Kelly Osbourne has thanked fans in Birmingham for their support while accepting a lifetime achievement award on behalf of her late father Ozzy Osbourne.
On Friday (October 17), Kelly accepted a prestigious Lifetime Achievement Award on behalf of the metal pioneer at the Birmingham Awards, and later reflected on what the city meant to him.
“Last night I had the honor of accepting my father’s life time achievement award on his behalf at the @birminghamawards,” she later wrote in an Instagram post.
“I can’t thank everyone enough for their love and support. I know that my dad was shining down on us from heaven with pride because being a #Brummy meant more to him than anything,” she continued. “He loved the city and he loved the people.
“This honor would have meant the world to him. From the bottom of my heart, thank you. #birminghamforever.”
The award comes in the wake of his passing in July, aged 76, just 17 days after he played one last show as the frontman of the metal band at the ‘Back To The Beginning’ concert in Birmingham. It was Osbourne’s first full gig since 2018, having undergone multiple surgeries in the following years. He also experienced other health problems, including Parkinson’s disease.
Kelly’s brother, Jack, recently said the final Black Sabbath show became a “living wake” for his late father Ozzy Osbourne.
Speaking to Good Morning America, he shared his memories of being present for the final show. “Before he went on stage, I ran back into the dressing room and I just gave him a big hug and I just kissed him and I just said, ‘Crush it, you’re going to do so good’,” he explained.
“I was in the crowd and I was with my brother and we both were just crying – it wasn’t because of feeling sorry for him, it wasn’t because we were sad for him, I think it was because we knew it was the last time…In hindsight, it kind of was a living wake, if you think about it. He got to say goodbye to everyone.”
The final stage of Osbourne’s life has been captured in the new BBC documentary Sharon & Ozzy Osbourne: Coming Home, which is available to watch on the BBC iPlayer for UK viewers here.
In poignant scenes at the end of the doc, Ozzy reflects on the experience of playing in front of 44,000 people for one final time. “The only thing I really got… what was terribly frustrating for me, I had to sit there instead of running across the stage,” he said. “That was fucking torture, because I wanted to get off that [chair] so much.”
He continued: “It was very humbling, to sit in that chair for nine songs. What a great way to go out, that gig was.”
Another new documentary, Ozzy: No Escape From Now, details the Prince Of Darkness’ final six years is available to stream on Paramount+ now. Osbourne’s memoir Last Rites was also published last week (October 7) and included Ozzy speaking about a heart problem days before his passing and how the late Friends actor Matthew Perry once attended AA meetings at the Osbourne’s house.
Last month, Sharon thanked fans for their “overwhelming love and support” and said she was “still finding my footing” following her husband’s passing. Jack had previously shared a “personal note” about his father in a video on his YouTube channel, while Kelly explained how she had found her “smile again” amid the “sadness and grief”.
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