Culture

Ozzy Osbourne tributes flood in as hometown Birmingham mourns

Last updated: July 24, 2025 | 10:49

Ozzy Osbourne (left) and his daughter Kelly Osbourne arrive for the 62nd Annual Grammy Awards on Jan.26, 2020, in Los Angeles. File/Agence France-Presse

Prince Charles (right) meets Ozzy Osbourne (left) and X factor finalist Chico Slimani at a reception, for the people lending their support to The Prince's Trust 30th Birthday concert, in Clarence House, London, on May 18, 2006. File/Reuters

(FILES) British singer Ozzy Osbourne poses for pictures backstage after he was awarded the title of 'Global Icon' during the 2014 MTV Europe Music Awards (EMA) in Glasgow, Scotland, on November 9, 2014. Ozzy Osbourne, the frontman of heavy metal group Black Sabbath, died on July 22, 2025 at the age of 76, his family announced in a statement. "He was with his family and surrounded by love. We ask everyone to respect our family privacy at this time," the statement added. (Photo by Oli SCARFF / AFP)

Ozzy Osbourne is shown on Oct. 27, 1988 in New York. File/Associated Press

Ozzy Osbourne appears at news conference to tell reporters that his song 'Suicide Solution' was misinterpreted and is anti-suicide, in Los Angeles on Jan. 21, 1986. File/Associated Press

Hundreds of Ozzy Osbourne fans gathered at landmarks linked to the rocker in his birthplace of Birmingham on Wednesday, while artists paid tribute to his influence on heavy metal music.

Fans laid floral tributes at a bench and bridge in central England named after Black Sabbath, the band with whom Osbourne pioneered the heavy metal genre in the late 1960s, after his death on Tuesday at the age of 76.

Chloe Allen, a 25-year-old student who was visiting the Sabbath bench, said Osbourne's "Crazy Train" introduced her to metal music.

"(His music made me) realise that actually, you can be alternative, you can wear black, you can rock on, and you can just be you," she said, speaking from the Sabbath bench.

Osbourne died 17 days after enthralling thousands of adoring fans in an emotional farewell gig in Birmingham featuring dozens of other performances including by Metallica, Guns N' Roses and Aerosmith's Steven Tyler in day-long heavy metal extravaganza.

"It's impossible to put into words what Ozzy Osbourne has meant to Metallica," the band said on X. "He taught us how to play in the big leagues while at the same time being warm, welcoming, engaging, and all around brilliant."

Sabbath guitarist Tony Iommi said the band had "lost our brother".

"He loved what he did, he loved music, he loved playing together, and I'm so glad we had the opportunity of getting together again to do the (farewell) show," Iommi told BBC Radio.

Many fans also gathered at The Crown, a now-closed pub where Sabbath performed in their early years and at the site of a mural of the band near Birmingham's main railway station.

Merlin Alderslade, executive editor at the Louder group of rock and metal magazines, told Reuters it was "impossible" to overstate Osbourne's importance to heavy metal, and that his last show was a fitting farewell.

"We were quite shocked at the news," Alderslade said. "But what an amazing way to go out."

Reuters

Ozzy Osbourne tributes flood in as hometown Birmingham mourns

Most Popular Stories