Celebrating 50 years of Black Sabbath, West Side business development and the city of
Birmingham are proposing, with great pride, a new landmark immortalising the founding fathers of heavy metal in the heart of Birmingham’s most dynamic city centre entertainment destination; Broad Street.
“Black Sabbath—they invented heavy metal, and we should all thank them for doing it. They should be proud of what they have achieved. In metal, it all began with them, and no one has ever done it better.” – Sir Christopher Lee
“Black Sabbath developed an incredibly unique style; these men invented heavy metal. They have come up with more riffs than any other band in history. Sabbath have inspired so many young bands. Nothing compares to the original Black Sabbath.” – Brian May (QUEEN)
“The beloved Black Sabbath have inspired more new bands to start on their own journey than perhaps any other band, and rightfully so. Throughout their decades of long career, Sabbath has been unrelenting, refused to play by anyone’s rules and stayed true to who they are—all hail Black Sabbath!” – Gene Simmons (KISS)
Home of Birmingham’s ‘Walk Of Stars’, the new development on Broad street comes as part of West Side district renovation plans aiming to create new significant visitor attractions for both locals and tourists from all around the globe.
Born in Aston, Birmingham, England and often cited as the pioneers and the godfathers of heavy metal music, Black Sabbath was founded in 1968 by Tony Iommi, Geezer Butler, Ozzy Osbourne, and Bill Ward. Ozzy Osbourne was inducted to the Walk of Stars in 2007 and followed by Tony Iommi in 2008. Earlier this year Geezer Butler was inducted, receiving his own star at a ceremony at his beloved Villa Park. 2019 will see final founding member Bill Ward receive his own star.
Defining the main foundations of the genre with groundbreaking timeless classic releases such as Black Sabbath (1970), Paranoid (1970), Master of Reality (1971), Vol 4 (1972) , Sabbath Bloody Sabbath (1973) and Sabotage (1975), Black Sabbath inspired millions of fans and musicians around the globe paving the path for many artists and bands that came after them.
With over 100 million records sold worldwide, the iconic group was ranked by MTV as the
“Greatest Metal Band” of all time and listed by Rolling Stone magazine among the “100
Greatest Artists of All Time.” They were honoured with many accolades through the years
including multiple Grammy awards and inductions into the prestigious UK Music Hall of Fame and the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.
Presented by Home Of Metal, the summer of 2019 will also witness a major exhibition at Birmingham Museum & Art Gallery celebrating the legacy of Black Sabbath and their global fan base. Home of Metal’s exhibitions and events join the dots between music, social history, visual art and fan cultures to produce a new perspective on Heavy Metal; one that is celebratory, eschews notions of high/low art and joins audiences and performers together.
