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EXCLUSIVE Rock's wildest wildman: He once said he'd only be remembered for biting the head off a bat - but his marriage to Sharon and a pioneering reality TV show changed all that... the astonishing success of Ozzy Osbourne as he dies aged 76

EXCLUSIVE Rock's wildest wildman: He once said he'd only be remembered for biting the head off a bat - but his marriage to Sharon and a pioneering reality TV show changed all that... the astonishing success of Ozzy Osbourne as he dies aged 76

Daily Mail​19 hours ago
The night Ozzy Osbourne went to dinner with the US president nearly turned into the biggest disaster of his career.
Yet somehow, thanks to the mix of goofy charm and outrageous good luck that had protected him throughout his career, he turned it into a triumph. As always Ozzy, who has died aged 76 after a long battle with Parkinson's disease, was reckless, self-destructive... and got away with it.
His invitation to attend the annual White House Correspondents' Association dinner in 2002 was predictably improbable. The heavy metal superstar was being honoured for his animal welfare work.
Ozzy couldn't quite believe it himself. True, he and wife Sharon were famous for their menagerie of pets, seen on their pioneering reality TV show The Osbournes. And he'd recently joined animal activists Peta to campaign against the fur trade.
But if the former Black Sabbath frontman was famous for one thing above all, it was for biting the head off a bat during a concert in Iowa, in 1982. He always insisted it was a drunken mistake – a fan threw the bat at him and, thinking it was a rubber toy, he ripped it apart with his teeth. When he realised what he'd done, he cut short the gig to get a rabies jab.
'Whatever else I do,' he used to lament, 'my epitaph will be, 'Born December 3, 1948. Died, whenever. And he bit the head off a bat'.'
So his presence at the dinner as a guest of President George W. Bush and wife Laura was unlikely to say the least. And although American news reports of the night described Ozzy as a 'recovering alcoholic', there wasn't much recovery going on: as he sat down with Fox News journalists, he grabbed a bottle of red and downed it in three long draughts.
By the time the compere announced his presence, Ozzy was in party mood. He leapt up and greeted the 1,800 guests with a scream of 'Yeeehaaa!' – then climbed on the table and did it again.
Footage of the night picks up Bush's response: 'OK Ozzy.' And then the president muttered: 'This might have been a mistake.'
As the boozed-up star collapsed back into his seat, the president began to pay tribute. 'The thing about Ozzy is, he's made a lot of big hit recordings – Sabbath Bloody Sabbath, Face In Hell, Black Skies and Bloodbath In Paradise,' Bush said. And then came the punchline: 'Ozzy, Mom loves your stuff.'
The room erupted. The night was saved. Ozzy, who nearly got himself thrown out by security moments earlier, emerged the hero of the event.
A few months later, he was one of the opening acts at the Queen's Golden Jubilee celebrations. That was the night Brian May played a solo on the roof of Buckingham Palace. Paul McCartney and Brian Wilson of the Beach Boys were headliners.
But the biggest surprise of the night was hearing Black Sabbath's Paranoid booming down the Mall, and a bellow like an injured bullock: 'Finished with my woman cos she couldn't help me with my mind! People think I'm insane because I am frowning all the time!'
That was Ozzy. He was the wildest man of rock, a working-class Brummie boozehound and ex-jailbird, whose speech was so slurred and foul-mouthed that half of what he said on TV got bleeped out and the rest needed subtitles.
And he remained a showman to the very end, performing his final gig less than three weeks ago from a black throne carved with giant bats' wings to a delirious audience of hard-rock faithful at his beloved Villa Park.
Born in Aston, Birmingham, he was one of six children in a house with no inside toilet.
At school, unable to read (he was later diagnosed with severe dyslexia), he was regularly beaten by teachers with shoes or lengths of wood. He responded by causing mayhem: in a metalwork class, he once heated a copper penny with a blowtorch and placed it with tongs on the teacher's desk, waiting to see him pick it up.
