Big Bear Music wins Arts & Culture Award at 2026 Birmingham Awards.

Monday, November 09, 2026

The music company run by Black Sabbath’s original manager Jim Simpson has won the Arts & Culture Award at the Birmingham Awards 2026. Press release attached.

We have received the following press release;

Big Bear Music wins Arts & Culture Award at 2026 Birmingham Awards

The music company run by Black Sabbath’s original manager Jim Simpson has won the Arts & Culture Award at the Birmingham Awards 2026.

Big Bear Music lifted the trophy after judges decided it had made “the most positive impact to the community” through music during the last 12 months, and for the “creative flair” and “good practice” in its work.

Mr Simpson and Sarah Yang of Big Bear Music were presented with the Arts & Culture Award at a glittering Birmingham Awards ceremony at The Eastside Rooms on Saturday 7 November.

They beat off stiff competition from several other shortlisted finalists, including The Alexandra Theatre, Amy Greaves School of Dance, Birmingham Ballet Association and Made By Brum.

Mr Simpson said: “Given we were up against such high-quality finalists, we are really pleased to have been judged the winners of the Arts & Culture Award 2026.

“The award reflects all the hard work by Tim Jennings, Lucy Stone and Ron Simpson and everyone here at Big Bear Music, which delivers so many live music events throughout the year, culminating in our annual Birmingham Jazz & Blues Festival.”

This is the third consecutive year that Big Bear Music has triumphed in the Birmingham Awards, with the company scooping the ‘Festival or Event of the Year’ award in 2025 and Mr Simpson winning the ‘Lifetime Achievement Award’ in 2024.

Big Bear Music, which has organised the Birmingham Jazz & Blues Festival for the last 42 years, also runs Henry’s Blueshouse, the weekly live music night where Simpson first discovered fledgling group Earth, who later became Black Sabbath.

The Big Bear Music group’s operations include Big Bear Records, one of the UK’s longest established independent record companies. The company is also an agency for artists, representing bands such as King Pleasure & The Biscuit Boys, Tipitina and Lady Sings The Blues, and has published The Jazz Rag, a bi-monthly, national magazine, since 1987.

The Birmingham Awards were organised by B Events, hosted by PJ Ellis, with Birmingham City University as this year’s headline sponsor.

Anita Chumber, co-founder of B Events, which runs the Birmingham Awards, said: “The Birmingham Awards reminds me just how much incredible talent, kindness and determination exists within our city.”

And Ifraz Ahmed, also a co-founder of B Events, added: “We don’t always shout loudly enough about how brilliant our city is. Nights like this remind us that we absolutely should.”

Big Bear Music Group has been based in Birmingham since 1968. Its operations include Big Bear Records, probably the UK’s longest established independent record company, which is at the forefront of jazz, swing and blues, with more than 100 album releases.

Since 1985, Big Bear Music has organised the annual Birmingham Jazz & Blues Festival, Europe’s biggest free admission jazz party every July, bringing international bands to venues across the West Midlands. Big Bear Music also operates Henry’s Blueshouse, Birmingham’s home of the blues since 1968, with weekly gigs at Barbara’s Bier Haus on Broad Street. Henry’s Blueshouse blog and weekly Bluesletter features interesting stories, music and video from the past, present and future of blues.

Big Bear Music is also an agency for artists, booking a wide variety of acts for public events and private functions. It represents touring bands including King Pleasure & The Biscuit Boys, Tipitina and Lady Sings The Blues and more.

Since 1987, Big Bear Music has published The Jazz Rag, a bi-monthly, nationally-distributed magazine of news, which was winner of the 2023 Parliamentary Jazz Award for Best UK Jazz Publication.

Big Bear Music has a rich photography archive stretching back to the early 1960s, featuring some of the most illustrious names in rock and roll, jazz and blues.