Ozzy Osbourne superfan from Dudley has spent 50 years building £250k Black Sabbath memorabilia collection

An Ozzy Osbourne megafan has spent 50 years amassing the world's largest collection of Black Sabbath memorabilia - worth a quarter of a million pounds. 

Stephen Knowles, 59, has splashed out around £35,000 on thousands of items since falling in love with the heavy metal icons as a 10-year-old boy in 1975. 

Over five decades he has amassed an incredible hoard of memorabilia, including rare vinyls, t-shirts, ticket stubs, backstage passes, posters, old cassette tapes and tour programmes. 

The collection is crammed into three rooms as well as the attic of Stephen's home in Dudley and is estimated to be worth around £250,000.

He has seen the rock legends perform hundreds of times around the world and is now gearing up for their final concert in their hometown this weekend. 

Stephen said the farewell gig on Saturday, which he has forked out £1,500 to attend, will be a bittersweet moment having dedicated most of his life to his obsession with the band. 

The start of Stephen’s Black Sabbath memorabilia collection

His collection first began with a t-shirt bought from Birmingham's Bull Ring after he first watched Sabbath at Stafford's Bingley Hall for just £1.50 in 1977. 

Stephen said: "I was aged around 10 when I first heard them in 1975. There was a pub over the road and I could hear this music coming from an eight-track player in a blue car.

"I had never heard anything like it before. 

"I was a big Slade fan at the time as that was as 'rocky' as you heard on the radio then. There was no Planet Rock or anything like that. It was all what you heard on Top Of The Pops.

"And this sound just leaped out at me and I asked the guy what it was and he showed me the Sabotage album cover. 

"That was it. Next week, I saved up my pocket money and went out and bought it and I've never looked back since.

"The collection has taken over three rooms of my home and my attic - it has got a bit out of control and ridiculous to be honest."

Stephen, who has roadied for the band, now has more than 1,000 t-shirts and 3,000 vinyl records among his massive hoard of other Sabbath-related items. 

His living room, which is adorned with pictures of him and the Prince of Darkness, was even recreated as part of a museum exhibition to celebrate the band's 50th anniversary.

The former heating engineer said: "To have my front room recreated at Birmingham Museum was very strange and bizarre to say the least. 

"I have a picture of myself and Tony Iommi in front of it and it's just surreal.

"I never set out to try for the biggest collection or anything like that, I just loved Sabbath and kept on going to watch them. 

"I've been to Belgium, Germany, America, Australia, Japan and probably every UK venue going.

"I must have seen them hundreds of times over the years, I've lost count. I've roadied for them too, they're all nice guys, down to earth and haven't lost their routes or their sense of humour.

"I've seen Ozzy individually hundreds of times too - when they got back together it was great for me as it saved me a lot of money!

"The last time they played was 2017 but I went to see Ozzy at the Commonwealth Games.

"This will probably be the last time the four of them are all going to be together so it's going to be an occasion tinged with sadness.

"At the moment there's this incredible buzz around this weekend's gig. 

"There's a wave of euphoria across Birmingham, which is great for the city, but I'm sure I'm going to be emotional afterwards.

"I have friends who work with the band and they say rehearsals are going brilliantly and the band sound amazing. 

"I managed to get wind of this gig as I have friends at Villa Park as well as those working close to the band, so I was putting the feelers out before it was announced.

"I spent £1,500 on two hospitality tickets for me and my sister. We're meeting a few friends and we can't wait. 

"It's incredible they are still going really, the drummer Bill Ward has had about three heart attacks himself  - but if I've learned one thing it's that you can never write Sabbath off."

Stephen has thought of selling his Black Sabbath collection

Superfan Stephen says he has thought about selling his collection and admits it might be time to stop as the band also prepare to call it a day. 

He said: "I've got to stop really as I'm running out of space to put everything and maybe this would be a fitting moment to do so. 

"It has been 50 years this very month since I started collecting and the band are also saying farewell at the same time. 

"But we'll see, I'm sure I'll add to it this weekend.

"I have thought about selling the collection - but not just yet. I'm getting on a bit now and I wouldn't want it to ever go to waste. 

"I've spent a fair bit but bagged myself a few bargains over the years too, I've bought stuff for £50 that was worth £500 and some of it is worth a lot more now.

"There's some rare items in there that would be worth a lot of money.

"The most valuable piece would be a single I bought off e-Bay, it was made for a Birmingham music paper.

"It was made for a guy called Chris Sedgwick, who died about ten years ago, but Ozzy Osbourne sang on it.

"They only made 100 of them and the majority of them got burnt in a warehouse fire, so now it's so rare.

"I actually bought it from Chris' wife, which was for £300 but it's worth a lot more than that now - probably a few thousand pounds.

"Sabbath have been a huge part of my life for so long now.

"I've even broken up with a partner over them as she didn't want me to go to America to see them back in 1992 - but of course I went."

Black Sabbath was founded by Tony Iommi, Geezer Butler, Ozzy Osbourne and Bill Ward in Aston, Birmingham, in 1968.

They are credited with inventing the distinctive riffs that characterised the heavy metal sound which has stayed with Stephen forever. 

He said: ""I've seen thousands of bands over the years but Black Sabbath have always been my band.

"By the late '70s, music was pretty diverse, you had punk and disco but metal was still pretty underground. 

"They created a brand of music which was unique, it just captured my imagination as a youngster.

"They have always been a band that just spoke to me, I like their honesty and Geezer is a very clever lyricist.

"They just speak truths you can identify with. Songs like War Pig are still relevant to this day.

"They were just different, Black Sabbath have inspired so many other bands and millions of people and it is definitely the end of an era."

Black Sabbath's 'Back to the Beginning' Villa Park concert

Sabbath's 'Back to the Beginning' concert, billed the "greatest heavy metal show ever", will take place on Saturday, July 5 at Villa Park, featuring performances from Metallica, Slayer and Pantera.