A year since the Birmingham 2022 Commonwealth Games has seen "Raging Bull" Ozzy finally in his permanent home at the city's New Street station.
Standing 10 metres high, the sculpture formerly known as the "Raging Bull" made its grand entry at the Commonwealth Games Opening Ceremony at the Alexander Stadium. The name Ozzy was revealed last month after a public poll and is in honour of rock singer and Black Sabbath lead vocalist Ozzy Osbourne, who grew up in Birmingham.
Giant hoardings were installed at the station as the components of the sculpture were painstakingly reconstructed earlier this month. Many thousands of people turned out to see it, including Dame Kelly Holmes and Australia's cricket gold medallist Alana King, who asked: "I pretty much walk past it every morning to get a coffee, interesting bull I would say, is it the town mascot or something?"
‘Ozzy’ had originally been planned to be dismantled after the Games but following an overwhelming social media campaign for it to be saved, talks began to find it a suitable home. One message red: "Thank you to the people of Birmingham and the West Midlands, I feel like you’ve really taken me to your hearts, since moo-ving to Centenary Square I’ve been delighted to meet so many of you in person."
Ozzy Osbourne’s wife, Sharon, said of ‘Raging Bull’: "It's breathtaking, this is mammoth, huge, it’s just brilliant, for Ozzy to be born and bred here and having spent so much time in this station, he would never have thought that at this time in his life, this would have ever happened." West Midlands Mayor, Andy Street, added: “The Birmingham 2022 Commonwealth Games was a spectacular moment of collective celebration right across our region and nothing captured the public’s imagination quite like that magnificent Bull.
“That’s why it’s wonderful that it’s made a triumphant return to Brum - taking pride of place within our iconic New Street Station. My thanks go to Network Rail for helping to make this possible.” It was public pressure to retain the sculpture that continued long after the Games were finished.
