Yesterday's Ozzfest meets Knotfest press conference was not without its share of awkwardness. When the first person announced out was Sharon Osbourne, there was definitely some confusion in the room. That's because, for the entire week, we've heard how she and Ozzy have separated after she found out he was cheating on her. But Sharon was all business, and introduced her estranged husband, who immediately tried to hug her from behind, and Sharon was reactionless.
Sharon, who has been managing Ozzy longer than they have been married, decided to put personal feelings aside and stick to the business at hand, which was promoting this destination festival. The headliners of the Ozzfest day will be Black Sabbath, in their final California performance. But how long does Ozzy have left on the live stage?
During the post-announcement press conference, Sharon spoke to Rolling Stone, and confirmed that she will continue to manage Ozzy. When asked how much longer she sees Ozzy touring, she made it clear that it won't be too long:
"We'll continue until Ozzy finishes, and Ozzy won't be long behind them when he calls it a day," she told RS. "It's not going to be within the next year, but it's coming up," she said. "I don't want Ozzy singing 'Crazy Train' at 75. I think it's best you go out before you hit that 70 and go out on top."
With Ozzy currently being 68, there is not much time left for him to tour. Ozzy himself spoke about the death of all his friends and how he is afraid he might be next, but hopeful he is not:
"Everybody's dying, you know," Ozzy said. "I go, 'I hope don't die tonight!' It's like the year of the dying rock star, isn't it? And yet the Stones keep going on. Paul McCartney keeps going on. When Prince died, I was like, 'Wow, what the fuck?' David Bowie, Lemmy. Fucking hell, it's one a week," Ozzy said. Then he added with a laugh, "There's going to be some good equipment on sale soon."
Ozzy always can be relied one for a punchy one-liner!
