Fans queue to sign book of condolence for ‘proud Brummie' Ozzy Osbourne
The book has been opened at the Birmingham Museum and Art Gallery, which is currently holding an exhibition about the late singer titled "Ozzy Osbourne: Working Class Hero".
Mourners can also leave a voice note in any language they choose, by speaking into a red phone.
Osbourne was diagnosed with Parkinson's disease in 2019 and died at the age of 76 on Tuesday morning, surrounded by his family.
The news came a few weeks after he reunited with his Black Sabbath bandmates on July 5 to play a farewell gig at Villa Park – a stone's throw from where the band was formed in 1968.
Tributes were led by his Black Sabbath bandmates, including Terence 'Geezer' Butler, Tony Iommi and Bill Ward, along with celebrity friends including Kiss star Gene Simmons and Queen guitarist Sir Brian May.
Earlier on Thursday, Status Quo frontman Francis Rossi spoke on ITV's Good Morning Britain and described Osbourne as 'wild'.
He said: 'He was a great young guy. And then obviously, American success got to him, I think. And it gets to a lot of us. You get carried away with all that stuff that one shouldn't. I did and I'm over it.'
"He loved the city"
Osbourne was also described by the Lord Mayor of Birmingham, Zafar Iqbal, as a 'proud Brummie' who helped put the city 'on the world map'.
Mr Iqbal met the founding members of the heavy metal band, formed in the city in 1968, when they were presented with the freedom of Birmingham in June.
He told the PA news agency: 'He (Osbourne) was very important and he was a proud Brummie. He loved the city. He will be much missed, I think, and he was loved by so many people in the city.'
Other stars have also honoured the 'Prince of Darkness' by paying tribute to him during live concert performances, including Lady Gaga, Coldplay and Alice Cooper.
In a statement shared on Instagram, Cooper said: 'He was and will continue to be a rock n roll legend. Rock n Roll is a family and a fraternity. When we lose one of our own it bleeds. I wish I would have gotten to know my brother Ozzy better.'
Singer Drake, who was performing in the city, posted a video on social media paying tribute to Ozzy, including a picture of him visiting the Black Sabbath bridge.
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The Independent
4 minutes ago
- The Independent
Hulk Hogan was ‘being run into the ground' before he died with work schedule while dealing with 25 surgeries in 10 years
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The Sun
5 minutes ago
- The Sun
I saw Ozzy's death coming but it still took my breath away – when giants fall it's hard to accept, says Alice Cooper
OZZY OSBOURNE and Alice Cooper – kindred spirits and fellow travellers in hard rock for nearly six decades. Both were born in 1948, on different sides of the Atlantic of course, yet with so much in common. 7 7 The black eye make-up with fingernails to match, the wild shoulder-length hair, the flamboyant gothic outfits, the showmanship, the humour, the hellraising. Oh, and the notorious incidents involving live creatures on stage — in Ozzy's case a bat, in Alice's a chicken. (Neither survived.) The rock gods both hailed from tough industrial cities, Birmingham and Detroit respectively. Maybe this is one explanation for their loud, rebellious form of escapism. On Tuesday morning, before we learned of Ozzy's sad passing aged 76, I had the chance to catch up with Alice during his arena tour of the UK. Hours later, as news filtered through that the Prince Of Darkness had left us, he took to the stage in Cardiff. His typically swashbuckling show, including a trademark mock beheading, ended with Alice announcing on behalf of his band and crew: 'God rest Ozzy.' Then he led the crowd in a thunderous chant of 'Ozzy! Ozzy! Ozzy!' After the gig, he was able to reflect more fully on the loss of the much-loved Brummie. 'The whole world is mourning Ozzy,' he said. 'Over his long career, he earned immense respect among his peers and from fans around the world as an unmatched showman and cultural icon. Ozzy Osbourne top five greatest moments 'When we lose one of our own, it bleeds' 'I always saw Ozzy as a cross between the Prince Of Darkness, which is the persona his fans saw, and the court jester. That was the side that his family and friends saw. 'He was and will continue to be a rock 'n' roll legend. Rock 'n' roll is a family and a fraternity. When we lose one of our own, it bleeds. 'I wish I would have gotten to know my brother Ozzy better. ' Sharon, Jack, Kelly, Aimee and the rest of the Ozzy brood — our prayers are with you. 'A titanic boulder has crashed, but rock will roll on.' Well, we all know that time is going to take us rockers, but when the giants fall, it's really hard to accept. Alice Cooper on Ozzy's death In addition to his statement, Alice has revealed that he and Ozzy 'never really ran in the same circle for some reason' but their paths often crossed. He says: 'Ozzy and I did many shows together over the years. 