Bid to buy pub of rock royalty fails

In its heyday, The Crown hosted acts including Black Sabbath, Led Zeppelin and UB40

A pub where Black Sabbath played its first gig will not reopen, according to an arts organisation trying to buy it.

Plans to restore The Crown in Birmingham city centre have fallen apart, Birmingham Open Media (BOM) said.

The establishment was built in 1881 and shut in 2014 after it was bought by a Japanese development company.

It has remained derelict ever since and a project to restore it as a live music venue has now failed.

In its heyday, The Crown hosted other local acts that would go on to become household names, including Led Zeppelin and UB40.

BOM said it had worked tirelessly, investing more than £100k in a bid to bring the pub back.

But a statement said its current owner would only sell alongside an adjacent car park and apartments, making it a high-value transaction requiring public sector funding.

Birmingham City Council had been on board

BOM previously secured the backing of Birmingham City Council for the project.

However, the local authority now faces a financial crisis and has retracted its offer of a loan.

BOM claimed the support it needed to drive the project was "in favour of a different agenda", suggesting the site would be used for residential purposes.

"We don’t doubt that Birmingham’s housing needs are justified and that bold interventions are needed," the statement read.

"But there is a point where we have to accept that our vision for The Crown and belief in its cultural value is out of sorts with the way the city seems to be evolving."

'Cradle of heavy metal'

Jez Collins, founder of Birmingham Music Archive, was also involved in attempts to try and preserve the venue.

He compared it to The Cavern Club in Liverpool, best known for launching The Beatles.

“We can think of it as the cradle of heavy metal...it's got a huge and long music history," Mr Collins told BBC Radio WM.

He added he had applied to Historic England to try and get listed status for the building.

“We are still fighting to preserve what is the absolute golden jewel of our music history and heritage," he said.