Artisan News Service has issued an interview with OZZY OSBOURNE, conducted at the second annual Sunset Strip Music Festival (SSMF). Ozzy discusses the departure of guitarist Zakk Wylde and his replacement, FIREWIND guitarist Gus G.

Listen to the interview at this location.

As previously reported, Osbourne , the rock music icon whose career spans four decades and has sold more than 100 million albums worldwide, will be presented the Legend Of Live award at the 2009 Billboard Touring Awards on November 5th in New York. Osbourne will be in person at the event to receive the honor.

The Billboard Legend Of Live award recognizes an individual who has made significant and lasting contributions to live music and the touring business, and acknowledges the recipient's commitment to the art of performing live and reaching fans through the concert experience.

Previous award recipients include ROLLING STONES promoter Michael Cohl (2004), Cellar Door Concerts founder Jack Boyle (2005), SIR ELTON JOHN (2006), pioneering agent Frank Barsalona (2007), and the ALLMAN BROTHERS BAND (2008).

"Ozzy has altered the course of rock music and live performance through his work with BLACK SABBATH and as a hugely popular solo artist, and his continued commitment to playing live makes him the perfect choice for the Billboard Legend Of Live award," says Ray Waddell, Billboard's executive director of content and programming, touring and live entertainment. "There is no doubt that Ozzy's impact on live music, including pioneering the multi-act rock festival touring with Ozzfest, will be felt for many years to come, and his efforts continue to shape the touring landscape in this century."

The Billboard Touring Awards honor the industry's top artists, venues and professionals for the year, based primarily on the Billboard Boxscore chart and on actual box office performance from January 1st, 2009 to September 30th, 2009. This awards reception will wrap the sixth annual Billboard Touring Conference taking place at the Roosevelt Hotel in New York City on November 4th and 5th.

For more information about the 6th annual Billboard Touring Conference and Awards, please visit billboardevents.com.

Ozzy's website was recently updated with the following:

"They’ve said some crazy things about me over the years. I mean, okay: 'He bit the head off a bat.' Yes. 'He bit the head off a dove.' Yes. But then you hear things like, 'Ozzy went to the show last night, but he wouldn’t perform until he’d killed fifteen puppies…' Now me, kill fifteen puppies? I love puppies. I’ve got eighteen of the fucking things at home. I’ve killed a few cows in my time, mind you. And the chickens. I shot the chickens in my house that night.

It haunts me, all this crazy stuff. Every day of my life has been an event. I took lethal combinations of booze and drugs for thirty fucking years. I survived a direct hit by a plane, suicidal overdoses, STDs. I've been accused of attempted murder. Then I almost died while riding over a bump on a quad bike at fucking two miles per hour.

People ask me how come I’m still alive, and I don’t know what to say. When I was growing up, if you’d have put me up against a wall with the other kids from my street and asked me which one of us was gonna make it to the age of 60, which one of us would end up with five kids and four grandkids and houses in Buckinghamshire and Beverly Hills, I wouldn’t have put money on me, no fucking way. But here I am: ready to tell my story, in my own words, for the first time.

A lot of it ain’t gonna be pretty. I’ve done some bad things in my time. I’ve always been drawn to the dark side, me. But I ain’t the devil. I’m just John Osbourne: a working class kid from Aston, who quit his job in the factory and went looking for a good time."

Frank, fearless, and very funny, I Am Ozzy is his highly anticipated autobiography, in which Ozzy comes clean: in all senses.

Ozzy Osbourne was born in Aston, Birmingham in 1948. He has sold over a hundred million records both with BLACK SABBATH and as an award-winning solo artist. He has five children and lives with his wife Sharon in California and Buckinghamshire.

I Am Ozzy will be released October 1st, 2009 in the UK with a US release coming soon.

On Saturday, September 12th, Ozzy closed the second annual Sunset Strip Music Festival (SSMF) with a headlining performance. He was joined once again by FIREWIND guitarist Gus G. and drummer Mike Bordin, who was absent for Ozzy's BlizzCon concert on August 22nd due to his touring commitments with FAITH NO MORE.

Ozzy's set-list was as follows:

'I Don't Know'

'Suicide Solution'

'Bark At The Moon'

'War Pigs'

'Crazy Train'

'Paranoid'

'Iron Man'

'Mr. Crowley'

Encore:

'I Don't Want To Change The World'

Encore 2:

'I Don't Wanna Stop'

Ozzy’s appearance marked his first full performance on The Sunset Strip in almost 40 years and his first ever as a solo artist. Back in 1970, BLACK SABBATH performed a five-night stand (November 11th - 15th) at the legendary Whisky A Go-Go as part of their first US tour. His career has been celebrated all weekend - September 10 was named as Ozzy Osbourne Day and he was presented with the Elmer Valentine award from Lou Adler, founder of The Roxy.

Photos of Ozzy's performance last night at the Sunset Strip Music Festival can be found at this location.

Fan-filmed video footage of the concert can be viewed below.