Thanks to Black Sabbath, the city of Birmingham, England, can arguably be called the birthplace of heavy metal. Now, Black Sabbath’s first manager, Jim Simpson, is leading the charge to rename Birmingham Airport after the band’s iconic singer, Ozzy Osbourne.
England’s rich rock ‘n’ roll history has already been celebrated in Liverpool, home of the Beatles, through naming the city’s airport after John Lennon. In this spirit, Simpson now demands that Birmingham Airport be renamed Ozzy Osbourne International Airport.

“I believe that there is a masterstroke that would instantly confound the cynics,” Simpson tells the Birmingham Mail. “Just re-name our airport! How does The Ozzy Osbourne International Airport resonate? The message that would carry is instantly international, confident, powerful, unforgettable and says, ‘Hey World, we are proud of our own.’ Ozzy might not always have been a paragon of virtue, but he is a genuine flesh and blood Brummie.”

Birmingham Councillor Philip Parkin offered his response to the idea: “It’s an interesting idea and I’ve got an open mind but I think something like that would need to be consulted on fairly widely because it’s a significant part of our infrastructure … I would be interested to know what people thought about that as an idea.”

Parkin continues, “I still feel in general we need to be making the most of the talent we have got and did have in this city and with something like this we have to ask people their opinion … Before anyone launches into a ‘Liverpool got there first with a John Lennon Airport’ retort we should remember that their airport is distinctly unimpressive, provincial and bears no comparison with ours.”

Awwwww snap! John Lennon Airport just got verbally backhanded by Councillor Parkin. We’re 100 percent behind naming Birmingham Airport after Ozzy Osbourne — after all, he was recently elected the President of Heavy Metal. Plus, think about the marketing they can do using Osbourne’s solo hit ‘Flying High Again.’

However, if the plan doesn’t come to fruition, there’s always the option to name it ‘Barney Greenway International Airport’ after the Napalm Death singer who also hails from Birmingham.

-loudwire.com