When Ozzy Osbourne died in July, the world reflected on how the Black Sabbath legend shaped modern rock—and the music business itself—by building massive merchandising empires, turning reality TV into a revenue stream, and pioneering the genre-focused touring festival.
While Ozzy was the face of those innovations, the blueprint came from his wife of 43 years, Sharon Osbourne—a formidable music executive who isn’t finished reshaping the industry.
“All of the creative direction for visuals at Ozzfest was mine. I can’t sing a note—I’m tone-deaf—but I can be creative, and I like to create things,” says Osbourne, 73.
She recently confirmed talks with Live Nation about reviving Ozzfest, a project close to Ozzy’s heart. “It was about giving young talent a stage. We really started metal festivals in this country. Ours was a place for new talent—it was like summer camp for kids.”
First up, Osbourne is developing a classical tour of Black Sabbath’s catalog, performed by local orchestras with state-of-the-art visuals, alongside a scripted feature film about part of Ozzy’s life. Weeks before his death, she also organized Back to the Beginning, Black Sabbath’s farewell show in Birmingham, raising roughly $10 million for charity.
Born in London, the daughter of music impresario Don Arden, Osbourne left her father’s label, Jet Records, to manage Ozzy after his 1979 firing from Black Sabbath—what she calls the biggest risk of her career.
“Everybody thought Ozzy’s career was never going to happen as a solo artist… I never took no for an answer.”
She later managed The Smashing Pumpkins and Motörhead, and while she has no plans to return to full-time management, she remains obsessed with discovering new talent. “I’ll troll all night,” she says. “If you want to be a serious artist, you have to be different. Don’t follow. Be a leader.”
Osbourne is openly critical of streaming and AI-generated music—“It’s got no soul”—but remains inspired by iconic executives like Irving Azoff. Though grief is now part of her daily life, she’s energized by the future and says a revived Ozzfest could return as early as 2027, this time with a twist:
“I’d like to mix up the genres.”