After a long, tumultuous planning period, Ozzy Osbourne‘s farewell concert took place on July 5 at Villa Park in Birmingham, England. The show sold 40,000 tickets, with even more fans watching the livestream. Weeks later, Osbourne passed away on July 22. In between, Sharon Osbourne has had to refute false claims that the concert raised nearly $200 million.
Sharon spoke with Pollstar on July 17, where she claimed that many outlets have released inaccurate reporting about how much money was raised. The concert was more than just a farewell to Ozzy Osbourne’s illustrious career. All proceeds were being donated to Acorns Children’s Hospice, Birmingham Children’s Hospital, and Cure Parkinson’s.
According to reports from Billboard and Rolling Stone, the concert raised upwards of $190 million (about £140 million). Both publications, however, also noted that “final numbers have not been disclosed,” even while claiming a definitive amount. When Sharon spoke with Pollstar, she wanted to put those claims to rest.
“I’m really happy that we are talking,” she told the outlet, “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 Osbourne Sets the record straight about how much Money Ozzy’s Farewell concert raised
Sharon Osbourne continued to express her surprise and discomfort that many publications seem to be pulling numbers out of thin air. At one point, when told what Billboard had reported, she said, “Oh, $190 million? Thank you, Billboard, for getting it wrong. Just ridiculous.”
Sharon then elaborated on the process of crunching the numbers. “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,” she explained. “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.”
The main concern was how misleading these reports could be for the hospitals and organizations that will receive the money.
“It’s the Children’s Hospital, a children’s hospice, and Parkinson’s research,” said Sharon. “Everybody thinks that they’re going to cure everything with this much money, but it’s not the real world.”
Overall, though, Sharon Osbourne said that the concert was an overwhelming success, “a perfect storm,” as she called it.
“It was the first time, I think, that anybody’s gone into retirement and done it, where the show is streamed and it goes to charity,” she said. “So it’s the first time anybody has said goodnight like that, it’s the perfect way, when you’ve had such a long career, to end it. I never wanted Ozzy to just disappear without some big event.”
Photo by Gregg DeGuire/Getty Images for The Recording Academy
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