OZZY OSBOURNE – To Be Honored At Second Annual Sunset Strip Festival

The second annual Sunset Strip Music Festival will pay tribute to Ozzy Osbourne this year for the impact he’s made on the legacy of West Hollywood’s Sunset Strip. The three-day outdoor festival is scheduled for September 10 to 12, and the lineup is expected to be announced shortly. "We are extremely excited to honor rock icon Ozzy Osbourne, and we are thrilled the City of West Hollywood once again supported the Sunset Strip Music Festival," says the festival’s executive director Todd Steadman. "This year’s street closure will allow us to expand on the success of last year’s inaugural fest and accommodate more fans and festival-goers." Meanwhile, Ozzy is working on a new album that is tentatively set for a November release, and he is contributing guest vocals to guitarist Slash’s upcoming solo LP, according to Rolling Stone. Ozzfest 2008, with METALLICA and OZZY OSBOURNE as headliners, grossed nearly $3.5 million and drew close to 30,000 people to Dallas' Pizza Hut Park, according to producers Sharon Osbourne and AEG Live. Sponsored by Affliction Clothing, this year's Ozzfest marked the return of the 13-year-old music brand after a free run at amphitheaters last year.

This year's one-off event did "fantastically well," Sharon Osbourne told Billboard.biz. "The one thing is you want for the kids to go away and keep talking about what a great show it was, and that's what they're doing."

Osbourne says plans are for Ozzfest to return to Dallas again next summer, likely as a two-day festival, and other cities are also being considered.

"Ozzfest ain't going anywhere," she says. "We do try and shake things up and experiment, we're not the old donkey that plods on doing the same shit."

Meanwhile, 2008 has been a great year for Ozzy, Osbourne adds. "Ozzy had an unbelievable last record (Black Rain), an unbelievable year touring, and he's in the studio right now recording," she says. "We just signed a new deal with Sony for three more albums and we ain't going nowhere."

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