Black Sabbath have been honoured with their very own “heavy metal” bench in their hometown of Birmingham.
The band’s guitarist Tony Iommi attended the ceremony yesterday (February 9) which was organized by Westside Business Improvement District.
The idea of the bench was started by super fan Mohammed Osama, who told the BBC he was “thrilled” to see his plan to commemorate the band become a reality.
The bench, created by by Egyptian artist Tarek Abdelkawi, incorporates the images all four original members and comes with an inscription that reads “Geezer. Ozzy. Tony. Bill. Made in Birmingham 1968′.
It’s placed under the newly renamed Black Sabbath Bridge over the canal on Broad Street. “I think it’s absolutely great. I was wondering what it was going to look like but it is really fantastic. I really love it,” Iommi told BBC.
Iommi later shared a picture of the event on Twitter, writing: “What a fantastic day today at the Black Sabbath Bench unveiling. It was so nice to see the wonderful turnout of fans from all over the world…Thank you all so much for coming and supporting this fabulous event…really great!!” You can see that post below.
What a fantastic day today at the Black Sabbath Bench unveiling. It was so nice to see the wonderful turnout of fans from all over the world…Thank you all so much for coming and supporting this fabulous event…really great!!
— Tony pic.twitter.com/3O1j8uskY1
— Tony Iommi (@tonyiommi) February 10, 2019
You can also see some snaps of the bench and the event below.
Black Sabbath Bench Event Birmingham 9th Feb 2019 pic.twitter.com/5sxJdxnz81
— Kim Quo (@kim_quo) February 9, 2019
Mike Olley, manager of Westside Business Improvement District said the bench honoured “what’s arguably Birmingham’s most famous band”.
In other Black Sabbath news, the band are among the artists set to receive the Lifetime Achievement award at the Grammys.
The award celebrates those who have made “outstanding contributions of artistic significance to the field of recording.”
As well as Black Sabbath, George Clinton & Parliament-Funkadelic, Dionne Warwick, Donny Hathaway, Julio Iglesias, soul duo Sam & Dave and late jazz singer Billy Eckstine will also be receiving the award.