OZZFEST, celebrating its 10th anniversary this year with a 26-city itinerary running from July 15 in Boston to September 4 in West Palm Beach, has already announced a mighty lineup: the mainstage will feature Black Sabbath, Iron Maiden, Mudvayne, Shadows Fall and Black Label Society and the second stage will host headliner Rob Zombie, Killswitch Engage, As I Lay Dying, Mastodon, The Haunted, In Flames, Arch Enemy, The Black Dahlia Murder, Bury Your Dead, Soilwork, Trivium, It Dies Today, A Dozen Furies and more.

And now it welcomes the explosive Velvet Revolver. One of rock's most successful and acclaimed groups--featuring Scott Weiland (lead vocals), Slash (guitar), Duff McKagan (bass), Matt Sorum (drums) and Dave Kushner (guitar)--will take over Iron Maiden's mainstage slot for the festival's last seven dates: August 23, 25, 27, 28, 31 and September 2 and 4.

Velvet Revolver--now embarked on their North American "Electric Wonderland Show" arena tour--stormed onto the music scene last year when their Contraband album debuted at #1 on the Billboard album chart, selling over 250,000 copies in the first week and marking the best-ever debut for a new rock artist in the SoundScan era. Contraband has since sold more than three million copies worldwide and produced the Grammy Award-winning #1 rock single "Slither," as well as the band's other #1 rock hit "Fall To Pieces," plus their blazing new single "Dirty Little Thing." Rolling Stone calls the album "modern-rock nirvana...vicious, unapologetic...," while Newsweek describes the band as "truly explosive" and Maxim says "...[Velvet Revolver] bring unpredictability back to rock."

Originally launched in 1996 as a limited two-city trek, OZZFEST has become a virtual breeding ground for up-and-coming bands. The festival has been instrumental in catapulting the careers of platinum-selling artists like System of a Down, Linkin Park, Limp Bizkit, Incubus, Slipknot, Disturbed, Godsmack and Chevelle.

OZZFEST 2005 tour dates ("*" indicates shows with Velvet Revolver):

DATE CITY/STATE VENUE
Fri 7/15 Boston, MA Tweeter Center
Sun 7/17 Hartford, CT Meadows
Tue 7/19 Camden, NJ Tweeter Waterfront
Thu 7/21 Buffalo, NY Darien Lakes
Sat 7/23 Pittsburgh, PA Post Gazette
Sun 7/24 Washington, DC Nissan Pavilion
Tue 7/26 New York, NY PNC
Sat 7/30 Chicago, IL Tweeter Center
Sun 7/31 Indianapolis, IN Verizon Wireless Music Center
Tue 8/2 Columbus, OH Germain Amphitheatre
Thu 8/4 Detroit, MI DTE Energy Music Theatre
Sat 8/6 East Troy, WI Alpine Valley
Sun 8/7 Minneapolis, MN Floatrite Park
Thu 8/11 Seattle, WA White River
Sat 8/13 San Francisco, CA Shoreline Amphitheatre
Sun 8/14 Sacramento, CA Sleep Train
Tue 8/16 Salt Lake City, UT USANA Pavilion
Thu 8/18 Phoenix, AZ Cricket
Sat 8/20 Los Angeles, CA Hyundai Pavilion at Glen Helen
* Tue 8/23 Albuquerque, NM Journal Pavilion
* Thu 8/25 Dallas, TX Smirnoff
* Sat 8/27 Houston, TX Cynthia J. Woods Pavilion
* Sun 8/28 San Antonio, TX Verizon Wireless Amphitheatre
* Wed 8/31 Nashville, TN Starwood Amphitheatre
* Fri 9/2 Charlotte, NC Verizon
* Sun 9/4 West Palm Beach Sound Advice