Ozzy Osbourne has been a constant force in System of a Down guitarist and vocalist Daron Malakian‘s life since he was around four years old, when he became fascinated with the art for Osbourne’s live album, Speak of the Devil. “I was just obsessed with it, and I idolized him,” Malakian tells Rolling Stone. “He was my childhood idol.”
When he learned of Osbourne’s death on Tuesday, he broke into tears. “I hate to say this, but it feels like that day was the day that metal died,” he says. “You have the King of Pop, the Queen of Pop, the King of Rock & Roll, and Ozzy’s like the King of Metal. Him passing away, it feels heavy.”
Malakian has vivid memories from the early Ninties, before he was in a band, of sleeping in his car to buy tickets for a tribute concert for Osbourne’s late guitarist, Randy Rhoads, who died in 1982, and he attended Osbourne’s legendary “farewell” concerts in Costa Mesa, California in 1992 when Osbourne reunited with his Black Sabbath bandmates for the first time since Live Aid.
Luckily for Malakian, Osbourne un-retired a few years later and put together the inaugural Ozzfest, a traveling multi-stage metal festival that features Osbourne as headliner and bands from every subgenre of metal, in 1996. System of a Down issued their self-titled debut two years later and, after a tour supporting Slayer, received an invitation to play on the second stage of Ozzfest ’98.
The opportunity meant the world to Malakian. “I was just living on cloud nine,” he says, “and feeling like, ‘Damn, dude. My dreams actually came true.’ I would get on stage and say, ‘This is an opportunity, and you better kick some fucking ass.’”
Thanks to the success of unusual singles like “Sugar” and “Spiders,” as well as exposure the band got on Ozzfest, the group’s System of a Down album was eventually certified double-platinum. Within a year, Ozzfest graduated them to the main stage for Ozzfest ’99. They became direct support for Osbourne in 2002, and in 2006, after releasing their celebrated Mezmerize and Hypnotize albums, System of a Down became the rare band to headline an Ozzfest over Ozzy Osbourne.
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Malakian explains the role Ozzfest played in elevating System of a Down’s profile.
Ozzfest was like a heavy-metal summer camp. We were still touring in an RV on the first one, but those early Ozzfests for me were some of the best times of my fucking life. It was huge for us, and it was a big deal for me.
When we played our first Ozzfest, we were on the second stage, and we would sometimes play at 11 o’clock in the morning. It wasn’t like how festivals are now. It was like a traveling circus. It was a tour that went from city to city.
I was just in awe of the people that were around me. Motörhead was headlining the second stage. Lemmy [Kilmister] had this old, turquoise Eagle tour bus. One time I saw him sunbathing next to the bus with turquoise Speedos on. That’s all he had on. I’ll never forget that. Another time, I talked with Motörhead drummer Mikkey Dee, who used to play with King Diamond, and I told him how much I liked those albums. He’s like, “Oh, wow. I haven’t even thought of that for such a long time.” And then you would see Ozzy walk by here and there.
My dreams were coming true. I’m just sitting here having conversations with these people that I used to see in music videos or they were on my wall when I was a teenager. And there I am with my band.
It was an honor to be part of the roster of bands for those shows. I’ve always had confidence in System of a Down and myself, even from the club days. We stood out from all the club bands. We became the biggest club band on the Sunset Strip. Then once we got signed, it was, “Now you’re on tour with Slayer.” Then, “Now you’re at the Ozzfest. Now these are the big boys. Now you’re going to write some songs and you’re going to perform to where you’re going to stand out with the greatest.”
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I felt like we belonged there. Did I walk onstage at Ozzfest and say, “Hey, we’re fucking the shit”? No. We had something to prove. Every day we got on that stage, and we proved it. And I think people saw that. Obviously, we’re still here.
And Ozzfest was a party, too. We would be done early because we were playing at 11, 12 o’clock, so we had all fucking day at the Ozzfest every day. I was 22, 23 years old, so I’ll let you imagine what that was like for me. So we had golf carts, and we’d go pick up chicks with the golf carts. It was just partying.
On our second year doing Ozzfest, we opened the main stage. We were not playing in front of packed amphitheaters, because we were the opening band. It wasn’t like all the seats were full yet. But even if the amphitheater was less than half empty, we got up there and we left it all on the stage. Once again, we were done very early. You’d watch the bands, or you’d hang out with somebody on their bus. You’d get stoned. Then Ozzy would come on at night. I would always watch from the stage right where [Osbourne guitarist] Zakk [Wylde] would be playing.
Here’s the funny story: In those days, at the end of “Sugar,” I would take off my pants. So, [singing] “In the end, it all goes away,” and my pants were down, and my ass was showing. So one day, we were playing, and [drummer] John [Dolmayan] decided to join me. At the end of the show, we got up in front of the audience and we’re buck naked. We just did things. Don’t ask why.
Soon after that, John and I got called into the production office. And the lady that worked under Sharon [Osbourne] was fucking pissed. She looked at us and goes, “Who the fuck do you guys think you are? You think you could get up in front of people and just be naked like that? You know we can get sued for indecent exposure.” In my head, I was like, “This is the Ozzfest. I thought that would be OK here.” But she’s like, “This is not System of a Down Fest. When it’s the System of a Down Fest, you guys could do whatever you want, but this is the Ozzfest.”
Then a year or two later, we headlined the Ozzfest and Ozzy wasn’t even playing that year. Sharon was battling cancer; Ozzy didn’t play every night. There were a few shows Ozzy played, but we were the headliners every night. John and I were like, “Wait a second, can we get out there naked every night now?”
We saw headlining Ozzfest as a huge accomplishment. And people showed up, too. It wasn’t like, “It’s not Ozzfest. What the fuck?” It was a packed house every night.
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So think about that: We started the second stage, 11 o’clock. Moved up and then got to be the headliner. Ozzfest was huge for us. It was such a big push for our band. I’m very grateful to Sharon, very grateful to Ozzy.
In between those Ozzfests, we saw our audience grow. I’m sure you could say the same thing for Slipknot or other bands. Ozzfest was a perfect fit for us because it was metal, and there was a metal scene happening at that time. A lot of the bands that we played with on the Sunset Strip in L.A. — Coal Chamber, Incubus, Static-X — were on the Ozzfest. It gave us exposure. Every day you were in a different city and got audiences that might have not seen you otherwise to see you, and you were there to convert them into fans. I couldn’t give you a percentage of the fans we converted, but it was huge. Ozzfest was a huge deal for System of a Down.
