Farewell to Ozzy Osbourne

Poignant. That's the only word to describe the context in which Ozzy Osbourne's farewell concert, Back to the Beginning, at Villa Park now sits.

Seated on a throne on a raised platform on the Villa Park turf, Ozzy gave his all, roaring out hits from an incredible solo career before reuniting under the Aston twilight with Bill Ward, Geezer Butler, and Tony Iommi for one final bow as Black Sabbath. Thousands flocked to pay tribute. Some of the biggest metal bands in the world played in his honour.

Perfect? Well, as close as you could get. Legendary? Of course.

That poignancy — whilst there on that legendary night a few weeks ago — now establishes itself more so in its aftermath. You, on that night, said goodbye to Ozzy, who passed away on the 22nd of July.

People like Ozzy don't really die. Of course, they leave this world in their physical form, but the music, the stories, the legend lives on. Fans didn’t quit Nirvana, Hendrix, and Lemmy/Motörhead when they passed away. People still listen to Amy Winehouse and pay tribute in Camden Town.

A personality the size of Osbourne's departing this world leaves a crater in its wake, but it is quickly filled — with albums, stories, books, interviews, songs, and legend. A trickle of a life lived in creation eventually filling that crater into a reservoir.

You certainly won't be forgetting Ozzy Osbourne in a hurry. He made that certain, and so did the three other lads from Aston: Black Sabbath. Ozzy's voice split between soulful and anguished. Iommi's heavier-than-heavy riffs. Ward pushing new boundaries at a drum set. Geezer underlining it all with virtuoso bass — and lyrics, truly, from another world.

Metal music could’ve existed in primordial forms before Black Sabbath, but it 100% existed in their wake and to that, there can be no argument. In Aston, Birmingham, Englandhey laid a marker. Black Sabbath was the sound of Brum, and that sound was heavy metal.

And thus, all roads truly lead back to Aston when it comes to heavy music, no matter how transformed it might be. The pig-squealing of Will Ramos and Lorna Shore goes all the way back to the grunty Second City band Napalm Death (and their blast-beat drumming features across genres on the heavier side of things), who trace their own lineage back to Sabbath and Ozzy. There’s no Metallica — and perhaps no thrash metal — without Sabbath and Ozzy. There's actually very, very little that can't be traced up the path back to Aston.

From Iron Maiden to Mastodon to Lamb of God to Amon Amarth to Slipknot to Spiritbox to Sleep Token and beyond, there is a debt in some form owed to that band from Aston. No matter how far they pull, the genres they defy, the styles they invent, the DNA always goes back.

You’d struggle to notice in Birmingham (until of late), but that’s a really important thing. From B6 to the world, heavy metal is a humongous offering. A catalogue of grit, guts, pain, occultism, anguish, death, morbidity, sex, drugs, love, and hope.
It's wild to me that Geezer Butler and Ozzy Osbourne participated in a Villa kit launch before Birmingham recognised their (and his) greatness with more than just a lovely bench on a lovely bridge.

Aston Villa rose to the challenge. They noticed that there was something of a heritage to the wider area in which they are based. A heritage that is listened to all over the world. A heritage that led to a once-in-a-lifetime event now wrapped up in a legend of its own. Now it's up to the city to rise to the occasion. Open up The Crown. Make this place a mecca for heavy souls. Send the next generation forth. Be proud of what you are. For once.

And on Ozzy. What else can you say bar pay reflection on his final sung words in Birmingham?

And so, as you hear these words
Telling you now of my state
I tell you to enjoy life
I wish I could, but it's too late

RIP Ozzy Osbourne.
UTV.