Ozzy Osbourne plays first solo show since Black Sabbath farewell

Ozzy Osbourne played his first solo concert since the completion of Black Sabbath's farewell tour on Friday night (July 14th) at the Rock USA festival in Oshkosh, Wisconsin.

Ozzy last performed live in February, when Sabbath played its two final concerts in Birmingham, England to conclude its "The End" victory lap. The singer was joined for the solo show by guitarist Zakk Wylde, who was Ozzy's regular axeman from 1988 to 2007 and is doing Ozzy's current solo run.

Ozzy's touring lineup also includes Rob "Blasko" Nicholson on bass, Adam Wakeman on keyboards and Tommy Clufetos on drums. Clufetos also played drums on the last two Sabbath world tours.

Ozzy told us a while back what motivates him to keep performing live: "I was watching 60 Minutes and there was a segment on Bruce Springsteen where they asked him the same question, and he said, 'You know what? It's fun. It's what I like doing. I like making them have fun and I like having fun for me by seeing them have fun.' And it's pretty true, you know. It's because I just love to see the kids. It's like a challenge for me."

Ozzy was set to play on Sunday night (July 16th) at the Chicago Open Air Festival and currently has only six more dates scheduled between now and early November.

Next month will see the singer play the Buffalo Chip in Sturgis, South Dakota, Treasure Island Resort & Casino in Welch, Minnesota and the Moonstock festival in Cartersville, Illinois. More shows will follow in September and October, with the final date set for this year's edition of Ozzfest Meets Knotfest on November 4th in San Bernardino, California.

Ozzy has spoken about recording a new solo album -- his first since 2010's Scream -- but official details have yet to emerge.

Here is Ozzy's set list from Friday:

"Bark At The Moon"
"Mr. Crowley"
"Desire"
"I Don't Know"
"Fairies Wear Boots"
"Suicide Solution"
"No More Tears"
"Believer"
"War Pigs"
"Iron Man"
"Shot In The Dark"
"I Don't Want To Change The World"
"Crazy Train"

Encore:

"Mama, I'm Coming Home"
"Paranoid"

Check it out: 10 Things You Might Not Know About Ozzy Osbourne

10 Things You Might Not Know About Ozzy Osbourne

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John Michael Osbourne

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John Michael Osbourne was born December 3, 1948 in Birmingham, England to Lillian and John Thomas "Jack” Osbourne. Osbourne was the fourth of six children; he has three older sisters and two younger brothers: Jean, Iris, Gillian, Paul and Tony. He has had the nickname "Ozzy" since primary school

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She Loves You

Upon hearing their first hit single at age 14, Ozzy became a huge fan of The Beatles. He credits the band's 1963 song "She Loves You" for inspiring him to become a musician. He said in the 2011 documentary God Bless Ozzy Osbourne that "as soon as I heard 'She Loves You' on the radio, I knew I wanted to be a rock star for the rest of my life"

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Randall William ’Randy’ Rhoads

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Randy Rhoads got the call to audition for Ozzy just before his final show with Quiet Riot in September 1979. Rhoads walked into Ozzy's Los Angeles hotel room with his Gibson Les Paul and a practice amp and started warming up. Osbourne, who was very inebriated on that day, immediately gave him the job upon hearing just a few riffs

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Blizzard of Ozz

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© Ozzy Osbourne, Jet Records [Fair Use]

Ozzy’s debut solo album was released September 20, 1980. During recording, the band was billed as 'The Blizzard of Ozz’ and the album was intended to be credited to the band with Ozzy's name in smaller print. When the album was released his name was bigger than 'The Blizzard of Ozz' and the act became 'Ozzy Osbourne' and no longer a band

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The Bat Incident

On January 20, 1982, Ozzy bit the head off a bat he thought was rubber while performing at the Veterans Memorial Auditorium in Des Moines, Iowa. The fan, 17-year-old Mark Neal, who threw it onto the stage said it was brought to the show dead. Osbourne claimed the bat was not only alive, but managed to bite him, resulting in rabies treatment

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The Alamo

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Dean Fikar / Shutterstock.com

In February 1982, while wearing his future wife Sharon's dress because she had hidden his clothes, Ozzy drunkenly urinated on a cenotaph erected in honour of those who died at the Alamo in Texas. A police officer arrested Osbourne and he was subsequently banned from the city of San Antonio for a decade

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Memphis Blues

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© Ozzy Osbourne, ozzy.com [Fair Use]

In May 1984, Ozzy was arrested in Memphis, Tennessee for public intoxication. According to the police report, Ozzy was "staggering drunk” on Beale Street. The ‘Prince of Darkness’ was booked and photographed wearing a St. Louis Blues shirt and was released a few hours later after sobering up

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Ozzfest

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© KSHE 95, Favazz

The first Ozzfest was held in Phoenix, Arizona on October 25, 1996. In 2004, Favazz interviewed Ozzy and Sharon in Los Angeles to kick-off that year’s tour. Over five million people have attended Ozzfest, which has grossed over $100 million and helped Ozzy to become the first hard rock and heavy metal star to hit $50 million in merchandise sales

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The Osbournes

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Kevin Winter/Getty Images

The Osbournes premiered on MTV on March 5, 2002, and in its first season, was cited as the most-viewed series ever on MTV. Ozzy confirmed in an interview on BBC Radio 2 in May 2009 that he was "stoned during the entire filming of The Osbournes" and will not watch the episodes for this reason

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Trust Me, I’m Dr. Ozzy

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Trust Me, I'm Dr. Ozzy: Advice from Rock's Ultimate Survivor was released on October 11, 2011. It was the sequel to his 2010 release I Am Ozzy. The book chronicles his drug abuse and survival stories about 40 years of drug and alcohol abuse and also features Ozzy's health advice. The book was co-written by Chris Ayres, because of Osbourne's dyslexia

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