New Ozzy Set A Go, Sabbath Album A No

[Jahfin]

From Billboard.com:
http://www.billboard.com/bb/daily/artic ... 1000844427

Ozzy Osbourne has re-signed with Epic Records and is working on material for his next studio release. "Ozzy's writing now, and there'll be something out at the beginning of next year," his wife/manager Sharon tells Billboard.com. As previously reported, the label will on Tuesday (March 22) release the four-disc Osbourne boxed set, "Prince of Darkness."

One item not likely to see the light of day, however, is a new Black Sabbath studio disc, which would be the band's first with Osbourne since 1978's "Never Say Die!"

"I could go in the studio and write a bunch of stuff, but why do an album just for the sake of [drummer] Bill [Ward], [guitarist] Tony [Iommi], me and bassist [Geezer] Butler together playing if it's not up to the Black Sabbath standard that I left?," Ozzy tells Billboard.com. "It would f*ck it up, you know? It's so sad when you hear these monumental bands do these piece of sh*t records just because they want the money."

That said, Osbourne still revels in playing live with Black Sabbath, which will anchor this summer's 10th anniversary edition of the Ozzfest tour. "There is no one on the face of the earth that can play these songs," he says. "The fortunate thing about me is I have two vibes; I can do the Ozzy thing and the Sabbath thing. The Sabbath thing, when we were kids, we didn't say 'We'll, write this song called 'War Pigs' and in f*cking 25 years we'll be icons. We had no idea. We didn't have any musical education."

"The beauty of those days was, we would end the song when we wanted to f*cking stop playing," he continues. "I can honestly say that [with] Black Sabbath, nobody ever told us what to play or how to play. It was our gig."

So how much longer will Ozzy keep mounting major tours? "I don't know," he admits. "I retired about 15 years ago and that lasted a f*cking year. What I learned from that retirement thing was you have to retire to something else. If you sit on your arse watching TV, you're gonna drop dead."

Plus, traditional retirement activities don't appeal to Ozzy. "I fish with f*cking dynamite and I f*cking hate golf," he says.

In related news, Butler will on May 10 release a new album from his band Geezer, "Ohmwork," via Sanctuary. The group, which also features vocalist Clark Brown, guitarist Pedro Howse and Red Hot Chili Peppers drummer Chad Smith, plans to tour in the fall.

-- Ray Waddell, Nashville and Jonathan Cohen, N.Y.

[HawaiianGator]

[a1aara]

I heard that Iron Maiden is playing OZZFEST this year. Maiden will be only doing songs from the first 4 Iron Maiden releases. Maiden is supposed to have a huge stage show. Rob Zombie is also on the bill.

[Jahfin]

I heard that Iron Maiden is playing OZZFEST this year. Maiden will be only doing songs from the first 4 Iron Maiden releases. Maiden is supposed to have a huge stage show. Rob Zombie is also on the bill.

According to this article Iron Maiden has indeed been confirmed and Rob Zombie will be headlining on the second stage:

http://www.billboard.com/bb/daily/artic ... 1000838581

Sabbath, Maiden Sign On For Ozzfest

The 10th anniversary edition of Ozzfest will boast a main stage lineup of Black Sabbath, Iron Maiden, Shadows Fall and Black Label Society. The trek will begin July 15 at Boston's Tweeter Center and play 26 dates through a Sept. 4 finale in West Palm Beach, Fla.

The Hot Topic Second Stage will be headlined by Rob Zombie and feature some of hard rock's rising acts, including Killswitch Engage, As I Lay Dying, Mastodon, the Haunted, In Flames, Arch Enemy, the Black Dahlia Murder, Bury Your Dead, Soilwork, Trivium and A Dozen Furies.

Ozzfest is the top-grossing touring festival of all time, and, outside of the Vans Warped tour, is the longest-lived. Since 1996, Ozzfest has grossed $172 million and drawn 4.2 million fans to about 240 shows, according to producers Clear Channel Entertainment (CCE).

Jane Holman, general manager of CCE's touring division and producer of Ozzfest, is high on this year's lineup. "It was a real coup to get Iron Maiden this year," she tells Billboard.com. "To have Iron Maiden playing with Black Sabbath is incredible. Heads will explode."

Early purchasers of Sabbath leader Ozzy Osbourne's March 22 boxed set, "Prince of Darkness," can take advantage of a buy-one-get-one-free coupon for an Ozzfest ticket. To redeem, fans can go to the Ozzfest.com Web site and punch in the code on the coupon.

Osbourne admits the tour has grown beyond his wildest expectations. "It’s grown so f*cking quickly, I can’t begin to tell you," he tells Billboard.com.

He says the tour only got off the ground after his wife/manager Sharon "asked Lollapalooza if we could get a spot on their tour, and they said there’s no room, I don't know if it was me in particular or for that kind of music. And Sharon got p*** and said, 'f*ck them, we’ll do our own thing."

Tickets will range from $35 on the lawn to $85 for gold circle. “We really, really try so hard to keep the costs down,” says Sharon. “We’re not one of these that say, 'We’ve got great bands, we can really yank the ticket prices and squeeze Joe Public.' We try to bring the best talent for the best prices. I wish a beer cost the same as it did 10 years ago, too.”

-- Ray Waddell, N.Y.