At 15, he left with no qualifications, only to be sacked from a series of dead-end jobs for stealing, skiving or doing drugs.
The only one he enjoyed was working a dawn shift in an abattoir, because that meant he could get to the pub in time for lunchtime opening. Always a practical joker, he liked to fill his pockets with cows' eyeballs and drop them into people's pints. An afternoon's drinking was followed by a night in a club, dancing to soul music till 5am, and then – fuelled by amphetamines – heading back to the slaughterhouse.
Sacked from the abattoir for attacking a fellow worker with an iron pole and putting him in hospital, Ozzy turned to burglary, stealing clothes and a TV set from a shop. He knew enough about fingerprints to wear gloves... but chose a pair with one thumb missing. 'Not exactly Einstein, are we?' said the copper who arrested him.
Unable to pay his £40 fine, he was sentenced to three months in jail, serving his time in Birmingham's notorious Winson Green.
When he got out in 1966, he bought an amplifier on hire purchase and put an advert in a guitar shop window: vocalist seeks band for gigs. He couldn't play an instrument, but he didn't want to go back to jail and he couldn't think of anything else to do.
That's when his luck changed – and never left him. A former schoolmate, Tony Iommi, was putting together a group with a couple of mates, and needed a singer. Tony, it turned out, was a brilliant rock guitarist, despite an accident in a sheet metal factory that lopped off two fingertips.
The other guys, bassist Geezer Butler and drummer Bill Ward, made a rhythm section as thunderously heavy as the other hard rock group to emerge from 1960s Birmingham, Led Zeppelin.
Ozzy was a screamer, not a warbler. He detested the flower-power and hippie ditties of the decade. But he had bellowing lungs and a demented stage presence, and that suited Iommi's dark, satanic blues riffs.
Calling themselves Earth, they got their first gigs by turning up uninvited at live music clubs and offering to play if a band failed to turn up.
When punters complained that their music was too loud, too aggressive and too demonic, they changed their name to something more ominous: Black Sabbath. Their first single, in 1970, was called Evil Woman. An LP followed and was panned: Rolling Stone magazine called it 'dogged wooden claptrap'. That set the tone for Ozzy's career – critics always hated his music.
But Black Sabbath weren't making music for critics, they were making it for young men like them: frustrated, rebellious, working class and bursting with energy. The album sold a million, and earned them a reputation for devil worship. When fans urged him to join them for black masses and satanic rituals, Ozzy told them: 'Look, mate, the only evil spirits I'm interested in are whisky, vodka and gin.'
Despite growing fame in America and world tours, boosted by a top-five hit with Paranoid that saw them appear on Top Of The Pops alongside Cliff Richard and Pan's People, Sabbath remained a Brummie band. Ozzy still drank in the same pubs, and he met his first wife Thelma at Birmingham's Rum Runner nightclub. American tours followed. Ozzy discovered pizza, Harvey Wallbangers, groupies and cocaine.
At a Holiday Inn in California, he ended a phone call to Thelma – who was pregnant with the first of their two children – and went to the bar.
Finding it empty, 'I took the lift up to the pool on the roof, and when the doors opened, it was like Caligula up there. Dozens of the most amazing chicks you could ever imagine, all stark naked, and blowj**s and threesomes going on left, right and centre.
'I lit up a joint, sat down on a recliner between two lesbian chicks, and began to sing God Bless America.'
At a rented house in Bel Air, the band did so much coke that they called their next LP Snowblind (a title the record company rejected: the album was eventually called Vol. 4). Ozzy claimed he had to smoke a bag of dope a day, just to stop the coke from giving him a heart attack. When the weed stopped working, he switched to Valium and then heroin.
