The original members of Black Sabbath-Ozzy Osbourne, Tony Iommi, "Geezer" Butler, Bill Ward-have been confirmed to play the first-ever ESPN Action Sports & Music Awards, fueled by Mountain Dew, on April 7, 2001 (telecast April 10 at 9pm EST on ESPN) at the Universal Ampitheatre in Los Angeles, it was announced today by ESPN's Ron Semiao, vice president, programming and managing director, global X.

According to Semiao, Ozzy Osbourne, frontman for Black Sabbath, originator of the popular Ozzfest Tour and a rock 'n roll icon to a nation of action sports enthusiasts, has been at the very top of the target list of bands ESPN has been soliciting to play the show. "We are very honored and grateful to have Ozzy and the original members of Black Sabbath perform at this inaugural event" said Semiao. "It means a lot to the professional action sports athletes to have a musical artist that they grew up with and continue to listen to appear in a show that celebrates the symbiotic relationship between action sports and music."

Sharon Osbourne, Ozzy's wife and manager, said "The Action Sports & Music Awards show provides the perfect opportunity to marry Sabbath's timeless majesty with those in the sporting world who have most been influenced by them-the extreme athletes. We thought it would be great to have the band get in front of the masses on a large scale before they go on tour with The Ozzfest 2001. Over the years, the band has rejected many offers to appear on mainstream television so this will be a special engagement for everyone."

Black Sabbath's unstoppable Reunion tour ended up as the top-grossing Rock tour of 1999 and, by popular demand, the band is returning to headline The Ozzfest this summer. In its sixth year, Ozzfest is the perennial blockbuster package tour that gathers the best of Rock's titans and emerging artists. It is expected to sell out all 30 of its tour stops in advance, beginning June 8 in Chicago. In addition to Black Sabbath, The Ozzfest 2001 will also feature Platinum-selling heavyweights Marilyn Manson, Slipknot, Papa Roach, Linkin Park, Disturbed, and Crazytown.

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