Black Sabbath and Zephaniah considered for city honours
David Davies/PA Wire
Black Sabbath, co-founded by singer Ozzy Osbourne, are often credited with inventing heavy metal music
Birmingham music legends Black Sabbath and trailblazing poet Benjamin Zephaniah are being considered for city honours.
Birmingham City Council is due to discuss a proposal to award City Freeman status to the four founding members of the heavy metal band, which formed in Aston in 1968.
The city has previously awarded the symbolic title to conductor Sir Simon Rattle and pioneering sailor Lisa Clayton.
The council will also consider posthumously awarding a medal to Zephaniah, who died of a brain tumour in 2023.
Black Sabbath was founded by singer Ozzy Osbourne, guitarist Tony Iommi, bassist Terence “Geezer” Butler and drummer Bill Ward.
The band is often credited with inventing heavy metal music and won a lifetime achievement award at the Grammys in 2019.
Black Sabbath is seen as a core part of Birmingham’s cultural heritage and a large mechanical bull in New Street Station is named after Osbourne.
Campaigners previously called for the singer to be made a City Freeman, a title that recognises a person’s contribution to a city.
Osbourne, Bill Ward, Terence Butler and Tony Iommi (pictured left to right), founded the heavy metal band in Birmingham in 1968
Zephaniah’s early work used dub poetry, a Jamaican style, and his career spanned literature, music and acting
His early work used dub poetry, a Jamaican style that evolved into the music genre of the same name.
Zephaniah was also an actor and appeared in the BBC drama series Peaky Blinders, set in Birmingham, between 2013 and 2022.
Since his death, tributes have included a city centre exhibition and a mural.
“He always saw himself as a ‘son of Birmingham’ and he was passionate about promoting the city”, his brother Tippa Naphtali said in a statement.
Two separate reports recommending the honours for the artists will be discussed at a council meeting on 28 January.
