That Time Sharon Osbourne Scolded Papa Roach for Starting a Riot at Ozzfest
Papa Roach's Jacoby Shaddix recently looked back on the time that Sharon Osbourne reprimanded him for starting a riot from stage during Ozzfest 2001. The lead vocalist shared that memory, along with several others, in a new interview with Forbes about his life and career.
The riot in question reportedly occurred at the Ozzfest stop at the PNC Bank Arts Center in Holmdel, N.J., on Aug. 11, 2001, per ThePRP. During Papa Roach's show, Shaddix encouraged attendees on the lawn to throw mud toward the stage, which soiled spectators in the seated area in between. Several fights among the audience broke out, and the performance had to be paused. This week (May 11), while speaking to Forbes contributor Steve Baltin, the singer recalled the incident and the fallout that followed, but not before sharing some of his other recollections from the tour.
"Being out on Ozzfest and watching Ozzy connect with the crowd every night," Shaddix remembered of the highlights. "Sharing the stage with Linkin Park and really getting to know those guys out on that tour. And I got my wife pregnant on Ozzfest. That was pretty cool."
However, the Papa Roach singer also experienced some not-so-fun moments.
"I learned some other hard lessons there," he added. "I got reprimanded by Sharon Osbourne one night. I started a riot in New Jersey on Ozzfest. And I attempted to escape the grounds with my [record label] A&R [representative] in the trunk of his Town Car. I come back to the site and I got arrested for inciting a riot. The cops detained me and then they let me go."
Shaddix continued, "That was all fine and dandy until I had to go into Sharon Osbourne's office. And she laid down the law. I left like a scared child. I was like, 'Alright, cool, I don't think I'll ever start a riot again at a festival.' It was a valuable lesson for me to learn as a young artist because we were on the way to the top at that point. I needed for somebody to put me in a check because I was out of control."
In the same interview, the frontman revealed the circumstances surrounding the new material Papa Roach recorded last year when they hunkered down in a Southern California compound.
"We rented this big old house and brought our equipment in and holed up there for four weeks, for a month," Shaddix explained. "And it was 24 hours a day, making music, creativity. And it was another one of those, let's just shut in and see where the music takes us, and see what comes out of this experience. And I gotta tell you, it was one of the most inspired creative moments of our lives together. And it was such a deeply bonding experience, for us and our producers, because we just dug deep on this stuff we wrote and recorded. I gotta tell you, we made some super fucking inspired music. I can't wait for the fans to hear it."
Papa Roach's latest album, Who Do You Trust?, came out in 2019. In 2020, the band was featured alongside Ice Nine Kills on a remix of Hollywood Undead's "Heart of a Champion." Last month, Papa Roach released the song "Domination" with Kayzo and Sullivan King.