Looking Back at the More Than 100 Bands That Played Ozzfest

More than 100 metal and hard rock acts tore up the stages of Ozzfest over the years, but how many of them do you actually remember?

We tracked down the names of every act that played Ozzfest.

The Start of Ozzfest

The first Ozzfest was held in 1996 with, of course, Ozzy Osbourne as its headliner. But the festival had a much different look to it compared to the Ozzfest music fans fell in love with in subsequent years.

Most notably, the first Ozzfest was only held at venues in Phoenix and Devore, California in its first year. Looking back, it’s also odd seeing the 1996 version of the festival running in October instead of taking advantage of the summer months.

The first Ozzfest lineup was also considerably smaller in comparison to the fest’s later lineups. Besides Ozzy, only 10 other acts were on the bill with Slayer, Danzig and Sepultura among the notable names.

How Ozzfest Grew

The first year of Ozzfest proved to be a success, even in a somewhat crowded market that also included the Warped Tour and Lollapalooza when it was still a traveling festival.

READ MORE: Looking Back at All 43 Bands That Played Korn’s Family Values Tour

Ozzfest organizers were undeterred as they set out to turn the somewhat limited event into a full-fledged traveling circus of metal and hard rock. The artist lineups got larger, and so did the number of Ozzfest dates.

Putting more bands on the bill also meant longer days for attendees, as Ozzfest opted to have a fairly small stage footprint that didn’t require overlapping set times and multiple bands playing at the same time. This called for opening venue gates much earlier, with the first band playing as early as 11AM in some cases.

READ MORE: The Insult That Launched Ozzfest

Eventually, Ozzfest would go international as an attempt to reach a new fanbase. The festival ran three separate lineups in 2010 with runs in the U.S., the U.K. and Israel. After a three-year hiatus, Ozzfest would later return as a Japan-only festival.

The Final Years of Ozzfest

The international expansion proved insufficient to sustain Ozzfest. The festival returned to its roots as a one-day festival in San Bernardino, California, in 2016, which was also paired with Slipknot’s Knotfest festival. That year saw Black Sabbath and Disturbed topping the Ozzfest portion of bill.

The two festivals would partner once again in San Bernardino 2017 with Ozzy as a headliner.

The final Ozzfest was held on New Year’s Eve in 2018 at The Forum in Inglewood, California. Ozzy returned as the headliner alongside supporting acts Rob Zombie, Marilyn Manson and Jonathan Davis of Korn.

Of course, that may not be the absolute final Ozzfest. Sharon Osbourne has confirmed plans to potentially bring the festival back in 2027.

Until then, here is a look at every single band that ever played an Ozzfest.

Below, see how we ranked all the Ozzfest lineups.

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