How much do you know about the infamous feud between that of heavy metal legend Bruce Dickinson of Iron Maiden and Sharon Osbourne?
Before there was anything like Mayhem Fest or Summer Slaughter (RIP), we had Ozzfest. And it was the Ozzfest of 2005 where Iron Maiden singer Bruce Dickinson and Sharon Osbourne would clash.
As part of that year’s lineup, Iron Maiden were touring alongside Rob Zombie, In Flames, and Slipknot; of course, being that it was Ozzfest, Ozzy Osbourne‘s band Black Sabbath was the headliner.
At one of those shows, Dickinson’s band had a real nasty time, which was instigated by Sharon Osbourne. During the August 20th stop on the Ozzfest tour, Bruce Dickinson and Iron Maiden found themselves being pelted with eggs during their performance.
While being hit with eggs is bad enough, the band’s power was also cut off during their performance. All of that happened because of Sharon Osbourne.
So why would Sharon Osbourne do that you wonder?
Well, Osbourne’s actions stem from her hearing that Dickinson, allegedly, was talking smack about her and her husband, Ozzy Osbourne, throughout the Ozzfest tour.
Via a statement shared by MTV back in 2005, Sharon Osbourne took responsibility for cutting Iron Maiden’s power, while also calling out Dickinson’s behavior:
“I did cut [the band’s] sound,” she wrote. “Ozzfest is our tour. Dickinson doesn’t have the manners to realize that when you are invited into someone’s home, are seated at their dinner table, are eating their food and drinking their wine, you shouldn’t talk disrespectfully about them. Otherwise, you just might get your ass handed to you. Every action has a reaction. Was Dickinson so naive to think that I was going to let him get away with talking sh– about my family, night after night? I don’t think he realizes who he’s dealing with.”
The article goes on to share how Osbourne was upset with Dickinson’s comments about the festival’s sound quality, as well as comments about Ozzy and Black Sabbath. In her statement, Osbourne mentioned such comments from Dickinson like:
“‘We don’t need a teleprompter’ (like Ozzy)” and “‘We don’t need a reality show to be legit’ (again, like Ozzy).”
She continued in her statement with the following:
“Night after night, we heard his complaints from the stage about how ‘corporate’ the venues were and how ‘outrageous’ the ticket prices were.
“It’s shameful that Dickinson felt he had the right to air his issues publicly onstage every night as a way to boost his own ego. Dickinson never once came up to Ozzy and me to voice any concerns. If he wasn’t able to show us that courtesy, then why should I give him the respect to air my grievances with him in private? Frankly, Dickinson got what he deserved. We had to listen to his bullsh– for five straight weeks. He only had to suffer a couple of eggs on the head.”
Below you’ll find an interview involving Sharon and Ozzy Osbourne where Sharon talks about her issues with Bruce Dickinson:
There you have it folks – the origins of the Bruce Dickinson and Sharon Osbourne feud. Where do the two stand now? While each party, including Ozzy himself, have spoken to what took place over Ozzfest 2005, we can’t say for sure where everyone officially stands with each other as of now.
Back in March, Dickinson did make a comment regarding blaming Sharon for Bill Ward not being in Black Sabbath. In his words, he said, “I don’t think Black Sabbath exist at all now. I think Sharon’s made sure of that.”
What are your thoughts on the feud between Iron Maiden singer Bruce Dickinson and that of Sharon Osbourne?
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Words by: Michael Pementel