There is a push in the U.K. to have Queen Elizabeth honor Black Sabbath for their services to music.
Members of Parliament and members of the Birmingham City Council have written to the Queen asking for her “direct intervention.”
Khalid Mahmood, Labor MP for the Birmingham suburb of Perry Barr, has started a petition, which reads in part: “For all their global fame, they have kept strong links with Birmingham, demonstrated by [Ozzy Osbourne and Tony Iommi‘s] barnstorming surprise performance at the closing ceremony of the Commonwealth Games [on August 8th].
“I appreciate this request is not within the normal procedures of seeking royal honors. However, we feel that this extraordinary occasion deserves extraordinary recognition of this extraordinary group of musicians.
“We therefore seek direct intervention and support from Your Majesty to recognize the great contribution made by these fine and ground-breaking musicians, who were made in Birmingham and who have once again not just entertained Birmingham, the United Kingdom and the whole of the Commonwealth but perhaps the world.”
Sabbath, which is rounded out by bassist Geezer Butler and drummer Bill Ward, formed in their hometown of Birmingham in 1969.
REUTERS PHOTO
