Black Sabbath Awarded The Freedom Of The City Of Birmingham

Bruce Henne | 07-02-2025

(hennemusic) The founding members of Black Sabbath were awarded the Freedom of the City of Birmingham at a June 28 ceremony in the Council House. At the ceremony, the original band members of Terence "Geezer" Butler, Tony Iommi, Ozzy Osbourne, and Bill Ward were presented with their Freedom of the City scrolls and medals by the Lord Mayor of Birmingham, Councillor Zafar Iqbal.

The Freedom of the City honor is one of the oldest traditional ceremonies in the country and recognizes people's exceptional service to the city. This honor recognizes Black Sabbath's significance to the cultural and musical identity of Birmingham, their strong association with the city and continued influence as pioneers of heavy metal in both Birmingham and beyond.

As part of the Freedom of the City, each band member received the title of Honorary Freeman and an engraving of their names on the Freedom of the City marble board was also unveiled at the ceremony.

The engravings in the Council House building joins Black Sabbath bridge on Broad Street as a permanent tribute to the band and their accomplishments.

"This is a great working class city, and we're all working class, from Aston," said Butler. "We weren't given a chance when we started out, but Birmingham has always been behind us. People used to make fun of our accents, but we're all proud Birmingham people and we love this city. It's one of the greatest cities ever, it's given the world so much and we're proud to be here."

"It's a great thing to receive," added Iommi. "Birmingham is our home, and we love what Birmingham has done for us. We've got the bridge and the bench, things like that. We're very grateful."

"I first put an advert in a music store in town," recalled Ozzy. "If these guys hadn't come to my door, I wouldn't be sitting here now. It seems to have flown by so quickly. It's amazing. I think about my dad, who went into debt to buy me a microphone. If only he could be here now. I think he would be very proud. I'm a Brummie and I always will be a Brummie. Birmingham Forever!"

"It's completely overwhelming," shared Ward. "I'm so proud to be an Astonian. That's where I got my attitude. It was a blessed - and cursed! - to meet Tony when I was 15, and I'm so proud that I got to know Geezer and Ozzy. They're my brothers. I love them very much and we love our city very much."

Black Sabbath will reunite for the first time in 20 years when they regroup with Ozzy Osbourne as part of his final live performance. Billed as "Back To The Beginning", the July 5 event will see Osbourne play his own short set before being joined by his Sabbath bandmates when they take the stage at Villa Park in the band's hometown of Birmingham, UK.

Get more details of the prestigious Birmingham ceremony honoring Black Sabbath here