'One of my favourite memories is when he sang with me on the song Hey Stoopid, a crowd favourite to this day and a staple of our setlist.' The idea of them singing, 'Hey-hey-hey-hey/Hey stoopid!' to each other conjures a priceless image. Now Ozzy's death further confirms what Alice is only too aware of — that his generation is not getting any younger. 'Well, we all know that time is going to take us rockers, but when the giants fall, it's really hard to accept,' adds the 77-year-old. 'Even though everybody saw it coming with Ozzy, it took our breath away when it happened. 'So Ozzy, your records and your music and your legend and all that you brought — the humour to the rock business — will live on forever. 'We're gonna miss you, man! Rest easy Ozzy, and we'll see you on the other side.' For many British schools, it was the last day of term before the summer holidays, bringing to mind his most famous song, School's Out. 'That song is still on every radio station here,' says Alice of the shouty singalong which hit No1 in the UK on August, 12, 1972, and stayed there for three weeks. He continues: 'You never know when you're going to write an anthem. An anthem is one of those songs that kids will still be singing a hundred years from now because they relate to it. 'So long as there is school, School's Out will be everybody's favourite song at the end of the year. It's the only song I've written that I was totally sure of. I said, 'If this isn't a hit, I shall be selling shoes somewhere'.' It came with the immortal chorus of, 'school's out for summer, school's out forever', and lines like, 'no more pencils, no more books, no more teachers' dirty looks'. Alice admits 'it's very subversive-sounding' but that 'it's a real celebration of the last three minutes of the last day of school. For every kid, it's just joy'. This brings us to the reason I'm talking to Alice in the first place — his big reunion with the original Alice Cooper Band. Formed in Phoenix, Arizona, they released seven albums between 1969 and 1973 and School's Out, with its hit title track, was the fifth. We were a band from Phoenix that never should have made it, except that we had a spark that nobody else had. Alice on his band Among their other best-loved 'shock rock' creations were I'm Eighteen, Hello Hooray, Elected, No More Mr Nice Guy and Billion Dollar Babies. In 1974, the band split, amicably but exhausted, and the frontman began his enduring solo career with his Welcome To My Nightmare LP. Now the original line-up of Alice, Mike Bruce, Dennis Dunnaway and Neal Smith have reunited to make their first studio album together in more than 50 years. Titled The Revenge Of Alice Cooper, the album effortlessly summons the spirit of their Seventies heyday and incorporates a posthumous appearance by late guitarist Glen Buxton. Alice had met Glen and Dennis in 1963 at Cortez High School in Phoenix, after moving there from Detroit. 'Alice Cooper… a good grandmother name' He recalls: 'We were all 1,500m and 3,000m runners and when The Beatles came out, we looked at each other and went, 'Oh man, we've got to do that'. 'So we learned a couple of songs and played at parties, then it just got bigger and bigger and bigger. 7 7 'Eventually, we went to LA and Frank Zappa said to us, 'I have no idea what you guys are doing, so I'm going to sign you.' That was a great compliment. We actually confused Zappa!' (You know, one of the most zany rock musicians that ever lived.) Alice tries to put his finger on what made them successful. 'We were a band from Phoenix that never should have made it,' he decides, 'except that we had a spark that nobody else had. 'We had this little theatrical thing going and we also wanted to be America's Yardbirds,' he adds in reference to the British band that helped launch the careers of Eric Clapton, Jeff Beck and Jimmy Page. In 1968, the band changed their name from Nazz because it was taken by Todd Rundgren. During a brainstorming session, they tried to think of 'somebody's grandmother'. 'Who can think of a more grandmother name than Alice Cooper?' says the man who later legally morphed from Vincent Furnier into Alice Cooper. 'I said, 'It would throw everybody right off', and everybody agreed. 'We went through all these other names and we kept coming back to Alice Cooper — it just stuck.' At that time, Alice also began experimenting with face paint and developing the outlandish stage image (snakes and chickens included) that he's loved for. 'This girl came up to me and said, 'Have you ever seen this guy?' And she showed me a picture of Arthur Brown.' Brown, a Brit, is remembered for global hit Fire, for which he would don a burning helmet. Let's just say the music and performance were incendiary. Alice continues: 'We had the same make-up and I went, 'Are you kidding me?' I'd never heard of this guy but we were on the same wavelength. 