Ozzy (and presumably Zakk) will be the musical guest on Jimmy Kimmel Live! on May 22nd – the release date of his new studio album Black Rain. EDIT: Looks like he will be playing twice, both the 21st and the 22nd!

Blabbermouth has two links to articles about Chuck Schuldiner. The first is a tribute by Greek Hard Rock magazine originally published in December 2006, and the second is a tribute published by Guitar World in the April 2007 issue.

Will this Dean ML painted by modern artist Mark Ryden sell for one million dollars? He’s a wicked artist, but I doubt it will. It’s a sweet looking guitar though.

After Eric Clapton was reported to have made just under five million on the sale of the rights to Clapton: The Autobiography, Keith Richards is now also shopping around to sell his book. Apparently he wants to beat Clapton’s 5-mil deal. I say good luck with THAT.

Sharon and Ozzy along with the tour’s producer Live Nation will be turning to sponsors to cover the bill. Ticket prices have been soaring over the past few years as artists demand more to play summer shows. Ozzfest has been running for 11 years and this year they will pull the plug on ticket prices. I’m not sure what face this will take. Obviously they must already get some of their funding from sponsors. I guess we will have to wait and see what a fully sponsored concert will look like.

Ozzy will be returning to headline the festival, but the rest of the bands are still unannounced. Sharon says she already has some bands that are committed, but she is hoping that more will be excited to take part in this ground breaking event and jump on board.

Sharon points out, “we have bands committed, but we’re hoping that after today’s announcement we’ll have a whole influx of artists who want to be a part of something this ground breaking. We know there aren’t any major headlining acts that would tour all summer for nothing, but we’re confident we can turn some of the genre’s biggest bands on to what we’re doing and have them come out to play a date or two. If they’re in town and want the rush of performing in front of 20,000 frenzied kids, they’re more than welcome to join us. They can sell their t-shirts, CDs and whatever else they’ve got. They’re also welcome to book their own shows in local venues on the day of OZZFEST. I’m not stopping them. People have to be creative and think of alternatives.”

How to get tickets is not 100% clear as of now, but the announcement says fans can visit www.ozzfest.com and www.livenation.com for links to sponsor websites which will have details on finding them. It also notes more details will be coming.

25 dates have been announced, starting in Los Angeles on July 7th. Although the schedule is not finalized, other cities on the tour as of now include San Diego, San Francisco, Seattle, Denver, Albuquerque, Phoenix, Dallas, San Antonio, Kansas City, St Louis, Chicago, Indianapolis, Columbus, Pittsburgh, New York, Boston, Philadelphia, Hartford, Charlotte, Atlanta, West Palm Beach, Nashville. Sadly, still no Canadian dates to be heard of. (Sharon: We like metal too!)

You can read the entire announcement at Ozzfest’s official website.