Ah, so this is turning into a feud - that's fun. Following that diss of Iron Maiden frontman Bruce Dickinson from Mrs Sharon Osbourne yesterday, the Maiden have bit back, kinda.
As previously reported, Sharon lashed out at Dickinson on the Ozzfest website over the weekend, accusing him of "berating Ozzy and belittling the Ozzfest audience" and being "the only person who hasn't had the Ozzfest spirit". This followed a less than perfect finale performance by Iron Maiden at Ozzfest last week, a show which the band are now claiming Osbourne deliberately sabotaged.
In fact Iron Maiden's manager has gone as far as saying Sharon staged a "premeditated and co-ordinated attack" on his band. He told reporters: "We know who authorised the making of the "Ozzy - Ozzy" chant tape the day before and how it was played secretly through the PA at the very beginning and end of our set. We also know who continually turned off the power interrupting our set at crucial moments...the great majority of the Ozzfest crew throughout the tour were terrific and we thank them. Those who participated or stood idly by and watched as this all went down should also be ashamed of themselves and I would certainly hope they never come near a tour with which we are involved."
Iron Maiden themselves haven't spoken to reporters about Sharon's remarks, or about Osbourne's alleged attempts to sabotage their Ozzfest set, though they have implied disgust for both in a posting on their website which reads thus: "Maiden are currently returning from America and preparing for UK festivals this weekend and don't wish to waste time giving Sharon Osbourne's statement the dignity of a reply. Considering the disgraceful nature of the events that occurred they feel it's a pretty dismal effort at self justification and they don't think Metal fans are at all gullible and that they will easily see through it. They want no more to do with this sorry incident and are very much looking forward to headlining Reading and Leeds Festivals this weekend".