TENS of thousands of fans from all round the world are heading to Birmingham to watch the homecoming of heavy metal heroes Black Sabbath for the original line-up’s final farewell.

The Saturday July 5 show at Villa Park, featuring a stellar roster of rock and roll A-listers as special guests, is being touted at the greatest heavy metal gig ever, and tickets sold out in ten minutes.

But there’s much more going on in Brum over the weekend of the show, with special events, free gigs, film screenings and exhibitions to mark the legacy of Ozzy Osbourne, Tony Iommi, Geezer Butler and Bill Ward.

Here are the heavy metal must-sees.

BLACK SABBATH BENCH & BRIDGE

Take a stroll just past Birmingham’s showpiece Symphony Hall, and you’ll reach a bridge where Broad Street crosses the canal. This is the Black Sabbath Bridge, on which sits, quite appropriately, the fans’ best-loved landmark, the Black Sabbath Bench.

Designed by Dubai architect Mohammed Osama and his friend, artist Tarek Abdelkawi, it’s a suitably heavy metal bench adorned with the faces of the original Sabbath line-up and each of their signatures. Fans came from all round the world for a VIP unveiling on February 9, 2019 at nearby St Luke’s Church, attended by Iommi and the Lord Mayor.

When it was finally installed on the canal bridge on June 29 that year, Iommi and Geezer Butler arrived on a canal barge to the cheers and applause of a huge crowd. The Sabbath legends sat on the bench to have photos taken, and to chat casually, with starstruck fans.

Since then it has attracted visitors from as far afield as Alaska and New Zealand. Just like the camera set up at the site of the iconic Abbey Road zebra crossing for Beatles fans in London, a webcam captures the comings and goings on the bridge, and fans can use a QR code on the bench to access and download pictures.

“It’s been fantastic,” says Iommi. “The number of people who come and visit that bench is amazing. You can see them live on camera. It’s been phenomenal. It was really well designed, well built and well situated. It just works.

“You know, with the bench and the bridge, all the things that have happened. Birmingham has really accepted us, and we’re probably one of the biggest things for Birmingham to advertise, really. Without buying our own trumpets, I think we’ve done good for Birmingham!”

WALK OF STARS

Taking inspiration from the iconic Hollywood Walk of Fame, Birmingham’s Walk of Stars stretched along Broad Street, with close on 50 stars bearing the name of the city’s great and good embedded in the pavement.

The very first star awarded, on July 6, 2007, bears the name of one Ozzy Osbourne. Tony Iommi followed in his footsteps on November 23, 2008. Geezer Butler was next, on February 3, 2018 – with the Aston Villa superfan opting to accept his award at his beloved Villa Park. 

Black Sabbath was honoured as a band on September 6, 2018, and Bill Ward joined his bandmates on February 9, 2019. For completists, ELO star and sometime Sabbath drummer Bev Bevan was similarly honoured on the Walk of Stars in February 2011.

Among others with stars are Julie Walters, David Harewood, Lenny Henry, Jasper Carrott, Roy Wood, UB40, Paralympian Ellie Simmonds, Wimbledon champion Ann Jones, ELO founder Jeff Lynne, Slade’s Noddy Holder, the cast of The Archers and Aston Villa’s 1982 European Cup-winning team.

Sadly, the stars – the marble ones, not the celebs! – are currently in storage after being taken up during work to extend the Midland Metro tram system, and only Ozzy’s is currently on show at the Working Class Hero exhibition in Birmingham Museum & Art Gallery. There are plans, however, to re-lay them soon.

THE CROWN

It’s long closed down and at the centre of conservation controversy, but The Crown pub, in the city’s Station Street, is where Sabbath forerunners Earth played their first gigs. 

You can see the exterior of the building, which dates back to the 1870s, opposite the entrance to the Grand Central shopping mall and Birmingham’s New Street Station, and it has become another favourite selfie spot for Sabbath fans.

“It’d be good if they could keep The Crown,” says Iommi. “There are so many issues that have come up with it, but it’d be such a nice thing to have for tourists. It’s been off and on, and off and on, but it’d be just a great thing to have the place in its former glory”.

