Sharon Osbourne denies Black Sabbath and Ozzy Osbourne farewell show raised $190 million for charity
Sharon Osbourne, the wife of Ozzy Osbourne, who passed away less than three weeks after the final Black Sabbath reunion show, has refuted claims that the farewell show raised $190 million.
Pollstar interviewed Sharon five days before Ozzy passed away on July 22nd. She spoke about the July 5th reunion show, which took place at Birmingham’s Villa Park and saw a star-studded line-up out in full force to support Ozzy. In addition to performing a solo set, Osbourne reunited with Black Sabbath’s Bill Ward, Iommi, and Geezer Butler for the first time in more than 20 years.
It was quickly reported that the show and the accompanying live stream raised almost $200 million for charities such as Acorns Children’s Hospice, Birmingham Children’s Hospital, and Cure Parkinson’s. But Sharon has denied these claims in the new interview.
“I’m really happy that we are talking,” she told the interviewer at Pollstar, “because one of the things that’s frightening me is all this false press about [how], we’ve made $140 million and all of this, and I’m like, ‘God, I wish we could have, for one gig.’ It’s just ridiculous, the different stories. I went on the internet the next morning and it was like, $140 million, $160 million. And I’m like, ‘Where does this stuff come from?’ And people like Billboard have printed it.”
Sharon expanded on the number-crunching, sharing, “It takes a really long time, because we’ve had all of the bands that we had come in and their expenses, and it’ll take a good six weeks to get the final number. Because we’re selling merch for another two weeks from the gig. So, we’ve got another two weeks of sales yet to add to it. It’ll be another four weeks and it’ll be done.”
Despite her grievances with the quantitative reporting, Sharon also shared in the interview how proud the event made her, saying, “I never wanted Ozzy to just disappear without some big event. And it’s the best way then to go home to where it all started, to go to his favourite stadium in the world.”
In a statement released on July 22nd, the Osbourne family confirmed that Ozzy had passed away. They wrote, “It is with more sadness than mere words can convey that we have to report that our beloved Ozzy Osbourne has passed away this morning.” Sharon was seen at his funeral on X, led by her children. She looked frail, and held back tears as she looked out on the large crowds shouting “We love you Ozzy!”
Never Miss A Beat
The Far Out Music Newsletter
All the latest music news from the independent voice of culture.
Straight to your inbox.