Ozzfest lineup announced

The line-up for the 2006 edition of OzzFest was announced on Thursday, March 9th, with Ozzy Osbourne headlining ten shows and the rest of the main stage filled out by System Of A Down, Disturbed, Hatebreed, Lacuna Coil and a mystery band whose identity will be revealed on May 23rd. Sources have told us that the yet-to-be-named group is Avenged Sevenfold.

Ozzy told us late last year that his recurring health problems on last summer's OzzFest forced him to think about scaling back his involvement: "Whether or not I'm gonna be on it all the time, I don't know. I'd like to take, I'd like to give somebody else the headlining spot for one season. I had a lot of problems on this last tour, but I just persevered and did the best I could, and when it was too bad, I just said to the audience, 'I am sick, but I'm here for you.'"

In a statement announcing the tour, Osbourne said, "After ten years, I feel it's time to let someone else share the headlining spotlight...I've closed virtually every OzzFest performance for a decade now, and I feel I can finally let other artists headline our festival, and that's my intention for the future."

His appearances will mark his first solo concerts in three years, having headlined Ozzfest with Black Sabbath for the past two summers.

The "prince of darkness" will debut a new song from his upcoming solo album at these shows.

The second stage roster will include Black Label Society, Atreyu, Unearth, Bleeding Through, Norma Jean, A Life Once Lost, Strapping Young Lad, the Red Chord, Full Blown Chaos, Walls Of Jericho, All That Remains and Between The Buried And Me.

According to MTV, both Metallica and Korn were approached about headlining this year's bill, but talks never got beyond the initial stages.

OzzFest started life as a two-day event in 1996, becoming a full-fledged tour the following year. According to a press release, four and a half million fans have seen 146 bands at 263 stops during the festival's ten-year run.

Confirmed dates (venues TBA):
Jul 1 - San Francisco, CA
Jul 2 - Sacramento, CA
Jul 8 - Los Angeles, CA
Jul 14 - Kansas City, MO
Jul 15 - St. Louis, MO
Jul 16 - Chicago, IL
Jul 19 - Detroit, MI
Jul 21 - Columbus, OH
Jul 22 - East Troy, WI
Jul 23 - Indianapolis, IN
Jul 26 - Scranton, PA
Jul 27 - Buffalo, NY
Jul 29 - New York, NY
Jul 30 - Hartford, CT
Aug 1 - Boston, MA
Aug 4 - Camden, NJ
Aug 5 - Washington, DC
Aug 6 - Virginia Beach, VA
Aug 9 - Raleigh, NC
Aug 13 - West Palm Beach, FL