Matt Heafy, frontman of Trivium, recently shared how the band felt “bullied” during the 2005 Ozzfest after they declined to egg Iron Maiden. The tension stemmed from a feud between Iron Maiden’s Bruce Dickinson and Ozzfest organizer Sharon Osbourne, sparked by Dickinson’s critical remarks about the reality show The Osbournes, which Sharon found offensive.
The situation escalated during the final Ozzfest show in Los Angeles when Sharon urged around 20 audience members, including nurses from her chemotherapy treatment, to throw eggs at Dickinson while he performed. She later admitted that the egging was a reaction to Dickinson’s comments about the tour and its headliner, Ozzy Osbourne.
In a recent interview with Metal Hammer, Heafy revealed that Trivium paid $30,000 to join the Ozzfest lineup, covering costs like bus rental and crew expenses. “Some days we were opening at 9 in the morning,” he recounted. “On the last Iron Maiden day, we were asked by some of the Ozzfest crew, ‘Hey, do you want to egg Iron Maiden?’ We were like, ‘Why the hell would we do that?’”
Instead of participating, Trivium supported Iron Maiden by wearing their t-shirts and covering “The Trooper” during their sets, which the Ozzfest crew reportedly did not appreciate. Heafy described the harassment they faced, saying, “We got bullied by the Ozzfest crew; they’d drive their golf carts right up to our faces and shoot dirt at us. Paolo [Gregoletto, bass] almost got arrested at one of the shows. It was a strange time; we paid $30,000 to get bullied like we were in high school!”
Heafy also mentioned that Ozzfest management recently approached Trivium with a conciliatory offer: “We were actually told recently that if we apologized, we’d be allowed to do the tour again someday,” he said.
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