Heavy metal godfather Ozzy Osbourne will be receiving the Global Icon Award at the 2014 MTV Europe Music Awards on Sunday, November 9 at SSE Hydro Arena in Glasgow, Scotland. The U.S. telecast will air live starting at 7pm ET from Miami, FL. The show will be broadcasted across all the MTV channels. Ozzy will join fellow rockers Bon Jovi and Queen, who garnered the Global Icon Award in 2010 and 2011 respectively. Singer Whitney Houson and rapper Eminem have also been recipients. Ozzy just released Memoirs of a Madman on October 7, a greatest hits retrospective of his solo career. The album was released on CD, 2-LP vinyl, and 2-LP picture disc. A two-disc DVD was also released, containing some of Ozzy’s best music videos, interviews, as well as rare and unseen live performances. Throughout his infamous career both as a solo artist and a member of Black Sabbath, Ozzy Osbourne has sold over 100 million albums combined. Of his 11 solo efforts, 7 have gone multi-platinum. In 1994, Ozzy won the Grammy Award for Best Metal Performance for “I Don’t Want To Change The World” from his Live & Loud compilation. In 2005, Osbourne was inducted into the UK Music Hall of Fame both as a solo artist and as a member of Black Sabbath. In 2006, he was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame as a member of Black Sabbath.
Black Sabbath have confirmed that they will begin work on a brand new studio album in early 2015.
With producer Rick Rubin once again at the helm, it appears as though it will be the band’s last LP as they have also announced a “final tour.” Frontman Ozzy Osbourne told our friends at Metal Hammer that he hopes to begin writing sessions with guitarist Tony Iommi and bassist Geezer Butler in early 2015. “We’re going to do one more album and a final tour,” Ozzy said. There’s no word yet on whether or not original and now-former drummer Bill Ward will be apart of the final Sabbath festivities. The new album will be the follow-up to their last effort, 13, which debuted at #1 on the Billboard Top 200 in June 2013. The band’s last brief tour included stops in the United States, Canada, Europe, and Abu Dhabi. Sabbath headlined several festivals last summer, including Hellfest in France and Grasspop Metal Meeting in Germany. Black Sabbath were nominated for three 2014 Grammy Awards, including Best Metal Performance (“God Is Dead?”), Best Rock Song (God Is Dead?), and Best Rock Album (13). The took home the trophy for Best Metal Performance. Last November, the band released Live…Gathered In Their Masses, a 15-track CD/DVD recorded on their 2013 tour. – by Matt Bishop