Sharon Osbourne has revealed she has kicked a “huge” rock band off the line-up at Black Sabbathand Ozzy Osbourne’s final concert due to a bust-up with their manager. In a revealing new interview Sharon said: “I had a huge, huge to-do with a manager over this celebration for Ozzy and Sabbath. And it was probably the worst way I’ve felt in years.
“I don’t care what this person says about me, thinks about it, because he doesn’t know me. And he’s now going around making up bulls— lies because I threw his band off the bill. I don’t care what people say. Because do you know what? I don’t love them. I care about people who love me, what they say about me. You can’t care what an industry says, because you don’t love them, so how can it hurt you? It doesn’t.” Former X Factor judge Sharon was being quizzed by Heavy metal bible Metal Hammer magazine who mentioned her infamous fall-out with Iron Maiden’s Bruce Dickinson at Ozzfest 2005.
She added: “I love Iron Maiden, it’s just the singer because he was so horribly disrespectful. But if you’re going to take Ozzy’s money, and play before him every night of a festival, and you’re bad-mouthing him to the crowd, you’ve got to pay. So I had him pelted with cans of baked beans that were open, and cut his sound.”
But despite the spat Sharon denied that Maiden are the band she has had removed.
Asked if the mystery band is the Run To The Hills stars, Sharon responded: “Oh god, no. Ozzy only has respect for the guys in Maiden. And he didn’t even know what Bruce was doing. I never told him, until the night that it happened when it was the last show, and he just looked at me and goes, ‘You’re terrible.’”
Since Black Sabbath and Ozzy Osbourne’s Back to the Beginning concert was announced in February, no bands or artists have been removed from the bill. It’s therefore likely the mystery band was ousted before the line-up announcement was made. The majority of acts are American with critics slamming the lack of British – and female acts – on the day-long bill.
When a pay-per-view livestream of the gig was announced last week, Tool and Rival Sons were erroneously missed off the poster, however they’ve since been reinstated.
Alongside Sabbath and Ozzy, the Back to the Beginning concert will boast sets from Metallica, Guns N’ Roses, Slayer, Pantera, Gojira, Halestorm, Alice in Chains, Lamb of God, Tool, Rival Sons, Anthrax and Mastodon.
The all-day event is hosted by Jason Momoa and it will also feature a supergroup of musicians including Billy Corgan (The Smashing Pumpkins), David Draiman (Disturbed), Duff McKagan & Slash (Guns N’ Roses), Frank Bello (Anthrax), Fred Durst (Limp Bizkit), Jake E. Lee, KK Downing, Lzzy Hale (Halestorm), Mike Bordin (Faith No More), Rudy Sarzo, Sammy Hagar, Scott Ian (Anthrax), Sleep Token II (Sleep Token), Papa V Perpetua (Ghost), Tom Morello (Rage Against The Machine) and Zakk Wylde.