Fans are continuing to call for Birmingahm Airport to be renamed after the late Ozzy Osbourne, even though the CEO has ruled this out. Fans have signed a petiti0n put forward on Change.org, which suggested that Birmingham International Airport have a rebrand in honour of Ozzy Osbourne.
The description read, “Ozzy Osbourne was the most important musician ever to hail from Birmingham. Ozzy’s influence on music and culture is undeniable. Naming our international airport after him would be a fitting tribute to his extraordinary career and contributions to the arts.”
The petition is now on nearly 80,000 signatures, and has even drawn support from the Osbourne family.
However, CEO Nick Barton has said that keeping the current name would be “incredibly valuable for development”.
He told BBC Radio WM that, “Birmingham, amazingly, has an extraordinary list of fantastically influential people, going from historic people like Charles Darwin, as well as Robert Plant and Sir Lenny Henry but the answer is no.”
“The airport name is so important for our future development of what we’ve got, which is a fantastic airport, but yet to grow significantly, which we will do on the back of its name”
He added that there is progress being made on other projects to honour Ozzy’s legacy at the airport saying that, “It’ll be like a mural recognition of Ozzy and other greats in the area.”
Kelly Osbourne said that renaming the site after her father would be an “incredible tribute to him and the legacy that he has left behind”.
Supporters of the idea have pointed out the airports in other cities around the world have also been named after famous figures, such as John Lennon Airport in Liverpool and George Best International Airport in Belfast.
The Osbourne family have recently spoken publicly about Ozzy’s death, revealing he had been hospitalised two weeks before the ‘Back To The Beginning’ concert. They said that they “were just terrified that people were going to find out.”
Ozzy Osbourne’s death came 17 days after he played his final ever live show.
When speaking about his hometown while accepting his Birmingahm Lord Mayor’s Award, Kelly said that the thing her father was “most proud of is that he was a Brummie, and Birmingham has done him proud.” Ozzy Osbourne was honoured this award on what would have been his 77th birthday on Wednesday.
Jack Osbourne is currently appearing on ITV’s I’m A Celebrity… Get Me Out Of Here!, where he has opened up about his father and his grief.
