A few weeks ago, I was watching a well-known American drummer perform with a London-based band. They were technically excellent, polished, and clearly seasoned. But I couldn’t shake the feeling that, once again, we were being asked to assume greatness, because they were from London. It’s a narrative I’ve seen play out countless times: the belief that being a “London band” inherently signals superiority.

But that idea?
It’s fundamentally untrue..

🧠 The London Bias in British Music Culture

There has long been a pervasive cultural bias in the UK that associates London with musical legitimacy. This is partly historical, London is home to the major labels, press, and studios, and partly sociological. Bands who “make it” are often assumed to do so because they’re from London, or moved there to be taken seriously. This has led to the myth that a London postcode equals superior talent.

But that narrative collapses when we look at the depth and grit of regional scenes, particularly from places like:

• Birmingham & the Black Country – Heavy metal, ska revival, post-punk
• Liverpool – Merseybeat, Beatles, Echo & the Bunnymen
• Manchester – Factory Records, Madchester, The Smiths
• Glasgow – Belle & Sebastian, Primal Scream, Franz Ferdinand

🕊️ Ozzy’s Farewell: A Reminder from the Heart of Birmingham

What brought this into sharp focus was watching footage from Ozzy Osbourne’s final journey through his hometown of Birmingham. Crowds lined the streets. People cried. There was a quiet, profound recognition of what Ozzy, and Black Sabbath, meant to this city, and to the world.

They didn’t just play heavy metal. They invented it.

They did it in Aston. Not Camden.
They did it with grit, factory soot in their lungs, and no major-label polish.

Ozzy’s farewell wasn’t just an emotional goodbye. It was a reclamation of legacy, a reminder that music history wasn’t written in the boardrooms of London, but in the working-class garages and clubs of Britain’s regions.

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🎧 Talent Is Not Geographic. Narrative Is.

The assumption that London equals excellence is a narrative convenience, often perpetuated by media and record executives centred in the capital. But musical innovation has always been grassroots, regional, and often born of adversity.

And the drummer you saw playing for a London band? A perfect reminder that music is collaborative, not territorial. Great musicians find each other across cities, borders, and stereotypes.

📍The Myth of the London Music Elite

Let’s be honest. London is a cultural capital. It’s home to record labels, press offices, the BBC, and iconic venues like the Roundhouse, the 100 Club, and Brixton Academy. If you want exposure, you go to London.

But access to industry isn’t the same as authenticity.
And visibility isn’t the same as invention.

Many bands who became “London acts” weren’t even from the city. They relocated to be seen. And once there, the industry machine too often steamrolls over regional identity in favour of the metropolitan aesthetic.

In doing so, the media elevates London as the nucleus of all musical worth, sidelining the very places that birthed the UK’s most influential genres.

🎶 Regional Talent: The Real Engine of Musical Innovation

Let’s take a moment to credit the non-London bands who changed the game:

• Birmingham / West Midlands:
  • Black Sabbath – Pioneers of heavy metal
  • Judas Priest – Metal’s second wave
  • UB40 – Reggae with a pop twist
  • The Specials – Coventry-based ska revivalists
  • Duran Duran – Synthpop icons
• Manchester:
  • The Smiths, Joy Division, Oasis, The Stone Roses
• Liverpool:
  • The Beatles, Echo & the Bunnymen, The La’s
• Sheffield:
  • Pulp, The Human League, Arctic Monkeys
• Glasgow:
  • Primal Scream, Franz Ferdinand, Belle and Sebastian

Each of these cities brought something new, something London didn’t invent but often helped distribute. Their influence on global music is undeniable.

💬 A Feminist and Class-Conscious Lens

As a feminist and educator, I think often about whose voices get heard, and why. The bias in music history reflects a broader cultural trend: stories told from the centre, not the margins. Men with accents closer to the BBC receive more airplay. Bands that fit the curated image of ‘cool’, urban, middle-class, connected, are more likely to be canonised.

But Ozzy Osbourne, Slade, UB40, these weren’t posh boys with stage schools and rich parents. They were working-class artists telling the truth of their environments. And it’s time we recognised that regional artists, especially from historically underrepresented backgrounds, have always carried the cultural torch.

🎤 The Real Centre? It’s Wherever Great Music Happens

Music doesn’t need a postcode to be powerful. It needs passion. Soul. Context.
And often, it’s in the regions, not the capital, where the most raw, genre-shattering creativity emerges.

So next time you hear a band from Wolverhampton, or Dundee, or Bristol, don’t ask why they’re not in London. Ask how London will catch up with them.

Because the centre of the musical universe isn’t a location, it’s a legacy. And the West Midlands, among others, has left an indelible mark.