Deborah Hodgkiss

***BREAKING*** Everyone ready for some VERY good news? The Crown Inn — widely regarded as the birthplace of heavy metal music — has been listed at Grade II by the Department for Culture, Media and Sport, on the advice of Historic England. It is best known for being the venue where Black Sabbath performed their first ever gig at Henry’s Blueshouse, which was situated upstairs inside the pub. The Crown also hosted a litany of other rock royalty including The Who, Status Quo, UB40, Duran Duran, Thin Lizzy, Marc Bolan, Supertramp, Judas Priest and Led Zeppelin. Sitting at the junction of Station Street and Hill Street, a stone’s throw away from Birmingham New Street Station, the building is one of the first things seen by passengers leaving the station via the Spanish steps and has been a site of concern locally for almost a decade, laying vacant since 2014. Next stop, The Electric 🤞