In an effort to clean himself up, he moved back to England and bought a country house. The detox didn't work out, and the rural retreat became known as Atrocity Cottage.
Obsessed with shotguns, he blasted stuffed animals, shop mannequins, chickens and stray cats. His marriage did not survive, and neither did his Black Sabbath career: in 1979 the band fired him.
He was rescued by Sharon Arden, the daughter of his ex-manager Don – a brutal thug, who was furious at losing Ozzy to his own daughter. He later set his dogs on her, causing her to have a miscarriage.
Sharon believed Ozzy could be a superstar in his own right, something he'd never imagined. At first she matched him drink for drink and blow for blow.
'Our fights were legendary,' she said. 'At a gig, Ozzy would run off stage during a guitar solo to fight with me, then run back on to finish the song. I realised that if we both carried on, we'd wind up a washed-up pair of old drunks living in a hovel somewhere. So I stopped drinking.'
Ozzy did not. His comeback album, Blizzard Of Ozz, was a global hit, and on tour he partied as hard as ever. In Tokyo, after a gig, Sharon was woken up in their hotel room by Ozzy as he climbed into the bed with a groupie. He'd forgotten his wife was there. 'It's funny now,' she remarked 20 years later. 'It wasn't then.'
In San Antonio, he got so drunk that Sharon hid his clothes to stop him from leaving the hotel. He stole one of her dresses, went on a bar crawl and was arrested for relieving himself on the cenotaph at the Alamo, the most sacred spot in Texas.
In 1986 he went AWOL, forcing Sharon to issue a newspaper appeal: 'God knows where he is. He could be in Brazil for all I know. I'd just like to say – Ozzy, darling, please call me. You know where to find me. I miss you.'
After a silence that lasted months, he sent a peace offering: all his hair, in a shoe box. She tracked him down to a drug dependency unit in Minneapolis, where he had shaved his head.
The debauchery came to a crashing halt in 1989 when, after drinking four bottles of vodka, Ozzy tried to strangle Sharon during an argument. She called the police and he was arrested for attempted murder.
With her husband facing 20 years in prison, Sharon agreed to drop the charges. 'These things happen,' she said. But she insisted he went into rehab for three months, partly for the sake of their three children, Aimee, Kelly and Jack.
For the rest of his life, despite frequent relapses, he moderated his excesses – not always on the wagon but at least within sight of it.
A series of health scares in the 1990s, including a misdiagnosis of multiple sclerosis, forced him to cut back on touring. Instead, Sharon encouraged him to launch OzzFest, a heavy metal festival, and to continue recording.
They went on to star in a ground-breaking TV show, the first of the reality formats, with cameras following them round their home for months on end.
The series was a colossal hit, earning them $20million for the first two seasons. Half the time, Ozzy seemed barely aware that he was being filmed, which added to the hilarity. His wailing cry of 'Sha-rrrron?' became an international catchphrase.
When Sharon was diagnosed with colon cancer in 2002, he started drinking again, and two years later had a near-fatal accident on a quad bike. His bodyguard saved him, giving him the kiss of life.
'My heart stopped twice,' he said. 'I was in a coma and I remember having a terrible dream – I was no longer with Sharon. She's met another guy who had his own aeroplane.'
He recovered and so did Sharon. Against the odds, so did their marriage. The fear of losing her to cancer made Ozzy understand at last how lucky he was to be alive and to have his wife.
'She's not a Pamela Anderson or a Bo Derek,' he once said, with typical clumsiness. 'She was fat when I fell in love with her. But I'd love Sharon if she was the size of ten houses or as skinny as three twigs. I love her, the soul, the person.'
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Sharon Osbourne breaks silence after husband Ozzy's tragic death
Sharon Osbourne breaks silence after husband Ozzy's tragic death

