Ozzfest is coming back, the cameras were rolling at Ozzy Osbourne’s historic farewell, and Sharon Osbourne has made one thing absolutely clear: the Prince of Darkness will never quietly disappear into the shadows.
Sharon Osbourne has shared a major update on the future of Ozzfest, confirming that the legendary rock and metal festival is planned to return in 2027.
She has also revealed that a film documenting the monumental Back To The Beginning concert at Villa Park is expected to be released during 2026.
In an interview with Metal Hammer, Sharon reflected on the extraordinary response to Ozzy’s music and memory, declaring:
“Ozzy’s legacy isn’t fading.”
Too bloody right it isn’t, mun.
From Birmingham rehearsal rooms to stadium stages, bat-biting headlines, reality television chaos and some of the most important music ever committed to tape, Ozzy’s influence remains welded into the foundations of heavy metal.
Now, Sharon is working to ensure the next chapter of that legacy is every bit as loud.
Ozzfest Is Planned to Return in 2027
According to Sharon, the returning Ozzfest will take place at Villa Park in Birmingham, the same venue that hosted Ozzy and Black Sabbath’s final performance at the enormous Back To The Beginning event on 5 July 2025.
Whether the Birmingham edition will take place across one or two nights has not yet been confirmed.
Sharon explained that the final decision may ultimately be shaped by the level of demand from fans.
No official date, headliners or supporting bands have been revealed at the time of writing, although discussions with potential performers are already underway.
That means we are still firmly in the speculation zone. Nobody has been announced, nobody should be printing fake line-up posters just yet, and your mate’s cousin who supposedly works behind the bar at Villa Park probably does not have the inside scoop.
But Ozzfest returning to Birmingham?
That already feels massive.
Could Ozzfest Also Return to America?
The plans may not stop with Villa Park.
Sharon has previously spoken about taking Ozzfest back to the United States, potentially for two further dates, and has invited fans to suggest where the festival should go.
The aim will not simply be to book established stadium-sized bands and call it a day.
Sharon has emphasised the importance of finding and supporting young, emerging talent, continuing one of the traditions that made Ozzfest so influential in the first place.
That element was always at the heart of the festival.
Ozzfest could place an enormous metal band on its main stage while simultaneously giving a hungry new act the chance to play in front of thousands of potential fans.
For Ozzy, it was not only about celebrating the legends.
It was about finding the next generation of glorious noisy lunatics.
Ozzfest Changed the Heavy Metal Landscape
Launched by Ozzy and Sharon Osbourne in 1996, Ozzfest became one of the most important touring festivals in rock and metal history.
The original event arrived after Ozzy was reportedly rejected by Lollapalooza, a decision that turned out to be one of the greatest accidental own goals in festival history.
Instead of accepting defeat, the Osbournes built their own festival.
Proper job.
What began as a two-date event in the United States quickly grew into a major touring institution, giving fans stacked bills featuring established heavyweights, rising stars and bands that were about to explode.
Across its various editions, Ozzfest hosted names including Black Sabbath, Slayer, Judas Priest, Iron Maiden, Slipknot, System Of A Down, Pantera, Tool, Korn, Marilyn Manson, Linkin Park, Disturbed, Lamb Of God, Avenged Sevenfold, Limp Bizkit, Motörhead, Megadeth, Rob Zombie and countless others.
Its second stage became especially important.
This was the place where newer and more extreme bands could introduce themselves to massive crowds, often before graduating to larger stages and arena tours.
For an entire generation, Ozzfest was not simply another day in a field.
It was a metal education.
You arrived with three favourite bands and went home sunburnt, bruised, skint and obsessed with another seven.
A New Ozzfest Without Ozzy
The return will naturally carry enormous emotion.
Ozzfest was inseparable from Ozzy’s personality. His music, humour, madness and warmth ran through the entire event.
Bringing the name back without him physically present will be a challenge, but it also presents an opportunity to transform Ozzfest into a living celebration of everything he stood for.
The festival can honour the pioneers, showcase today’s biggest metal bands and provide genuine opportunities for new artists.
It should not become a dusty museum piece or a predictable nostalgia package.
The best way to protect Ozzy’s legacy is to keep doing what Ozzfest did brilliantly: creating moments, discovering bands and bringing the heavy metal community together.
It needs huge riffs, wild crowds and a second stage packed with musicians playing like their lives depend on it.
Anything less would not feel right.
