Ozzy to join Walk of Fame - in Birmingham
Hollywood has its Walk of Fame - now Birmingham is to follow suit with Ozzy Osbourne as the first inductee.
The Birmingham Walk of Stars will honour the city's most famous sons and daughters.
Osbourne will get his own brass star on the pavement of Broad Street, the West Midlands' answer to Hollywood Boulevard.
The former Black Sabbath singer and all-round rock legend, who grew up in Aston, will attend the induction ceremony on July 6.
He was inducted into the Hollywood Walk of Fame in 2002.
But being honoured by his home city is a greater honour, according to Osbourne.
"I have a star in Hollywood on their Walk of Fame but having a star in my home town means so much more to me," the 58-year-old said today.
Walk of Fame organiser Gary Taylor said: "Ozzy is widely recognised as the most famous Birmingham person in the world today and we're proud to be able to offer him the honour of being the first star on the Walk of Stars in Broad Street.
"It's a great testament to what this area offers. We have some incredibly talented people from Birmingham, together with world-famous acts that regularly perform in this area, and we wanted to start honouring them in a way that shows how proud we are to have them here."
And the city's Lord Mayor-elect, Councillor Randal Brew, said: "I really look forward to welcoming Ozzy back to Birmingham in July. It is a great honour to be able to offer him the very first star on the Birmingham Walk of Stars."
The brass stars will form a pavement trail along Broad Street.
Members of the public are being invited to nominate other famous Brummies in the fields of entertainment, sport and the arts.
They can vote by visiting the www.walkofstars.co.uk website.
Organisers have named their 12 most wanted stars.
Besides Osbourne, they are comedians Jasper Carrott, Lenny Henry and Frank Skinner; TV presenter Cat Deeley; pop stars Duran Duran, Jamelia, Robert Plant and UB40; racing driver Nigel Mansell; conductor Simon Rattle; and actress Julie Walters.
Osbourne's induction will be on the same day as his homecoming concert at Birmingham's National Indoor Arena.
The rocker has sold more than 50 million solo albums worldwide and is about to embark on his biggest ever European tour.
MTV's fly-on-the-wall reality show 'The Osbournes' turned him into a worldwide TV star, along with wife Sharon, daughter Kelly and son Jack.
In 2003 he nearly died in a quad bike accident at the family's Buckinghamshire mansion.
He releases a new album, 'Black Rain', on Monday.