Daily Record

time26 minutes ago

  • Daily Record

Sharon Osbourne breaks silence after husband Ozzy's tragic death

Music manager and TV presenter Sharon Osbourne has broken her silence on social media after the heartbreaking death of her husband, Black Sabbath frontman Ozzy Osbourne. Sharon Osbourne has broken her silence following the death of her husband Ozzy. On Tuesday, she and her family shared the heart-breaking news that the Black Sabbath legend had passed away at 76, surrounded by his family. ‌ His family stated: "It is with more sadness than mere words can convey that we have to report that our beloved Ozzy Osbourne has passed away this morning. He was with his family and surrounded by love. We ask everyone to respect our family privacy at this time. Sharon, Jack, Kelly, Aimee and Louis." ‌ The music manager acknowledged a heartfelt homage from musician Gavin Rossdale. The Bush lead singer posted an image with Ozzy on Instagram on Tuesday, captioning it: "RIP OZZY - a great man -a true legend - I met Ozzy through Jack just a few times but he was so warm and kind and funny and i love that memory .sending much love to his family at this difficult time. Rest in power." ‌ In response, Sharon, endearingly known as Mrs O, replied to Gavin's tribute: "Bless you." Additionally, Sir Elton John, a close friend of Sharon and Ozzy, paid a touching tribute, reports the Mirror. The 'Rocket Man' singer posted a photo with Ozzy, penning: "So sad to hear the news of @ozzyosbourne passing away. He was a dear friend and a huge trailblazer who secured his place in the pantheon of rock gods - a true legend. He was also one of the funniest people I've ever met. I will miss him dearly. To Sharon and the family, I send my condolences and love. Elton xx." ‌ Ozzy's health took a turn for the worse on Tuesday, mere days after his final bow at the Back To The Beginning concert at Villa Park, the stadium he adored and the home ground of Aston Villa. His health had been in decline since his Parkinson's disease diagnosis in 2003, which he only made public in 2020. An air ambulance was called to Ozzy's Buckinghamshire estate around 10:30 am on Tuesday, with medics working tirelessly for hours to resuscitate the Black Sabbath legend. A local resident expressed their concern to MailOnline upon seeing the helicopter descend near Ozzy and Sharon's home. ‌ The neighbour shared with MailOnline: "All of us were talking about it and wondering what had happened. We immediately feared it may be for him as he was known to be in fragile health. When we heard later that night that he had died it confirmed our worst fears." A representative for Thames Valley Air Ambulance confirmed: "We can confirm that our helicopter was dispatched to provide advanced critical care at an incident near Chalfont St Giles yesterday." The emergency aircraft, based at RAF Benson in Oxfordshire, reached the scene within 15 minutes. The distinctive red helicopter is reserved for patients in need of the most urgent critical care. ‌ Today, Ozzy's sister expressed to the Mirror her relief that he could pass away in England, fulfilling his wish to return to his homeland after spending twenty years in Los Angeles. Ozzy was fervently keen on returning to England after spending twenty years in Los Angeles, a move initially made so that his children, Kelly and Jack, could attend specialist dyslexia schools. A primary motivator for his desire to return was the gun violence prevalent in the United States. "Everything's f***ing ridiculous [in America]. I'm fed up with people getting killed every day," he expressed to The Observer.

Inside Ozzy & Sharon's wild marriage – drugs, fights, affairs… and what she told him after he attempted to murder her
Inside Ozzy & Sharon's wild marriage – drugs, fights, affairs… and what she told him after he attempted to murder her

Scottish Sun

time28 minutes ago

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Inside Ozzy & Sharon's wild marriage – drugs, fights, affairs… and what she told him after he attempted to murder her