Back To The Beginning
Film Confirmed
Sharon has also confirmed that the long-rumoured film documenting Back To The Beginning will be released in 2026.
The concert took place at Villa Park on 5 July 2025, bringing Ozzy and the original Black Sabbath line-up home to Birmingham for one final historic performance.
It was a once-in-a-generation gathering of heavy music royalty.
The enormous bill included appearances from Metallica, Guns N’ Roses, Slayer, Tool, Pantera, Gojira, Alice In Chains, Halestorm, Lamb Of God, Anthrax, Rival Sons and Mastodon, alongside star-filled supergroups performing classics from Ozzy and Black Sabbath’s catalogue. (Louder)
The night concluded with Ozzy performing a final solo set before reuniting with Tony Iommi, Geezer Butler and Bill Ward for Black Sabbath’s last appearance.
For those inside Villa Park, it was far more than a concert.
It was a city welcoming home one of its greatest sons.
It was the heavy metal world gathering to say thank you.
And it was one final reminder that four working-class lads from Birmingham changed music forever.
Every Artist Will Be Represented
Sharon has indicated that the film will feature all the bands that appeared during the farewell event.
She explained that every performer deserved to be seen and heard after giving their time to be part of the celebration.
That is encouraging news for fans worried that the finished release might focus only on the final Sabbath performance.
Naturally, Ozzy and Black Sabbath will sit at the heart of the film, but Back To The Beginning was also about the enormous family tree their music created.
Every distorted guitar, thunderous drumbeat and crowd roar traced its way back to Birmingham.
The film now has the opportunity to capture that relationship properly.
It could become more than a traditional concert recording. With the right backstage footage, interviews and emotional context, it could stand as the definitive document of one of the most significant events in metal history.
The Biggest Metal Homecoming Ever?
Back To The Beginning already looked outrageous on paper.
Some of the biggest bands in the world, gathered at Villa Park, honouring Ozzy Osbourne and Black Sabbath in the city where heavy metal began.
Even by rock music’s famously excessive standards, it was enormous.
But the true weight of the event only became clearer afterwards.
Ozzy died on 22 July 2025, just 17 days after taking his final bow at Villa Park.
That knowledge transformed an already emotional farewell into something even more precious.
The footage does not simply capture the last Black Sabbath concert.
It captures Ozzy completing the final chapter of his performing career on his own terms, surrounded by his family, bandmates, friends and tens of thousands of fans.
There will not be many dry eyes when that cinema screen lights up.
Ozzy’s Legacy Remains Everywhere
More than a year after his death, Ozzy’s presence remains enormous.
His records continue to inspire new listeners. His performances are endlessly rediscovered online. Black Sabbath’s influence can still be heard across doom, stoner rock, grunge, alternative metal, thrash, sludge and practically every other form of heavy music.
Birmingham has also continued celebrating its most famous metal son.
The Ozzy Osbourne: Working Class Hero exhibition at Birmingham Museum and Art Gallery has been extended until 27 September 2026, with the gothic throne used during Back To The Beginning added to the display. (Louder)
There have also been calls to rename Birmingham Airport in Ozzy’s honour, although that campaign has not yet succeeded.
Whether the tribute takes the form of an airport, exhibition, festival, film or mural, the message from fans remains the same.
Ozzy mattered.
Not only because of record sales, awards or celebrity status, but because he represented the possibility of escaping an ordinary life without pretending to be someone else.
He remained unmistakably Ozzy.
Funny, vulnerable, chaotic, warm, unpredictable and completely one of a kind.
The Riff Report Says
Bringing back Ozzfest without Ozzy will never be simple.
There will be expectations. There will be emotion. There will probably be endless arguments over the line-up before a single band is officially announced.
That is festival culture, butt.
But if the revived event stays true to its roots, supports new artists and brings the metal community together at Villa Park, it could become a powerful continuation of Ozzy’s work.
The Back To The Beginning film is equally important.
Fans deserve the opportunity to experience that extraordinary night again, while those who could not attend deserve to see what happened when heavy metal came home.
Ozzy Osbourne may no longer be sitting on the stage beneath the lights, but his fingerprints remain all over the music we love.
They are in every filthy riff.
Every raised pair of horns.
Every teenager discovering Black Sabbath for the first time.
Every small band stepping onto a festival stage and dreaming of something bigger.
Ozzy’s legacy is not fading.
It is roaring out of Birmingham at full volume.
And in 2027, Ozzfest is preparing to turn the amplifiers back on. 🦇🤘🔥
