It’s gone down as one of the most infamous beefs in metal history. It was a night where tensions between two of the biggest, most influential and most important bands in heavy music spilled from backstage areas and the pages of the music press and onto the stage of arguably metal’s biggest festival. Nearly two decades later, the events of August 20, 2005, at San Bernardino’s Hyundai Pavillion still inspire ire from both sides: the moment when Iron Maiden were ambushed by a Sharon Osbourne-led posse and pelted with eggs at Ozzfest.
It all started so well. There was a mouthwatering announcement of the tenth edition of Ozzfest, which would be headlined by Black Sabbath and Iron Maiden and also feature Rob Zombie, Killswitch Engage, Trivium, Mastodon and Black Label Society. It was a bill that Sharon said she was “proud” of. Plus, with Maiden revealing that their set was going to be made up of songs from their seminal first four albums, everything pointed towards this being an all-time great Ozzfest.