IT was the craziest start to a love affair that survived against the odds for more than 40 years. Superstar rocker Ozzy Osbourne had been given an envelope stuffed with cash to hand over to Sharon Arden, daughter of his band Black Sabbath's manager. 6 Drugs, fights, affairs - Ozzy Osbourne and wife Sharon Osbourne's marriage survived against all odds Credit: Getty 6 Ozzy and Sharon pictured in Brazil in 1985 Instead, Ozzy blew the money on cocaine — which he was working his way through when Sharon arrived at his hotel. Despite being completely off his head, Ozzy, who died on Tuesday age 76, never forgot that first meeting when Sharon asked, 'Do you have anything for me?'. He recalled: ''No, I don't think so', I said, all innocent. 'But it didn't take Einstein to work out what had happened. 'There was a massive bag of coke on the table next to a ripped-up envelope with 'Sharon' written on it in felt-tip pen. 'Sharon gave me a monumental ­bollocking when she saw it, shouting and cursing and telling me I was a f***ing disaster. 'Drunkest and loudest' 'I guess I won't be shagging her any time soon, then, I thought. 'But she came back the next day, to find me lying in a puddle of my own p**s, smoking a joint. 'She said, 'Look, if you want to get your s**t together, we want to manage you'.' That ill-fated meeting led to an incredible marriage that lasted 33 years — despite Ozzy's drug and sex addiction and even his attempt to strangle Sharon. Inside Ozzy Osbourne's final days after historic last show 'took huge toll' on his health He admitted: 'I fell for Sharon so badly, man . . . she saved my life every day.' In one of his last interviews, Ozzy described the reality TV star and X Factor judge as his 'soulmate'. He said: 'Sometimes I love her, sometimes I don't love her, sometimes I'm angry with her, sometimes I'm crazy about her, sometimes I'm very jealous of her, sometimes I wanna f***ing kill her. 'But through it all, at the end of the day, I love her more than anything in the world.' As Sharon took over running Ozzy's professional life, the Brummie lad quickly realised that he had never met a woman like her before. In his 2009 biography, I Am Ozzy, he revealed: 'I'd never come across a girl who was like me. 'Wherever we went, we were always the drunkest and the loudest. 'I learned that when Sharon is on a mission, she'll throw herself at it, lock, stock and barrel, and not stop fighting until well after the bell's rung. 'I trusted Sharon like I'd never trusted anyone before on the business side of things.'  Me and Sharon were bonking all over the place. We couldn't stop. Some nights Sharon would go out of one door and [first wife] Thelma would come in the other Sharon When Sharon was relaunching Ozzy as a solo star with a new album, Blizzard Of Ozz, and a tour following his firing from Black Sabbath in 1979, the star's private life was falling apart. He was married to Thelma Riley, had adopted her son Elliot from an earlier marriage and they had two kids of their own, Jessica and Louis. After months of trying, Ozzy finally bedded Sharon after leaping into her bath at a hotel near Shepperton Studios. He recalled: 'Me and Sharon were bonking all over the place. 'We couldn't stop. 'Some nights, Sharon would go out of one door and Thelma would come in the other. 'I was knackered all the time, ­having two women on the go. 'I don't know how those French blokes do it. 'When I was with Sharon, I'd end up calling her 'Tharon', which earned me more than a few black eyes. 'I'd never known what it was like to fall in love before I met Sharon. 'We were inseparable. 'I realised that when you're in love, it's not just about the messing around in the sack, it's about how empty you feel when they're gone. And I couldn't stand it when Sharon was gone.' But when he split up with Thelma in 1981, Sharon bore the brunt of Ozzy's anger. He said: 'I was a wreck. 'I was in love with Sharon, but at the same time I was cut to pieces by ­losing my family. 'I'd get drunk and try to hit her, and she'd throw things at me. 'Wine bottles, gold discs, TVs — you name it, it would all come flying across the room. 'I ain't proud to admit that a few of my punches reached their target.' 6 Ozzy on tour in Las Vegas in 2002 with his beloved Sharon by his side Credit: Shutterstock Editorial But the following year, Ozzy and Sharon married in Hawaii on the way to a gig. The rocker didn't make it back to their hotel room after the ­ceremony. Sharon recalled: 'The manager called and said, 'Your husband is lying in the hall, will you come and get him' and I said, 'No I won't'.' While Sharon managed Ozzy's soaring solo career, the couple welcomed their three children Aimee, 41, Kelly, 40, and Jack, 39. But she could not curb her husband's appetite for booze, illegal drugs and prescription pills. 