Peaky Blinders creator Steven Knight has described the music of Ozzy Osbourne and Black Sabbath as "the Birmingham soundtrack" following the singer's funeral cortege through the city on Wednesday. The 65-year-old writer, who grew up in the Birmingham area and set his BBC crime drama in the city, witnessed an "outpouring of love" from fans who gathered along the route.
Knight told PA that Osbourne, Tony Iommi, Geezer Butler and their bandmates came from "a pretty tough part of town" and had difficult lives before deciding to create their distinctive sound. He explained how their factory work experiences directly influenced their music, with the constant industrial noise providing a natural rhythm that translated into their heavy metal compositions.
Factory sounds shaped the music
"The music, it's so Birmingham because they were working in factories, and that work was very, very noisy," Knight said. "There is always a rhythm. There's always a dominant machine, it's like, 'bang, bang, bang', and they just turn that into music."
The procession saw Osbourne's widow Sharon, son Jack and daughters Aimee and Kelly stop at the Black Sabbath bench in Birmingham to inspect tributes. Thousands of fans lined the route around the city to pay their respects to the heavy metal legend.
New Birmingham City documentary
Knight's latest project is Built In Birmingham: Brady And The Blues, a new Prime Video series where he serves as executive producer. The documentary focuses on Birmingham City football club and their takeover by American footballer Tom Brady and US businessman Tom Wagner.
In the series' first episode, Knight reflects on Birmingham's changing attitude towards self-promotion. He notes that traditionally, people from Birmingham "don't like to shout about" their city, with locals maintaining a "don't get too big for your boots" mentality.
City's growing confidence
"But I do feel, really do sense the change in the city, and in the population of the city, the people are actually saying, 'well, it's our turn', and it really is," Knight explained. The producer believes Birmingham residents are becoming more willing to celebrate their city's achievements and cultural contributions.
Knight is best known for creating Peaky Blinders, which follows Tommy Shelby and his Birmingham gang across six series. The show has explored themes including the rise of fascism, Irish republican politics and communist activities in the period following the First World War.
The producer was also one of the creators of Who Wants To Be A Millionaire? and the sole creator of SAS: Rogue Heroes. He is currently working on a film project connected to Oasis's Live 25 reunion tour.
Built In Birmingham: Brady And The Blues will launch worldwide on Prime Video on Friday.
(PA) Note: This article has been edited with the help of Artificial Intelligence.
