, absolutely. We’re gonna do it.”
Talking to her late husband Ozzy Osbourne, the namesake for the festival, about it coming back, he didn’t know if it could work without him.
She continued: “The last one we did was 2018. It was just a month before Ozzy got sick, and that was at the Forum in L.A. And there [were] no plans to stop it. We were still gonna do it, but Ozzy couldn’t. And Ozzy and I would talk about it, and he’d say, ‘Do you think Ozzfest would work without me?’ And I’m, like, ‘Yeah, it’s a brand. It will work without you.’ And he said, ‘We should do it.’”
The festival’s official Instagram has been teasing a return, first asking: “Will Ozzfest return in 2027??”, just days after Sharon revealed she is in talks to resurrect the event.
Sharon believes the demand for a full-scale return has only increased, confirming that early discussions have taken place with promoters Live Nation about bringing the travelling festival back — and potentially expanding it further than ever before.
Speaking to Billboard, she said Ozzy was always passionate about giving emerging artists a major platform.
She said: “We really started metal festivals in this country.
“It was never done with the spirit of what ours was, because ours was a place for new talent. It was like summer camp for kids.”
Sharon also hinted that a modern Ozzfest would embrace a broader, more eclectic lineup to reflect how fans consume music today, admitting she would “like to mix up the genres” for a refreshed, multi-genre experience.
If the plans move ahead, Ozzfest would once again tour internationally, echoing its late-’90s and early-2000s peak when it became a crucial launchpad for rising metal acts and a major showcase for established names.
Ozzfest was launched by Ozzy and Sharon in 1996 as a two-day event before expanding into a full touring festival the following year. Its most recent edition in 2018 was a single-night show at The Forum in Inglewood, California, featuring Ozzy alongside Rob Zombie, Marilyn Manson and Korn’s Jonathan Davis.
