Today (Tuesday, September 24) marks the inaugural International Day Of Birmingham (IDOB), spearheaded by renowned comedian and proud Brummie, Joe Lycett.
To unite Birminghams worldwide, "Friendship Agreements" have been built, linking Birmingham, UK, with various other cities, towns and villages named Birmingham across North America, forming the ‘United States of Birmingham’.
To commemorate this historic occasion, Joe, with support from the Lord Mayor of Birmingham, officially designated September 24 as International Day Of Birmingham, a day when Birminghams worldwide celebrate their shared Brummie heritage with a collective chant of “Alright Bab.”
The inaugural celebration was marked by a civic reception at Birmingham Council House, hosted by the Lord Mayor of Birmingham.
Former Black Sabbath bandmates, Tony Iommi and Bill Ward, were both on hand for the celebration, and Iommi took to social media to share a photo of himself with Ward.
Tony captioned the photo, "You just never know who you’ll bump into in Birmingham! We both attended the Lord Mayor’s reception for International Birmingham Day."
BraveWords recently caught up with Black Sabbath bass legend Geezer Butler to talk about the paperback edition of his autobiography, Into The Void: From Birth To Black Sabbath-And Beyond. During the conversation he addressed the possibilities of one final reunion show with all the original members of Black Sabbath. Keep in mind, drummer Bill Ward wasn’t part of the band’s final tour, being replaced by Tommy Clufetos.
In regards to doing one final Black Sabbath show with the original lineup, Butler told BraveWords: “Ozzy has been texting me about doing one final show with Bill and that’s it, but it’s just not going to happen. But I always said that the original Black Sabbath would never get back together. So you say these things hoping if a miracle happens, that would be great to do it. But it’s up to everyone’s health, but I can’t see it happening. I’d love it to happen, even if it was one final song with the original four of us, with Bill on the drums. Even if it’s just one song.”
Well, we're one step closer to that "miracle", as Bill Ward issued the following update:
"Hey ya, Bill Ward checking in regarding all the updates on a possible Sabbath show in England.
"I’m in for playing some of everyone’s old favorites. Loved playing them then, I’d love to play them one last time.
"I’m not going to talk about my health publicly except to say, everyday I’m pretty good for 76 years old, I’m active musically every day, and I have a very busy and gratifying life.
"Love you all, all the fucking time." - Bill
Geezer Butler also spoke to Songfacts shortly before the release of the paperback edition of Into The Void, and touched on the possibility of one final Black Sabbath show.
Songfacts: There has been talk in the press recently about Black Sabbath possibly playing one more show with Bill Ward on drums. Would you like to see this happen, and do you regret Bill not participating on The End tour?
Geezer Butler: "We all regret it. It's health-wise, really. It's up to Bill. If he feels like he can do it, then we'll do it."
Songfacts: So if Bill said he'd be up for it, all the other members would be on board?
Butler: "If he can do it, yes. But it's all down to him."
