25/10/2025
🗓️ ON THIS DAY IN METAL 🗓️ The very first Ozzfest took place in Phoenix, Arizona, with Slayer, Danzig, Sepultura, Fear Factory, Biohazard and of course, Ozzy Osbourne, gracing the bill.
It’s all thanks to Lollapalooza that Ozzfest happened at all. In 1995, Sharon Osbourne had tried to persuade the alt-rock shindig’s organisers to put Ozzy on the bill of their travelling festival. They rejected the idea, believing the Prince Of Darkness lacked the necessary cool to be part of their bill. Undeterred, Sharon determined that if Ozzy wasn’t to be part of Lollapalooza, then the pair of them would create their own version instead.
And so Ozzfest was born. Said Sharon at the time: “I just thought, ‘F**k them’. If Lollapalooza wasn’t able to see what Ozzy could give them, then we’d come up with our own metal version, only better.”
📷: HECTOR MATA/AFP via Getty Images