'I realised I had a kindred brother in England. Arthur and I ended up as great, great friends.' He was brilliant, like the statue of David. Every girl in the world loved this guy — the tortured poet obsessed with death. Alice on Jim Morrison of The Doors He recalls early live forays in LA at Whisky A Go Go and The Cheetah Club, and thinking, until he saw them, that other acts on the bill, Pink Floyd and Led Zeppelin, were solo artists. Then, in 1970, producer Bob Ezrin took things to the next level. Today, he's regarded as the unofficial sixth member of the band, a bit like 'fifth Beatle' George Martin. He was in charge of their breakthrough hit I'm Eighteen, giving some much-needed advice along the way. 'We kept trying to be The Yardbirds,' remembers Alice. 'And Bob kept saying, 'No, this song's about a dumb teenager, so it's got to sound like that'. 'And we were dumb teenagers, so it was pretty easy. We just dumbed it down and the simplicity was really powerful.' Now, the surviving members are all in their seventies, but you wouldn't know from the raw energy on their comeback album, The Revenge Of Alice Cooper. Anyone who has seen Alice live will probably have seen a menacing boa constrictor draped around his neck. The album begins with a song named after a snake of a different kind, Black Mamba. It features a free-flowing cameo from Robby Krieger of The Doors because, affirms Alice, 'Robby is the only guy who could have played that kind of snaky guitar part. He nailed it.' The mention of Krieger inevitably prompts one of his great rock 'n' roll tales. 'We opened for The Doors for a while,' Alice recalls. 'They were the first band to take us under their wing when we came in [to Los Angeles] from Phoenix. 'They allowed us to watch them record and we got to know them really well.' I ask Alice about The Doors' mercurial frontman Jim Morrison, who was found dead aged 27 in 1971 in a Paris apartment. The many-years-sober singer says: 'I was drinking so we got along real well. We just drank and talked and drank. 'He was brilliant, like the statue of David. Every girl in the world loved this guy — the tortured poet obsessed with death.' Alice got to witness 'Lizard King' Jim's incredible stage presence up close. 'Glen was our Keith Richards' 'He was electric, he was James Dean. He'd saunter up to the stage and take half a minute to light a cigarette. 'Then he'd sing and every girl would drop to their knees.' The new album also features a loving tribute to the Alice Cooper Band's dear departed guitarist, Glen Buxton. Called What A Syd, it brings this response from Alice: 'Glen was our Keith Richards. 'Everybody loved him but the only person I ever saw him jam with was [Pink Floyd's] Syd Barrett. 'When everyone else was slowing down rock 'n' roll-wise with what they were doing to their bodies, he just kept going. 'There was no stopping him. By 49, he looked like he was 78, 80 years old.' Finally, we return to the mischief that both Alice and Ozzy became renowned for. 'There's a lot of humour on this album,' he says. 'I can't help it, that's just the way I write. 'Everybody's telling the most important song is Blood On The Sun. They say it's poetic, it flows, it makes your mind go, 'Oh my gosh!' 'What are they talking about? Every single line in that song is a movie title. It sounds important but it's not at all!' So that explains him singing 'Don't Cry, It's Only Thunder' (1982 war movie), 'From Dusk Till Dawn' (1996 horror film) and so on. Surely Alice's fellow eternal prankster Ozzy would approve! 7 7
South Wales Guardian
41 minutes ago
- South Wales Guardian
Ozzy Osbourne's music re-enters charts
Black Sabbath's signature song Paranoid, a number four hit in 1970, has returned to the Top 40 (at number 32) for the first time in nearly 45 years, the Official Charts Company said. Osborne, 76, died on Tuesday, and Black Sabbath's The Ultimate Collection returned to the album chart, climbing 129 places to number 22. It is one of six Black Sabbath and Osbourne releases inside this week's wider top 200, with Black Sabbath's 1970 album Paranoid at number 52, Osbourne's 2014 hits collection Memoirs Of A Madman at 60, his Prince Of Darkness at 71, and Sabbath's Mob Rules at number 107. Meanwhile, US singer Justin Bieber has achieved his eighth UK number one single with Daisies – his first number one in six years. Last week's number one, Dior by producer MK, known as Marc Kinchen, featuring singer-songwriter Chrystal, slips to second place, while US singer Alex Warren scores the highest new entry with Eternity at number three. Netflix musical movie KPop Demon Hunters continues to make an impact by placing three songs in the top 20. Golden by HUNTR/X, EJAE, AUDREY NUNA and REI AMI leads the way at number four. US singer Sabrina Carpenter takes fifth place with her chart-topper Manchild. Meanwhile, Oasis continue to dominate the charts as they play their reunion gigs in the UK. Wonderwall, released in 1995, has re-entered the singles chart at number 27, joining other anthems Don't Look Back in Anger at 22 and Live Forever at 23. And they also have three albums in the top five: Time Flies… 1994-2009 at number three, (What's The Story) Morning Glory? at four, and Definitely Maybe in fifth place. Topping the album chart is Warren's You'll Be Alright, Kid – his first UK number one album. In second place is American rapper Tyler, The Creator with Don't Tap The Glass.
