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On November 15 of 1992, Ozzy played at Costa Mesa, California. This was one of the two nightly shows that would be the last in his tour. Sharon and Ozzy decided it would be cool to invite the other members of Black Sabbath for a reunion since this would be the end of it all. All of the members of Black Sabbath agreed, but Ronnie Dio did not. After playing his songs, the members of Black Sabbath came out and joined Ozzy in playing four songs: Black Sabbath, Fairies Wear Boots, Iron Man, and of course, Paranoid. The video release of this final show only contains the Black Sabbath song though. How did the audience react at seeing the original Sabbath members back together since 1978? They went totally crazy of course. At the end of the show a fireworks sparkler display went off which proclaimed, "I'll Be Back". The purpose of having a final show and then saying you'll be back is questionable. Being his final tour, sales were high and other artists turned out to see the madman before he retired, including Vince Neil, Rod Stewart and Nicholas Cage.
Ozzy's lifetime of performing was to end with the final show of the tour.
In 1993 Ozzy was officially retired. He went home and did want he wanted to do - be a father. He spent time with his family, and bought various toys such as Motorcycles, guns and night vision goggles (to see animals running at night). It was a whole new lifestyle for the man who had been performing and running wild on stages all across the world for his whole life. And, it proved to be too different. Soon he began longing for the old life, and a short while after retiring, Ozzy decided to put another band together and tour again. Ozzy fans soon heard rumors of an upcoming album, and gossip was that "X-Ray" might be the title used. Some fans were unhappy with the news/rumors - thinking that they had been lied to and that the retirement was simply a ploy to bring in more money. Rumors also put Steve Vai on the new album.
It was nearly two years before some of the rumors became facts. There was an album coming, and a tour to support it. The album would be called "Ozzmosis".
Geezer Butler played on Ozzmosis, and toured with Ozzy. The album was recorded in Paris, and was produced by Micheal Beinhorn. Zakk Wylde was busy with Pride and Glory, and so it was arranged that Steve Vai would contribute to the album, as rumored. The songs were to be split so that both Vai and Wylde would appear, but the record company rearranged things so that only Wylde's material made it to the final product.
On October 24, 1995 Ozzmosis hit the stores shortly after the album's first track, "Perry Mason" had been reciving radio play. Now all that remained was to begin touring.
Ozzy would name his Ozzmosis tour, "Retirement Sucks" in an obvious statement about his feelings towards his short lived retirement. It was now time to begin touring. Zakk was talking about playing with Guns and Roses so Ozzy decided to audition new guitarists, thinking Zakk would not be around for the tour. Zakk's manager, Doug Goldstein, called Sharon and told her that Zakk would be available. He later phoned to say that Zakk was still negotiating for the gig with Guns and Roses. Ozzy did not know what Zakk was planning to do because he was negotiating with both groups, and so asked Zakk to let him know what his plans were. When Zakk did not return the phone call as promised, Ozzy decided enough was enough and found a new player. Ozzy and Zakk are still on good terms however.
Joe Holmes The 31 year old guitar player who hailed from New Jersey and had taken lessons from Randy Rhoads, would soon play a part in Ozzy's life. Holmes had previoulsly played with David Lee Roth for his 1988 tour and was currently working on his own band, "Tariff", when Dean Castronovo (Oz's drummer) phoned Holmes to let him know they were seeking a guitar player. Holmes went down to Audible in Los Angeles and played three Ozzy classics. He did not mention that he had once took lessons from Randy because he thought this might jeapordize his chances. He succeeded though and got the part. Unfortunately Holmes is not heard on the Ozzmosis album but he will be on the next one. So Joe Holmes as Ozzy's new guitar player and Geezer Butler on bass began the Retirement Sucks tour. Halfway through the tour, Geezer left due to being homesick for his family and Mike Inez took his place.
Later on, in yet another shrewd marketing move, Ozzy and Sharon came up with the 'Ozz-Fest'. The festival which  would start September 14, 1996 would be of a different theme. At this event one could get a tattoo done, body piercing or have your fortune read by a psychic. Ozz-fest featured the following hard rock groups: Danzig, Sepultura, Prong, Slayer, Biohazard, Fear Factory, Neurosis, King Norris, Earth Crisis, Powerman 5000, Coal Chamber, and Cellophane. Towards November '96, Ozzy played his last show of the tour in Hawaii. His plans were to go back to the studio to release a 'Greatest Hits' package ( 1997) which included his older songs and three new ones. One of them would be a song called "Back on Earth" which was co-written with Steve Vai.
Ozz-Fest, day-long hard rock festival, would be a huge success, averaging a higher per show gross than any other festival tour. . The Summer of '98 would see the second fest, again using two stages and a packed line-up of great bands including Megadeth, Limp Bizkit, and Two with Judas Priest's Rob Halford, Coal Chamber and many more. The US dates to begin July 3 In New Jersey.
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