Birmingham Museum opens book of condolence for Ozzy Osbourne

Birmingham Museum has stayed open late this week as fans flock to pay tribute to the heavy metal icon Ozzy Osbourne, who died on Tuesday.

The museum is currently running a free temporary exhibition dedicated to the Birmingham-born icon, entitled Ozzy Osbourne: Working Class Hero. The exhibition had a high-profile launch in June attended by Sharon Osbourne, the Black Sabbath singer’s wife and manager.

The museum has created a memorial space in its Round Room entrance hall for fans who wish to remember the star. The room was visited by more than 3,500 fans on its first day, some dressed in full Black Sabbath outfits.

The space includes a memorial vinyl, portrait labelling and portraits, a civic book of condolence and a digital voicenote book of condolence.

In a statement, Birmingham Museums Trust said it was “shocked and saddened” by Osbourne’s death. The 76-year-old singer had been treated for Parkinson’s disease and recently performed his last ever concert at Villa Park stadium to raise money for charity.  

The trust said: “We are shocked and saddened to hear of the death of Ozzy Osbourne. Our thoughts are with his family and friends at this time.

“We know that many fans will want to pay tribute to him and a book of condolence has been opened in the Round Room at Birmingham Museum & Art Gallery.

“The museum opening hours have been extended to 7pm on Wednesday 23 July to allow as many fans as possible to pay their respects. We will continue to update our website with information.”

In a post on LinkedIn, the trust’s co-director Sara Wajid said the mood at the museum was “poignant but somehow joyful”.

She wrote: “There is a long queue for the book of condolences in the museum entrance hall. Some visitors are dressed in full Black Sabbath outfits. Lifelong fans and locals are swapping memories and stories of Ozzy and taking photos.

“The mood is poignant but somehow joyful because we are proud he made it to Aston Villa for the greatest show of his life and glad to celebrate this working class hero here today. Thank you Ozzy and Sharon.”

Kingston Myles, director of enterprise and innovation at Birmingham Museums Trust, said: “While the city mourns, I wanted to take a moment to thank the teams who did not hesitate to ensure that Birmingham Museums Trust stepped up to fulfil its civic duty today.

“Teams worked late throughout the night, early this morning and all day to ensure that the people of Birmingham had a space suitable and appropriate to remember Ozzy – right alongside the Working Class Hero exhibition.”

Myles said he was “immensely proud” of the teams and the colleagues who had stepped in at short notice to help create the memorial space. “Today for the first time in a long time I felt more than a sense of civic pride, I felt an unwavering civic energy and desire to ensure everyone can pay their respects in the best way possible,” he said.