Ozzy Osbourne will headline Download festival for the first time (Picture; Getty Images for ABA)

Ozzy Osbourne will headline Download festival for the first time (Picture; Getty Images for ABA)

Ozzy Osbourne will headline Download festival for the first time as a solo artist.

The rocker’s landmark UK festival appearance will take place between June 8-10, and will be amid the veteran musician’s 2018 world tour.

The former Black Sabbath front man is the first to be announced for the festival’s 2018 edition, which will – as ever – take place at Donington Park

 

Ozzy’s time with Black Sabbath might be over, but the rocker is continuing as a solo artist (Picture: Getty Images)

‘We’re unbelievably excited to have Ozzy as one of the headliners next year,’ Download promoter Andy Copping said.

‘Already hailing from the midlands, Ozzy Osbourne is no stranger to Download and after Black Sabbath closed the festival in 2016, how could I not ask the Prince of Darkness to come back all on his own? The Download family are, without a shadow of a doubt, in for a treat,’ he went on.

 

Download festival is an annual rock music event (Picture: Redferns)

Ozzy added recently: ‘People around my age go, “I’m 65 now. I’m retired.” Then they f***ing die. My father got a bit of cash from the job he had, did the garden and died. And I’m going, “That’s a bit of an anticlimax after working so many years in a factory.”

‘I ain’t retiring. People still want to see me, so what’s there to retire from?,’ he continued.

Fans of Ozzy and his wife Sharon Osbourne were treated to a rare appearance by Ozzy recently, when he appeared in a charity version of the TV show Gogglebox, where viewers’ reactions are filmed while they’re watching the TV.

 

Ozzy Osbourne, Kelly Osbourne, Jack Osbourne and Sharon Osbourne invented the reality show formula we see today on show like Keeping Up With The Kardashians (Picture: Mtv)

Sharon and Ozzy, who have been married for 35 years, commented and watched all manner of TV shows, and at one point Ozzy seemed to be emotional as they watched a show about a young cancer sufferer.

Ozzy and Sharon are reality TV stalwarts, having become famous as a family for their show The Osbournes in the early Naughties.