Sabbath have quietly been working with architects on repairs and artwork for the pub to ensure that it will be in better condition by the time fans arrive for the Villa Park show – and there are suggestions that longer-term plans are in the works.

BLACK SABBATH MURAL

The most recent addition to the city’s Sabbathscape is a 36 metre-long mural featuring the four original members of the band in Navigation Street, close to New Street Station. 

It’s painted by street artist Mr Murals, the man behind the Peaky Blinders mural at the Digbeth Loc. Studios, who says passers-by first thought he was painting a picture of Jesus!

Ozzy, Tony, Geezer and Bill popped down to the mural to add their signatures on the day they received the Freedom of Birmingham at a civic ceremony in the historic Council House.

Read more: Inside Black Sabbath’s Freedom of the City ceremony

VICTORIA SQUARE

Artwork and photography chronicling the Sabbath story will be showcased in a free outdoor exhibition in Birmingham’s Victoria Square from June 25 onwards.

Organised by Central BID (that’s short for Business Improvement District, by the way), it will include archive images of Tony Iommi, Ozzy Osbourne, Bill Ward and Geezer Butler.

As well as the photos, organisers say it will tell the story of the band’s Aston roots, with facts helping trace the band’s early days, progress to stadium stardom, and lasting legacy.

BIRMINGHAM MUSEUM & ART GALLERY

A free-to-enter exhibition titled Working Class Hero will run at the city’s Museum & Art Gallery from June 25 to September 28, and will showcase Ozzy’s most prestigious international honours.

Among items on show will be Grammy Awards, Rock and Roll Hall of Fame accolades, MTV awards, Hollywood Walk of Fame and Birmingham Walk of Stars honours and a selection of platinum and gold discs which recognise millions of record sales around the world.

There’ll also be photography and video to chart Ozzy’s journey from “a working-class kid from Aston” to becoming one of the world’s most recognisable rock legends.

OZZY THE BULL

The giant mechanical bull that was the star of Birmingham’s Commonwealth Games in 2022 was dismantled after the games and painstakingly rebuilt on the concourse of Birmingham’s New Street Station. His name? Ozzy, of course!

THE VISIT OF OZ

A host of Brummie and Black Country bands will play free gigs at venues across the region during The Visit Of Oz, a festival organised by ex-Sabbath manager Jim Simpson to celebrate the homecoming of his former charges.

From July 3 to 6, there’ll be performances throughout the city to welcome Sabbath home plus special events including a canalboat cruise, discussion panel and, on July 4, the 10th annual Black Sabbath Convention at the Ye Olde Foundry in Dudley, with a set by tribute band Sabbotage and a Q&A with guest speaker Simpson.

Venues include The Brasshouse, Snobs, Bartons Arms, The Victoria, Nortons, the Barrel Store and more. For a full schedule of shows, head to the event’s Facebook page.

MILLENNIUM POINT

It’s been on TV before but now rockumentary movie The Nine Lives Of Ozzy Osbourne gets a big screen premiere at Birmingham’s Millennium Point, with 4pm and 6.30pm screenings on July 4, the day before the Villa Park show.

Jack Osbourne, Ozzy’s son, will be appearing live for a Q&A session at the later screening. Proceeds from the premiere will go to the Cure Parkinson’s, Acorns Children’s Hospice and Birmingham Children’s Hospital charities.

CASTLE BROMWICH HALL & GARDENS

The mixing desk and other equipment used to make Sabbath’s first studio recordings will go on show at Castle Bromwich Hall & Gardens after lying unseen for more than 30 years. 

Organiser and Brummie rock scene legend John Mostyn says the exhibition, which will run on days either side of the Villa Park supershow, will reflect the birth of heavy metal in the city.

The items are on loan from Johnny Haynes, who owned and ran Zella Studios in Birmingham, where the recordings were made back in 1968, while Sabbath were still known as Earth.

STILL GOT SPARE TIME?

My good friend and former colleague Kirsty Bosley has rounded up all the best places to get together for Sabbath socialising over the weekend. Check it out at BirminghamLive.

Images in this post courtesy of Jim Simpson, Central BID, Westside BID, Birmingham Post & Mail