Ozzy Osbourne and his wife Sharon have led the tributes to concert promoter Barry Fey following his death on Sunday (28Apr13).

The 73 year old, who was based in Colorado, had been recovering from hip-replacement surgery, but his official cause of death was not known as Wenn went to press.

Now Osbourne, who worked with Fey in the early days of his career with Black Sabbath, has issued a statement through the band's Facebook.com page.

He writes, "Barry Fey was a gentleman and a great friend. He was the first U.S. promoter to believe in Black Sabbath and gave us our first American tour. The music world has lost a great man. My heart goes out to his family."

In a post on her Twitter.com page, Ozzy's wife Sharon adds, "My condolences to the family of Barry Fey. He was a dear friend to Ozzy & I & the 1st promoter to give Sabbath a US Tour in the 70s. RIP Barry."

The Osbournes wrote forewords for Fey's 2011 memoir Backstage Past, which featured tales from his career.

As well as Black Sabbath, Fey also promoted acts including The Beatles, Bruce Springsteen, U2, Led Zeppelin and Jimi Hendrix.