Ozzy Osbourne will not receive the Freedom Of Birmingham, the highest honor that can be awarded to a citizen of the British city, according to the icbirmingham.co.uk website. City Councillor Tony Kennedy led a campaign to bestow the award upon Ozzy by claiming that his battle to overcome drug and alcohol addiction could be a model for residents of the city. But other councillors shot the idea down, saying they wouldn’t vote for the heavy metal legend. Councillor Coun John Hemming said, “Frankly, the idea of Osborne as a role model is laughable. I can’t see many parents wanting their children to grow up like him…do we really want the city to share a reputation for biting the heads off bats?”
Ozzy was born in 1948 in Birmingham, where he grew up. He teamed up with fellow Birmingham residents Tony Iommi, Bill Ward, and Geezer Butler in the late Sixties to form Black Sabbath.
The Freedom Of Birmingham honor was first given to former Mayor Joseph Chamberlain in 1888. The last time awards were presented was in 1996, when the recipients were conductor Sir Simon Rattle and round-the-world yachtswoman Lisa Clayton.
There’s some good news for the Oz: red-hot actor Johnny Depp is reportedly dying to play the singer in a movie version of his life, bat-biting and all.
