Ozzy Osbourne fans remember Birmingham star who was ‘a big part of our lives'
Christine Turner, from the Hodge Hill area of Birmingham, wore her Aston Villa football shirt to pay tribute to Osbourne at the Black Sabbath mural in the city.
She said her father was a childhood friend of the rock star and they used to play football together in Lodge Road, where they grew up.
She told the PA news agency: 'He has been a big part of our lives, my dad was childhood best mates with him, so I've come up to pay my respects.'
When asked how she felt when she heard he had died, she said: 'Shocked. I think deep in our hearts we knew it was coming, but it was still a shock last night.
'I was supposed to have done the washing last night but it didn't get done after I found out at about quarter past seven.
'I was upset, tears were shed last night.'
Jimmy Smith, from Bristol, who was in the city to visit the Ozzy Osbourne exhibition at Birmingham Museum, stopped at the scene on Wednesday morning to pay his respects.
He told PA: 'I did like Ozzy, I saw him a few times back in the day. It was quite sad yesterday (when he died), but with the concert at Villa Park a few weeks back, I had a feeling it was coming. It felt like his final bow.
'I was up here a few weeks ago for the Iron Maiden concert so I knew the mural was here, so I thought I would come and have a look, and I'll also go to the Black Sabbath bridge before going to the museum.'
Two Black Sabbath fans from King's Norton jumped on a train to visit the mural of the band in Birmingham to pay their respects to Osbourne following his death.
Megan and Mia, who did not want to give their surnames, said they wished they had been able to go to Osbourne's last show at Villa Park on July 5.
Megan said: 'It was really sad and heart-breaking (to hear he had died), I think I was expecting it to happen soon but not that quick.'
When asked how it felt to visit the mural after Ozzy's death, Mia said: 'It's surreal but it's nice that people have put flowers out.'
Mia added that she believed the next Aston Villa football game would be 'even more packed than usual' in Osbourne's memory.
She said: 'I know there will be some form of respects paid to him at the game, definitely.'
Osbourne played a final farewell concert in front of a home crowd at Villa Park earlier in the month.
Black Sabbath were the last to appear on stage as part of a star-studded line-up for the Back To The Beginning concert that took place not far from the Crown pub where they played their first gig in 1968.
Also paying his respects was Black Sabbath's first manager, Jim Simpson, who spoke on Broad Street, where dozens of fans had gathered to pay tribute to the rock legend.
When asked how he felt when he heard the news Osbourne had died, Mr Simpson said: 'Deep sadness, but no surprise, because it's been on the cards for quite a long time.
'He even said beforehand that he expected to die on the stage at the July the fifth show at Villa Park. The world's lost an inordinately nice, balanced, human being.'
Referencing the amount of people who had turned up to pay tribute to Osbourne following his death, he said: 'The fact is, there are people here who are 80 years of age or eight years of age and all stages in between and it shows he had a remarkable way of contacting people.
'It has been 55 years and still (Black Sabbath) are more popular than ever.
'It is remarkable and they have all done a great job and they should be proud of themselves.'
Black Sabbath, comprised of vocalist Osbourne, drummer Bill Ward, guitarist Tony Iommi, and bassist Terence 'Geezer' Butler, formed in 1968 and were credited with shaping the heavy metal genre.
The group were inducted into the Rock And Roll Hall of Fame in 2006 and Osbourne was added for a second time, as a solo artist, last year.
In the noughties he featured in MTV series The Osbournes, which followed the lives of him, his wife Sharon and two of their children, Kelly and Jack.
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Bat-Biting (1982) 7 This bat-biting incident became a career defining moment for Ozzy Osbourne Credit: Alamy The singer - dubbed the Prince of Darkness - has always played up to his satanic image. So when a fan hurled what he thought was a rubber bat toy at him on stage in January 1982, he put its head in his mouth and chomped. Turned out it was in fact a real bat and he later recalled: 'Immediately, something felt wrong.' There was a foul taste, and he felt the severed head twitch in his mouth. The teenage bat-thrower later insisted it was already dead, but Ozzy always maintained he felt it moving. Ozzy's Death Metal (1995) 7 Ozzy had almost killed a man by tossing a TV out a hotel window Credit: Getty Wild rocker Ozzy had almost killed a man by tossing a TV out a hotel window whilst on his Retirement Sucks! tour in 1995. He was boozing with guitarist Zakk Wylde in Prague unaware of a smoker outside when he decided to throw a TV out of his hotel room. Ozzy and Kelly Osbourne performing their version of Changes together He recalled: 'I am in The Four Seasons and I am watching the TV and I go to Zakk, 'I have never thrown a f****** TV out of the window of a hotel room. Let's f****** do it'. 'So I ripped the window open, picked it up and threw it out of the f****** window. It landed on the floor and f****** exploded. It went like a bomb. 'Little did I know that there was a guy smoking a cigarette and I shudder to think if that had hit him on the head. I would have killed him stone f****** dead.' Meat Throwing (1980's) 7 The rock legend hurled raw meat and animal parts into the crowd Credit: Getty In the Eighties, Ozzy took his fan interaction to a whole new level with a ritual as outrageous as it was unforgettable. The rock legend began hurling raw meat and animal parts into the crowd — all whilst encouraging fans to return the favour with whatever strange items they could sneak into the venue. One being the now-infamous bat incident and whilst some chalked it up to his on-stage theatrics, the truth was far more tongue-in-cheek. He revealed in his documentary The Nine Lives of Ozzy Osbourne, the inspiration came from old slapstick films featuring custard pie fights. He said: 'It gave me this idea to throw, instead of pie, bits of meat and animal parts into the audience. 'I thought it was hilarious. (They'd throw back) sheep testicles, live snakes, dead rats, all kinds of things. Someone once threw a live frog onto onstage, it was the biggest frog I'd ever seen and it landed on its back.' TV Legend Feud (2002) 7 Not yet disgraced TV host and comedian Bill Cosby slammed the Osbourne's family show Credit: Getty Back in 2002 Ozzy and his family created a reality show big enough to rival The Kardashians. The Osbourne's documented the ups and downs of the family's day to day life but not everyone had a good opinion about he show. Not yet disgraced TV host and comedian Bill Cosby slammed the MTV series as "not entertainment". Ozzy later revealed in his autobiography that Cosby had sent a letter scolding the family's use of foul language and supposed bad influence. Wife Sharon was quick to fire back with a letter of her own, pointing out that Cosby wasn't exactly a saint — especially after news of his extramarital affair surfaced in the late nineties. She also called out the hypocrisy of him clutching at straws over swearing whilst TV was drowning in violence. The Alamo (1982) 7 The Birmingham-born rocker was arrested at the site when he decided to publically urinate Back in 1982 a very drunk Ozzy was seen dressed in one of wife Sharon's gowns during a photo shoot near the Alamo — the iconic Texas landmark where outnumbered rebels made their famed last stand against the Mexican army. The Birmingham-born rocker was arrested at the site when he decided to publically urinate. 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Spitting it onto the conference table in front of label executives and later reportedly did the same to the second dove, he admitted: 'They were all throwing up all over the place. People were freaked.' He was immediately thrown out from the building and whilst the label was appalled, the stunt only added to Ozzy's reputation as rock's most unpredictable wild man.
