A former school pal of Black Sabbath's Ozzy Osbourne has reminisced on his early years with the rocker.
He has revealed how the veteran musician's surprise Commonwealth Games appearance brought back his fond memories of yesteryear with the star.
Ozzy was tasked with bringing down the final curtain on this year's edition of the major sporting event in Birmingham - and fans loved it. But for one fan in particular it reminded him of the good times he spent with the Prince of Darkness.
Ash Alison was one of Ozzy's many old school mates and explained to the Birmingham Mail how the group would all meet at a local cafe to discuss their day's actions. He said: "My brother had a guitar at home and they used to go in to my mum's front room and have a little jamming session. Our mum used to ask him about his band playing and what he was doing."
And he admitted that he was actually the man behind the ink for the famous rocker's smiley face knee tattoos, before saying he even dated his sister for a short period of time. Ozzy has previously revealed he chats to his inked knees when he is lonely and there have been many rumours about where and when he got them done.
And, despite some claiming they were done in prison, Ash has now said it was he who produced the artwork. He continued: "I did the two smiley faces on his knees. It didn't happen in prison.
"I did those in my mother's house. We did all these silly kind of tattoos. We didn't have computer games and mobiles back then. It was our enjoyment."
He also went on to claim that many people in the Aston neighbourhood at the time thought Ozzy was strange: "He's always been that type of weird kid," he said.
"Even his best friends at the cafe knew it. I don't know if you would call him eccentric but he had weird ways of doing things."
Ash said he believes Ozzy has never dismissed his route and even said the star had previously visited his old house. "His accent has never changed," he continued. "He's never tried to put on a phoney American accent or anything. That broad Brummie speech is there."
Do you have a story to sell? Get in touch with us at webcelebs@mirror.co.uk or call us direct at 0207 29 33033