'Slumped in corridor' When he got violent, Sharon would take her revenge like the time she took a hammer to all his gold records. But seven years after their wedding, Ozzy tried to strangle Sharon while high on drugs and Russian vodka, at their 17th Century home in Little Chalfont, Bucks. The family had gone to their bedrooms after returning from a local Chinese restaurant to celebrate Aimee's sixth birthday. Before lunging at Sharon, Ozzy stripped naked and told her: 'We've had a little talk and it's clear that you have to die.' She pressed the panic button, ­alerting the police. Ozzy woke up in a cell the next morning with no recollection of the attack, to find he had been charged with attempted murder. Three months later, ahead of his court case, Sharon visited the rehab centre where Ozzy had been sent to dry out. In his autobiography, Ozzy recalled how she told him: 'I'm going to drop the charges. 'I don't believe you're capable of attempted murder, Ozzy. People keep asking, 'How come you and Sharon have stayed together all this time?' Ozzy 'You're a sweet, gentle man. 'But when you get drunk, Ozzy Osbourne disappears and someone else takes over. 'I want that other person to go away. 'I don't want to see him again.' But Ozzy instead developed a p­rescription pill addiction. Sharon almost died from colon ­cancer during the making of their Noughties fly-on-the-wall MTV show, The Osbournes. While she was still undergoing chemo, the couple retook their vows on New Year's Eve 2002. Ozzy revealed: 'People keep asking, 'How come you and Sharon have stayed together all this time?'. 'My answer was the same then as it is now. 'I've never stopped telling my wife that I love her; I've never stopped taking her out for dinner; I've never stopped surprising her with ­little gifts'. 6 Animal-lovers Ozzy and his wife campaigning against trophy hunting last year Credit: Ban Trophy Hunting /Animal News Agency 'Unfortunately, I'd never stopped drinking and taking drugs, so the ­ceremony ended much the same as our original wedding — with me slumped in a corridor, p*ssed out of my brains.' A year later, Ozzy had a near-fatal quad bike accident on their estate that required multiple surgeries and affected his long-term mobility. In the ­aftermath of the crash, he was diagnosed with Parkinson's disease, only going public with the condition in 2020. Meanwhile, Sharon — who described their life together as 'a Shakespeare play' — slipped Ozzy extra sleeping pills in 2016 to extract a confession that he had been having an affair with his hairdresser. It was also revealed that there were more mistresses. Devastated, Sharon tried to kill herself but was found by a cleaner. Jessie Breakwell, who worked as their nanny, said: 'Ozzy was obsessed with her. 'They'd giggle and make jokes. 'It was genuine love.' After Ozzy went to rehab for sex addiction, the couple reconciled and renewed their vows in Las Vegas in 2017. Sharon admitted: 'I love him. 'I can leave if I want, take half of everything and go. I don't want to.' 6 Ozzy was obsessed with his wife Credit: Getty 6 Sharon and Ozzy as youngsters Credit: Getty - Contributor Wild and hilarious Ozzy stories 1. Ozzy once told Sharon: 'Don't cremate me, whatever you do. 'I want to be put in the ground, in a nice garden somewhere, with a tree over my head. 'A crabapple tree, preferably, so the kids can make wine out of me and get pissed out of their heads. 'As for what they'll put on my headstone, I ain't under any illusions. 'If I close my eyes, I can already see it: 'Ozzy Osbourne, born 1948 'Died, whenever. 'He bit the head off a bat.' 2. Ozzy decided to stop using acid while recording Black Sabbath album Vol 4. He said: 'I took ten tabs of acid then went for a walk in a field. 'I ended up standing there talking to this horse for about an hour. 'In the end, the horse turned around and told me to f**k off. 'That was it for me.' 3. The rocker began tattooing himself as a teenager while growing up in Birmingham. He said: 'I even put a smiley face on each of my knees to cheer myself up when I was sitting on the bog in the morning.' Decades later he had 'thanks' tattooed on his right palm. He said: 'It seemed like a brilliant idea at the time. 'How many times do you say 'thanks' to people during your lifetime? 'Tens of thousands, probably. 'Now all I had to do was raise my right hand.' 4. The Osbournes had a donkey called Sally, who used to sit in the living room with Ozzy and watch Match Of The Day. 5. Former slaughterhouse worker Ozzy claimed to have killed his family's cats while high. He recalled: 'I was ­taking drugs so much I was a f***ed. 'The final straw came when I shot all our cats. 'We had about 17, and I went crazy and shot them all. 'My wife found me under the piano in a white suit – a shotgun in one hand and a knife in the other.' 6. The Prince of Darkness was interested in the Bible. He said: 'I've tried to read it several times. 'But I've only ever got as far as the bit about Moses being 720 years old, and I'm like, 'What were these people smoking back then?'' 7. Ozzy met the late Queen at the Royal Variety Performance. He recalled: 'I was standing next to Cliff Richard. 'She took one look at the two of us, and said, 'Oh, so this is what they call variety, is it?' then cracked up laughing. 'I honestly thought Sharon must have slipped some acid into my ­cornflakes that morning.' 8. Ozzy loved putting hidden messages in songs. He said: 'On No Rest For The Wicked, if you play Bloodbath In Paradise backwards, you can clearly hear me saying, 'Your mother sells whelks in Hull'.'

