A petition to rename Birmingham Airport after Black Sabbath legend Ozzy Osbourne has gained more than 76,000 signatures following his death in July – but the idea looks unlikely to take off
Petition to rename airport after Ozzy Osbourne nears 80k signatures (Image: BANG Showbiz)
A campaign to rebrand Birmingham Airport in honour of the legendary Ozzy Osbourne is approaching 80,000 signatures – but the proposal has been rejected.
The Black Sabbath vocalist – who would’ve celebrated his 77th birthday on Wednesday (03.12. 25) – died in July at the age of 76, and supporters have recently pushed for his hometown’s airport to bear his name.
A Change.org campaign calling for the airport to become Ozzy Osbourne International has garnered over 76,000 signatures at the time of writing, though the concept appears destined to remain grounded, according to Birmingham Airport Chief Executive Nick Barton.
Speaking on BBC West Midlands, he commented: “Birmingham, amazingly, has an extraordinary list of fantastically influential people, going from historic people like Charles Darwin, as well as Robert Plant and Sir Lenny Henry, but the answer is no.”
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Nick maintained the airport’s existing name is “incredibly valuable for development”.
He explained: “The airport name is so important for our future development of what we’ve got, which is a fantastic airport, but yet to grow significantly, which we will do on the back of its name.”
Nevertheless, Nick confirmed a memorial to Ozzy will feature in the airport’s plans.
He continued: “It’ll be like a mural recognition of Ozzy and other greats in the area.”
The petition, entitled Rename Birmingham Airport as Ozzy Osbourne International, was launched by Dan Hudson.
He penned on the page: “Ozzy Osbourne was the most important musician ever to hail from Birmingham. He rose to fame as the lead vocalist of the pioneering rock band Black Sabbath, who invented the genre of heavy metal.
“Ozzy’s influence on music and culture is undeniable. Naming our international airport after him would be a fitting tribute to his extraordinary career and contributions to the arts.
“Other airports in the UK are named after their famous children (George Best “International Airport in Belfast, John Lennon Airport in Liverpool) so it is only right that we do this here in Birmingham, in honour of Ozzy.
“Together, we can celebrate the legacy of Ozzy Osbourne and the incredible influence our city has had on the world stage, thanks to him.”
Despite Nick asserting that Birmingham Airport’s name won’t be altered, Dan told the BBC that his campaign could still take off.
He stated: “[The petition] isn’t going away”.