British metal royalty Judas Priest have been announced as Ozzy Osbourne’s replacement at Power Trip festival in California after the singer cancelled his scheduled performance due to health reasons.
The festival is scheduled to take place from October 6th until the 8th at Indio’s Empire Polo Club, the same location as Coachella. Judas Priest will appear alongside Guns N’ Roses, Iron Maiden, Tool, Metallica and AC/DC at the inaugral Power Trip.
In a statement, Osbourne explained his absence: “As painful as this is, I’ve had to make the decision to bow out of performing on Power Trip in October. My original plan was to return to the stage in the summer of 2024, and when the offer to do this show came in, I optimistically moved forward.”
Ozzy added: “Unfortunately, my body is telling me that I’m just not ready yet and I am much too proud to have the first show that I do in nearly five years be half-assed.”
He also discussed his replacement without revealing their identity, stating: “They are personal friends of mine and I can promise that you will not be disappointed.”
Judas Priest said in a statement: “Power Trippers, are you ready for some Judas Priest style heavy metal! We are excited and ready to raise double horns way up high together. Keeping the metal faith at this bostin’ one-of-a-kind Power Trip world event!”
Osbourne has been struggling with his health for several years and hasn’t played a full headline show since 2018. Although last year, he did perform with Tony Iommi at the closing ceremony of the Commonwealth Games in Birmingham and played at half-time in an NFL game at Inglewood’s SoFi Stadium in 2022.
While he still may play the occasional show, earlier this year, Ozzy announced his retirement from touring, saying, “Never would I have imagined that my touring days would have ended this way. My team is currently coming up with ideas for where I will be able to perform without having to travel from city to city and country to country.”
One legendary weekend in the Desert 🌵
Tickets are on sale now.@powertriplive https://t.co/x4wiANtm0w pic.twitter.com/lU09wGfjtx— Judas Priest (@judaspriest) July 12, 2023
