Sam Loeffler Opens Up About CHEVELLE Being Kicked Off 2003 ‘Ozzfest’ by Sharon Osbourne

Chevelle drummer Sam Loeffler recently reflected on the band’s turbulent experience during the 2003 Ozzfest tour, revealing how a scheduling decision nearly derailed their main stage slot. Speaking with 107.7 The Bone, Loeffler recounted how the band’s choice to play four sold-out Foo Fighters shows before Ozzfest led to an unexpected fallout with Sharon Osbourne, who oversaw the festival.

Loeffler explained:

“We were confirmed to do Ozzfest the second time, to do the main stage. It was us, Manson, Disturbed, Korn and Ozzy. I think that was what it was. We had to go to Europe to do some shows right before that. And our agent called and said, ‘Foo Fighters is doing these four shows. They’re all sold out, but they need somebody to open. Would you guys wanna do it?’ And they weren’t very big shows; they were, like, four- or five-thousand-seaters.

And so our record label calls supposedly Sharon [Osbourne] and said, ‘Hey, is it okay, since these guys are booked to do Ozzfest, is it okay if they do these shows? It’s not gonna affect ticket sales.’ Ozzfest was all sold out. The Foo Fighters shows were sold out. It didn’t affect anything. She’s, like, ‘Yeah, that’s fine.’

And they paid us $7,500 to do the four [Foo Fighters] shows each, so it was 30 grand. So we do the shows. We go to Europe and we’re in Europe, and our manager calls and says, ‘You got kicked off Ozzfest for doing those Foo Fighters shows.’ And we’re, like, ‘What are you talking about?’ And apparently somehow it happened where, I don’t know if she didn’t remember that they had talked to her about it or if when somebody did talk to about her about it, it was someone else that gave the message or whatever.

But so we were in this terrible situation. We were, like, ‘Well, God, what are we gonna do? We just got kicked off the tour,’ and it was nine weeks, whatever. And so our label guy gets a hold of Sharon, and she goes, ‘Well, how much money did you make at Foo Fighters?’ [He was,] like, ‘Well, $30,000.’ So we were getting paid 10 grand a show to do Ozzfest. And that would’ve been — what? — 2003? Yeah, 2003. So Sharon goes, ‘Pay me the $30,000 that you made at Foo Fighters and you can be back on the tour.’ Yeah, they didn’t pay us the last three shows [at Ozzfest], which was 30 grand. [Laughs]”

Looking back, Loeffler reflected on the larger context behind the incident:

“In hindsight, I would say that probably there was some shit that we didn’t know about that was going on between her and her people and probably our label or something like that. And specifically the guy [at our record label], maybe she was fighting with him, because that guy was also Ozzy’s label rep, ’cause we were on the same label. It was Epic Records.

So there was probably more to do with it than us, and maybe it even came down that we were just sort of collateral damage. But that’s what actually happened. So, our agent paid 10 grand, our label paid 10 grand and then we paid 10 grand of the 30. But there probably is more to it. I mean, I guarantee there’s more to it.”

[Via Blabbermouth]

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