Ozzy Osbourne put Birmingham on the map and never forgot his roots, says mayor
Ozzy Osbourne put Birmingham on the map and never forgot his roots, says mayor

South Wales Guardian

timean hour ago

  • South Wales Guardian

Ozzy Osbourne put Birmingham on the map and never forgot his roots, says mayor

The Black Sabbath star, nicknamed the Prince of Darkness, died at the age of 76 on Tuesday. 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. A post shared by Black Sabbath (@blacksabbath) 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. 'I think he put Birmingham, and especially Aston, on the world map. He's done so much for the city and we honoured him with the freedom of the city as well, which we were grateful that he came (to) and received about six weeks ago.' Terence 'Geezer' Butler, Tony Iommi, Bill Ward and Osbourne were all recognised for their significance to the cultural and musical identity of Birmingham and as pioneers of heavy metal in the city and beyond. Mr Iqbal said: 'For me, personally, to meet him was the greatest honour for me… very humble guy, very down-to-earth guy. He spent, I think, a couple of hours in the council house just talking about Aston, Aston Villa Football Club, the people of Birmingham. 'We presented him with the scrolls and he spoke as well for a couple of minutes on that day, and the thing I love about him is that at the end of everything he said, he always said, 'Birmingham forever'. And he never forgot his roots, where he came from.' The lord mayor also said he spoke to fans queueing up to sign a book of condolences, which was opened by a Birmingham museum hosting an exhibition dedicated to Osbourne. 'It's already a long queue people. I'm sure over the weekend there'll be hundreds of more people coming to sign the book', he said. Speaking about plans to honour Osbourne, he added: 'Myself and the council will probably have a meeting around this subject and we will decide at a later date what we're going to be doing. 'I'm sure there's definitely going to be something, I'm not sure what that's going to be looking like at the moment but we will definitely do something.' A post shared by Birmingham City Council (UK) (@bhamcitycouncil) Richard Parker, mayor of the West Midlands, said he was 'very, very thankful' that Black Sabbath were given the freedom of Birmingham and that their final concert at Villa Park happened when it did. Speaking at the Black Sabbath mural in the city on Wednesday, Mr Parker said: 'I was very fortunate to attend both events and I was just struck by the sense of goodwill and a sense of pride that he gave us all. 'I was just struck by how humble he and members of the band were and I just remember how much it meant to them. 'In retrospect, I think we're just very, very thankful that those two events happened when they did.' He added: 'The fact that (Osbourne) came down here and wanted to play their final gig here meant a lot, and there was hardly a conversation he had that didn't mention where he came from and how much this city meant to him.' Osbourne, who grew up in Aston, played a farewell gig at Villa Park on July 5 which saw him reunite with his Black Sabbath bandmates. Among the bands performing were Anthrax, Metallica and Guns N'Roses, and there were messages of thanks from other celebrities, including Jack Black, Ricky Gervais and Dolly Parton.

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