Ozzy Osbourne to rock Affliction: Day of reckoning MMA show

Continuing the lofty standard of metallic excellence set by the inclusion of MEGADETH at their debut Banned show, Affliction has enlisted former Black Sabbath frontman and mega million selling solo artist Ozzy Osbourne as the musical guest for their October 11th Day of Reckoning event. The “Godfather of Heavy Metal” will provide a fitting accompaniment for the promotion’s second MMA event to be headlined by a WAMMA #1 heavyweight contender matchup between Andrei Arlovski and Josh.

Since the announcement of Day of Reckoning, speculation within the heavy metal community has swirled around the identity of the musical guest. Megadeth, whose United Abominations album was considered by many aficionados as the best metal release of 2007, is obviously a tough act to follow. Not surprisingly, speculation centered on a number of bands who already have a relationship with Affliction including Korn, L.A. punk/metal pioneers Suicidal Tendencies, and The Deftones along with New Haven, CT metal juggernaut Hatebreed and the band who “reigns in blood” as arguably the champions of the genre, much as Fedor rules the heavyweight MMA realm, Slayer.

Ozzy had always been in the conversation, but there was some dispute as to whether Affliction would want to follow up Megadeth’s raging performance with another band at the top of their game like Hatebreed, or whether they’d instead turn to a metal icon who may have “lost a step” from his performing prime. At this stage in his career, Ozzy is very similar to Frank Sinatra in the 1980s: his voice isn’t what it once was, but based on his contribution to metal and his charismatic presence alone it’s an electric experience to watch him perform.

Ozzy Osbourne first skyrocketed to fame as the lead singer of Black Sabbath, who hold a revered place as one of the founders of the genre not unlike the Beatles or The Rolling Stones do in mainstream rock. After leaving the iconic band in the mid 1980s, Ozzy’s career continued to prosper and he met with enormous success as a solo artist. More recently, he’s also worked with a reunited Black Sabbath on a number of occasions both in the studio and on tour.

Ozzy became famous to a whole new generation of fans as the slightly daft “house husband” on the MTV reality show “The Osbournes”. The show, which focused on Ozzy “being Ozzy” by padding about his LA mansion, doting over his kids and making expletive laced rants about the countless pets in the house, was a huge hit and placed the Osbournes into the pantheon of famous families along with the Cleavers, the Bradys and the Jeffersons. The rest of Ozzy’s family, including wife Sharon, son Jack and daughter Kelly also became ridiculously famous and parlayed this into mid-level entertainment industry success.