Brummie legend Ozzy Osbourne wins Icon Award at the Rolling Stone UK Awards
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Brummie legend Ozzy Osbourne, 74, won a prestigious title at the Rolling Stone Awards UK and his longtime wife, Sharon Osbourne, was at the ceremony to collect it for him.
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Hide AdOzzy's journey began in Birmingham as a co-founder of Black Sabbath, but he has found immense success as a solo artist as well since then.
In the late 1960s, a teen John Osbourne had teamed up with Terence Butler aka Geezer Butler, guitarist Tony Iommi and drummer Bill Ward. Their debut album released in 1970 and the four member band came to be known as the founders of heavy metal.
However, it's not been a straight path for the rocker - who was ousted from the band and then went on to carve a space for himself. This year, the Rolling Stone solidified his legendary status with an Icon Award - which he couldn't collect in person due to his health.
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Hide AdHowever, he told the music magazine: "I wish I felt like a fucking icon! I’ve had a long career, and I’ve raised a few f***ing eyebrows along the way. I’ve met some amazing people. I’ve done some good gigs, and I’ve done some f***ing bad gigs.” In a 50-years-long career, he has had a massive influence on modern music and while he has retired from live gigs, it hasn't stopped him from making music. He released his latest album - Patient Number 9, his thirteenth studio album - in 2022 to rave reviews.
His health has forced him to scale back and he cancelled all his live tours in 2023 after a fourth spinal surgery.
He told The Rolling Stone: “It’s really knocked me about. The second surgery went drastically wrong and virtually left me crippled. I thought I’d be up and running after the second and third, but with the last one they put a fucking rod in my spine. They found a tumour in one of the vertebrae, so they had to dig all that out too. It’s pretty rough, man, and my balance is all fucked up.”
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Hide AdHowever, he had still made an appearance in his hometown - Birmingham - for the closing of the Commonwealth Games 2022. Since then, Sharon Osbourne has announced plans for a Ozzy Osbourne museum in Birmingham.
The rocker currently lives in his home in California, US and the Osbournes had shared their hopes for moving back to England, but that remains to be seen. Meanwhile, his hometown has several landmarks like the Black Sabbath bridge and bench as well as Ozzy the Bull to keep his star shining.
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