Members of the British Parliament are pressing Queen Elizabeth II to officially recognize Black Sabbath for their "services to music."
Last Friday, the 12th, Member of Parliament Khalid Mahmood published a letter on his Twitter account , signed by seven other leaders, asking the Queen to formally recognize the "pioneers of heavy metal".
The band members acknowledged that the request was made informally, but justified their approach as being an "extraordinary occasion." According to the letter, Mahmood's office had been "flooded with requests" for the Queen to grant the honor to Black Sabbath following Ozzy Osbourne and Tony Iommi 's performance at the closing ceremony of the Commonwealth Games in Birmingham.
“I understand that this request is not within the normal scope for Royal honors. However, we feel that this extraordinary occasion deserves extraordinary recognition for this extraordinary group of musicians. The band’s services to music appear to have been overlooked by the formal process,” Khalid wrote in his letter.
Black Sabbath at the Queen's Jubilee
As a band from Birmingham and pioneers of heavy metal, Black Sabbath were not completely ignored by the Royal Family.
In 2002, the band was invited to play at the Queen's Jubilee ceremony, which seemed to shock even Ozzy Osbourne. "I'm more surprised than anyone to be here. My wife told me and I thought, 'You're kidding me.' Heavy metal at the palace? I'm not sure if the Queen is a fan, but she obviously must be," the singer told the Associated Press at the time.
If Black Sabbath receives the honor of being recognized by Queen Elizabeth II, its members will join names like Paul McCartney , Elton John , Tom Jones , Mick Jagger , and Rod Stewart , who have been knighted .
