{"id":295000,"date":"2025-07-27T04:26:25","date_gmt":"2025-07-27T04:26:25","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/295000\/"},"modified":"2025-07-27T04:26:25","modified_gmt":"2025-07-27T04:26:25","slug":"watch-fans-turn-birminghams-black-sabbath-bench-into-makeshift-memorial-for-ozzy-osbourne","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/295000\/","title":{"rendered":"Watch: Fans Turn Birmingham’s BLACK SABBATH Bench Into Makeshift Memorial For OZZY OSBOURNE"},"content":{"rendered":"

Fans have been gathering at the Black Sabbath Bench<\/b>, a tourist attraction close to the Black Sabbath Bridge<\/b>, two of many Birmingham, United Kingdom landmarks dedicated to Ozzy Osbourne<\/b> and his BLACK SABBATH<\/b> bandmates, in the days after the news broke on Tuesday that the legendary heavy metal singer had died at the age of 76. According to The New York Times<\/a>, some fans had laid bouquets at the bench’s base, while others had left homemade signs with tributes. Some conveyed the pride of his home city (“Birmingham forever \u2013 Ozzy<\/b>, you rock!”),while others highlighted Osbourne<\/b>‘s global appeal (“Gracias Ozzy<\/b>!”; “Thank you for the music – from me and all your fans in Bulgaria”). “You have touched millions, my whole life your music has played almost as if raising me”, another message read.<\/p>\n

Drake<\/b>, the Canadian rapper, who was in Birmingham on tour, also stopped by the Black Sabbath Bench<\/b> \u2014 which features cut-out figures of the four BLACK SABBATH<\/b> bandmembers \u2014 and reportedly poured some tequila on the ground next to the bench to pay homage to Osbourne<\/b>.<\/p>\n

“I just came out to pay respects to someone who lived it to the fullest,” Drake<\/b> told The New York Times<\/b>.<\/p>\n

Drake<\/b> also reportedly posted and deleted a photo of the bench filled with flowers, signs, photos and heartfelt messages to Osbourne<\/b>. “Drank with the NY Times<\/b> last night for Ozzy<\/b>,” he wrote in his Instagram<\/b> caption.<\/p>\n

At his concert on Wednesday (July 23) at Utilita Arena Birmingham, Drake<\/b> paid tribute to Ozzy<\/b> by walking out to BLACK SABBATH<\/b>‘s “Iron Man”<\/b> and telling the crowd: “Hey Birmingham! Rest in peace to the legendary Ozzy Osbourne<\/b>.”<\/p>\n

The Black Sabbath Bench<\/b> features the names Ozzy Osbourne<\/b>, Geezer Butler<\/b>, Tony Iommi<\/b> and Bill Ward<\/b> engraved in the wood, while the stone next to it is engraved with the band\u2019s name.<\/p>\n

In March 2024, the Black Sabbath Bench<\/b> was returned to the Birmingham city center following a major refurbishment that included brand new heads for all bandmembers.<\/p>\n

The heavy metal bench was first installed by Westside Business Improvement District<\/b> on the renamed Black Sabbath Bridge<\/b> across the canal on the city’s “golden mile” of Broad Street back in June 2019. Since then, the bench has arguably become Birmingham and the West Midlands’ biggest-used piece of “engagement public art”. It was removed in early February 2024 but was returned in late March 2024 to its much-visited spot.<\/p>\n

The handmade stainless steel bench was forged in the city by Gateway Steel Fabrications and features images of Osbourne<\/b>, Iommi<\/b>, Butler<\/b> and Ward<\/b> with the words “Geezer<\/b>. Ozzy<\/b>. Tony<\/b>. Bill<\/b>. Made in Birmingham 1968″ etched on it.<\/p>\n

BLACK SABBATH<\/b> super-fan Mohammed Osama<\/b> came up with the idea and worked closely with Westside Business Improvement District<\/b> on the project.<\/p>\n

The bench’s artwork was created by Egyptian artist Tarek Abdelkawi<\/b>.<\/p>\n

Ozzy<\/b> died Tuesday morning (July 22),his family announced in a statement.<\/p>\n

“It is with more sadness than mere words can convey that we have to report that our beloved Ozzy Osbourne<\/b> 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,” the family said.<\/p>\n

No cause of death was given, but Osbourne<\/b> had battled a number of health issues over the past several years, including Parkinson’s disease and injuries he sustained from a late-night fall in 2019.<\/p>\n

Ozzy<\/b>‘s death came a little more than two weeks after he took the stage for his final performance with BLACK SABBATH<\/b> at Villa Park in the band’s original hometown of Birmingham, United Kingdom. They performed four songs for more than 40,000 people in the stadium and 5.8 million more on a livestream. Ozzy<\/b> also played a five-song solo set while seated in a bat-adorned throne.<\/p>\n

Ozzy<\/b>‘s family reality television show “The Osbournes”<\/b> won a 2002 Primetime Emmy<\/b>.<\/p>\n

In 2006, Osbourne<\/b> and the other members of the original BLACK SABBATH<\/b> were inducted into the Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame<\/b>. Ozzy<\/b> was also inducted into the Rock Hall<\/b> as a solo artist in 2024.<\/p>\n

Osbourne<\/b> won several Grammys<\/b>, including one in 1993 for his solo song “I Don’t Want To Change The World”<\/b>.<\/p>\n

Ozzy<\/b> and his wife and manager Sharon<\/b> started their annual tour \u2014 Ozzfest<\/b> \u2014 in 1996 after he was rejected from the lineup of what at the time was the top touring music festival, Lollapalooza<\/b>. The first traveling version of Ozzfest<\/b> in 1997 included MARILYN MANSON<\/b> and PANTERA<\/b> as part of the lineup.<\/p>\n

Osbourne<\/b> leaves behind his wife, three children from his first marriage (including an adopted son from his first wife’s previous relationship),and three with Sharon<\/b>: Jack<\/b>, Kelly<\/b> and Aimee<\/b>.<\/p><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Fans have been gathering at the Black Sabbath Bench, a tourist attraction close to the Black Sabbath Bridge,…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":295001,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[7820],"tags":[855,748,393,4884,16,15],"class_list":{"0":"post-295000","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-birmingham","8":"tag-birmingham","9":"tag-britain","10":"tag-england","11":"tag-great-britain","12":"tag-uk","13":"tag-united-kingdom"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@uk\/114923305887409784","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/295000","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=295000"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/295000\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/295001"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=295000"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=295000"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=295000"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}