OZZFEST 2007 will be free

  On Tuesday, Sharon and Ozzy Osbourne announced that admission to this year's summer concert tour would be absolutely free. The heavy-metal concert festival has showcased hard-rock bands since 1996.

  "For the last few years, ticket prices have steadily climbed as artists demand more and more money for summer tours," said Sharon Osbourne. "We certainly want everybody to make money; however, we also want the kids to be able to afford to come out and have an incredible experience. If we continued with the traditional touring festival model, we would have no choice but to raise ticket prices again this year."

  "We have bands committed, but we're hoping that after today's announcement we'll have a whole influx of artists who want to be a part of something this ground breaking," Sharon Osbourne said. "We know there aren't any major headlining acts that would tour all summer for nothing, but we're confident we can turn some of the genre's biggest bands on to what we're doing and have them come out to play a date or two. If they're in town and want the rush of performing in front of 20,000 frenzied kids, they're more than welcome to join us. They can sell their T-shirts, CDs, and whatever else they've got."

  The bands will not be paid. This gives artists an opportunity to get exposure by playing in front of thousands of Ozzfest fans, Sharon said. The artists will have the opportunity to secure other gigs during the tour.

  Details are still being sorted out, but fans will be able to procure free tickets from the Web sites of the festival's major sponsors, which will be linked from the Ozzfest site and from the site of concert promoter Live Nation.

  Ozzy Osbourne will be the headliner. The rest of the lineup has not yet been announced. The tour kicks off July 7 in Los Angeles, with stops planned in San Diego; San Francisco; Seattle; Denver; Albuquerque, NM; Phoenix; Dallas; San Antonio; Kansas City, MO; St. Louis; Chicago; Indianapolis; Columbus, OH; Pittsburgh; New York City; Boston; Philadelphia; Hartford, CT; Charlotte, NC; Atlanta; West Palm Beach, FL; and Nashville.