Tony Iommi and Sharon Osbourne Mark One Year Since Ozzy’s Death

Birmingham marked the occasion with a free citywide celebration the Council called the first annual ‘Ozzy Day.’

On July 22, 2026, the first anniversary of Ozzy Osbourne’s death, Black Sabbath guitarist Tony Iommi and Ozzy’s widow Sharon Osbourne each paid public tribute to the late heavy metal icon. Their remembrances coincided with Birmingham’s inaugural ‘Ozzy Day,’ a free citywide program of live music, public art, and special performances organized by Birmingham City Council to honor the Aston-born singer.

Iommi Reflects on a Friendship That Lasted Decades

Tony Iommi took to social media on the anniversary to share a personal message about his bandmate and lifelong friend. ‘It’s now a year since Ozzy’s passing and I still can’t believe that he’s not with us,’ Iommi wrote. ‘I watch him on YouTube and it feels like he’s still here with us.’

Iommi described a routine of near-weekly contact with Osbourne, saying the two would ‘usually talk about our ailments and then about what we’d been doing that particular week.’ He also expressed gratitude for the outpouring of fan support, calling it ‘absolutely brilliant’ and noting the ‘love and respect’ shown for Ozzy as ‘just amazing.’

Iommi closed his tribute by pointing to the significance of Black Sabbath’s final show together. ‘I’m so glad that we were able to play one final show with the original line up of SABBATH at the Back To The Beginning show in our home town of Birmingham,’ he wrote. Ozzy died on July 22, 2025, a little over two weeks after that concert at Villa Park.

Sharon Osbourne Speaks to the BBC

Sharon Osbourne spoke to the BBC on the anniversary, offering fans a direct instruction from Ozzy himself on how to remember him. ‘As Ozzy would say, when you want to remember me, just yank up the music really loud, as loud as you can get it, and just headbang,’ she told the broadcaster.

Sharon described her husband as someone defined by authenticity. ‘He was authentic. He never tried to be anything other than what he was, and he would tell you the truth about everything and that was him, you knew where you were with him. He was just genuine, so genuine and funny,’ she said. She added that even their fiercest disagreements had a way of dissolving: ‘We could have the worst arguments in the world but we would end up laughing because he would say something so ridiculous that we would just crack up.’

On Birmingham’s place in Ozzy’s identity, Sharon was direct. ‘This is the home of metal,’ she told the BBC. ‘It’s Ozzy’s home, it’s where he was born, what he loved and Ozzy Day wouldn’t work anywhere else. He loved this city, he loved its people. He was proud of being a Brummie.’

Birmingham’s ‘Ozzy Day’ Spans the City Centre

Birmingham City Council organized a free program of events across the city centre, describing the day as turning ‘the city into a living tribute to the Aston-born rock legend.’ Attendees could visit locations tied to Osbourne’s life and legacy, including the Black Sabbath Bench and Bridge, Birmingham Museum and Art Gallery, Birmingham New Street Station, Bullring, Selfridges, and Martineau Place.

Bostin Brass, the five-piece brass band that performed at Osbourne’s funeral procession, delivered a series of pop-up performances throughout the day. The City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra also performed at Bullring. Ozzy the Bull, a mechanical bull used in the 2022 Commonwealth Games and named after Osbourne the following year, was dressed up for the occasion.

A limited-edition shirt, available only on Ozzy Day, featured an image of Osbourne at the Back To The Beginning concert. The back of the shirt listed all 52 shows, Black Sabbath and solo, that Osbourne played in Birmingham over his career.

• Black Sabbath Bench and Bridge
• Birmingham Museum and Art Gallery
• Birmingham New Street Station
• Bullring (City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra performance)
• Selfridges
• Martineau Place
• Bostin Brass pop-up performances (citywide)

What we know

• Ozzy Osbourne died on July 22, 2025, a little over two weeks after Black Sabbath’s ‘Back To The Beginning’ concert at Villa Park in Birmingham.
• Tony Iommi posted a public tribute on social media on the first anniversary of Ozzy’s death, July 22, 2026.
• Sharon Osbourne spoke to the BBC on the anniversary, telling fans to remember Ozzy by playing music ‘really loud.’
• Birmingham City Council organized a free citywide program called ‘Ozzy Day’ on July 22, 2026, featuring live music, public art, and special performances.
• Bostin Brass, the five-piece brass band that performed at Osbourne’s funeral procession, delivered pop-up performances as part of Ozzy Day.
• A limited-edition shirt sold only on Ozzy Day listed all 52 shows, Black Sabbath and solo, that Osbourne played in Birmingham.
• Ozzy the Bull, a mechanical bull used in the 2022 Commonwealth Games and named after Osbourne the following year, was dressed up for the Ozzy Day celebration.

The take

The scale of Birmingham’s response to the first anniversary of Ozzy’s death reflects something that has been building for years: the city’s formal embrace of Black Sabbath as civic heritage, not just rock history. The Black Sabbath Bench and Bridge have been fixtures for over a decade, and the band’s 2024 announcement of the Back To The Beginning farewell show at Villa Park was framed explicitly as a homecoming. That show, which took place just weeks before Ozzy’s death, now carries the weight of a final statement in a way no one could have fully anticipated at the time.

Iommi’s tribute is notable for its restraint and intimacy. Rather than cataloguing Ozzy’s achievements, he described the texture of their friendship: weekly calls, shared complaints about health, the ordinary rhythms of two men who had known each other since childhood in Aston. That kind of testimony carries more weight than any career retrospective.

Sharon’s framing of Ozzy as fundamentally authentic tracks with how the broader rock world has remembered him since his death. In an era when legacy acts are often managed into careful, brand-conscious personas, Ozzy’s refusal to be anything other than himself was genuinely unusual. The instruction to headbang in his memory is exactly the kind of thing only he would have said, and Sharon’s decision to lead with it was the right editorial call. Birmingham’s Ozzy Day, if it becomes an annual fixture, would place him in rare company among rock figures honored at a civic level.

Why it matters

For Classic Rock fans, the first anniversary of Ozzy’s death is a marker worth pausing on. The Back To The Beginning concert at Villa Park was already being discussed as one of the most significant farewell events in heavy metal history before Ozzy’s death gave it a finality no one anticipated. Birmingham’s decision to institutionalize July 22 as Ozzy Day signals that his legacy is being treated as genuine civic heritage, the kind of recognition usually reserved for figures who transcend their genre. Iommi and Sharon’s tributes ensure the human dimension of that legacy stays visible alongside the mythology.

What’s next

Birmingham’s Ozzy Day events, including the Bostin Brass pop-up performances and the City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra set at Bullring, took place on July 22, 2026. The limited-edition anniversary shirt was available only on that date. Whether the Council formalizes Ozzy Day as an annual event has not been confirmed in available reporting, but the Council’s language describing it as ‘the first annual Ozzy Day’ suggests that intention.

Frequently asked questions

Related coverage

• Jack Osbourne Says Ozzy Biopic Script Is Done, Eyes 2028 Release
• First Official Black Sabbath Book Announced for October Release
• Steve Harris Hopes Rock Hall Induction Will Make American Fans ‘Stop Banging On About It’