Birmingham was special to my dad

Birmingham has paid tribute to its iconic son Ozzy Osbourne by posthumously awarding him the city’s highest civic honour on what would have been his 77th birthday.

Daughter Kelly Osbourne was presented with the Lord Mayor’s Award, by Deputy Lord Mayor Ken Wood, on her father’s behalf.

At the private ceremony she also received the city’s books of condolence, which contain thousands of messages written in the days after Ozzy’s death in July.

“It’s been a bit of an emotional one for me,” Kelly told BBC Radio WM. “Birmingham is so special to him and never in my wildest dreams did I expect the outpouring of love that we received. There is no place like Brum.”

Wife Sharon, who was married to Ozzy for 43 years, paid tribute to him with an Instagram birthday post.

“I will never let go of your hand until I see you on the other side,” she said. “My darling husband, I celebrate the day you were born.”

The Lord Mayor’s Award celebrates individuals and groups’ outstanding achievement or exceptional service to the city and people of Birmingham.

Ozzy is being honoured for his outstanding service to Birmingham, acknowledging his impact on the city’s cultural and musical identity.

Born and raised in Aston, Ozzy achieved global stardom and success as a musician, both as the lead vocalist of pioneering heavy metal band Black Sabbath and in his later solo career.

“He was the people’s person, he never changed and was always the working class hero,” Kelly said.

“He never thought he was better than anybody else, he just loved what he did so much, entertaining and making people happy.

“My dad has shown the world not just Birmingham, but Birmingham particularly, that you can be a boy from Aston and be everything.”

When Kelly was asked of other ways she would like to see her dad memorialised in his home city, she said naming the airport after him would be amazing.

“He deserves that so much he really does,” she said. “I would purposely fly into Ozzy Osborne airport every single time and take the two hour drive back to my house, just so that I could land in an airport named after my father.”

The civic honour comes after all four members of Sabbath were given the Freedom of the City of Birmingham, ahead of their farewell Back to the Beginning concert at Villa Park on 5 July.

Kelly explained that accepting the award on her father’s behalf was bittersweet.

“I wish my father was here to receive this award,” she said. “It was one of his proudest moments, and he knew he was getting this award before he passed.

“I don’t think my father, in his wildest dreams, would have ever imagined that Birmingham would embrace him the way that it has.”

The Lord Mayor of Birmingham, Councillor Zafar Iqbal MBE, said Ozzy would always be “a proud and much missed son of Birmingham”.

“Having achieved worldwide success, he never forgot his Brummie roots, so I am honoured to present the award to his family in a fitting tribute of everything he has done for our city,” he said. “Ozzy forever.”