You can save the money for tickets to this year’s Ozzfest tour because Ozzy Osbourne’s wife, Sharon, and tour producer Live Nation announced on Tuesday that the shows will be free.

"Everybody has been so good to us over the years, and year after year ticket prices get higher and higher and higher,” Sharon Osbourne, who is Ozzy’s manager as well, said.

"We just thought we can't keep on raising ticket prices because there is not that much money out there anymore. Hey, kids can go online and download music, why not go to a show for free too? What the heck?"

The rock festival which was founded in 1996 by the British heavy metal pioneer Ozzy Osbourne will begin on July 7th in Los Angeles and play 25 dates.

The revolutionary move comes after the tickets which have ranged from US$35 to $150 began to rise beyond the reach of the rocker's loyal fans, his wife said, and he didn't want that to happen.

"We certainly want everybody to make money, however we also want the kids to be able to afford to come out and have an incredible experience. If we continued with the traditional touring festival model, we would have no choice but to raise ticket prices again this year," Sharon said.

"It's not saying that I'm now Mother Teresa or that Ozzy is a saint but you know what? He's been doing this a long time and his audience has been really good to him,” she said.

"So, if he goes out one summer of his life and he doesn't get paid, big deal."

Experts said Ozzfest, one of the marquee summer rock events of the past decade, would be the first U.S. festival music tour to offer free admission.

"It's something that's never been done before," Gary Bongiovanni, editor of the concert trade publication Pollstar, said. "It's a phenomenal idea."

Fans will get tickets through sponsors' websites. Sponsors will pay for the tickets but nothing is on release yet.

“This will change everybody’s impression of the way touring in the summer in America should be,” Sharon Osbourne said.

Both Sharon and Ozzy Osbourne rejected the rocker’s retirement rumors snapping: "No way!" at the same time when asked about it.

"He's been touring 30, 35 years, and he's done very well, and it's time to give something back," Sharon told the Associated Press.

"If he goes out one summer of his life and he doesn't get paid, big deal."

Besides the Black Sabbath singer, the rest of the lineup is still coming together.

"We have bands committed, but we're hoping that after today's announcement we'll have a whole influx of artists who want to be a part of something this ground breaking," she said.

"We know there aren't any major headlining acts that would tour all summer for nothing, but we're confident we can turn some of the genre's biggest bands on to what we're doing and have them come out to play a date or two. If they're in town and want the rush of performing in front of 20,000 frenzied kids, they're more than welcome to join us. They can sell their T-shirts, CDs, and whatever else they've got."

Ozzfest will visit such cities as San Diego, San Francisco, Seattle, Denver, Albuquerque, Phoenix, Dallas, San Antonio, Kansas City, St Louis, Chicago, Indianapolis, Columbus, Pittsburgh, New York, Boston, Philadelphia, Hartford, Charlotte, Atlanta, West Palm Beach, and Nashville.