Fans paid tribute to Ozzy Osbourne during a public funeral procession through his home city of Birmingham, England, on Wednesday afternoon.
A hearse containing the rock legend’s body traveled along Broad Street and made its way to the Black Sabbath Bridge and bench, where thousands of mourners from around the world left flowers and messages.
They also lined the street and threw flowers on the hearse, chanting, “Ozzy! Ozzy! Ozzy!”
Brass quintet Bostin’ Brass accompanied the cortège.
Osbourne’s frail-looking widow, Sharon Osbourne, and their children — daughters Aimee Osbourne, 41, and Kelly Osbourne, 40, as well as son Jack Osbourne, 39 — tearfully exited their vehicle to stop at the bench. They turned to face the crowd and flashed peace signs before getting back in their car.
The event, which preceded a “small, private funeral,” was funded by the Osbourne family.
“Ozzy was more than a music legend — he was a son of Birmingham,” the city’s lord mayor, Zafar Iqbal, said in a statement Monday.
“Having recently been awarded the Freedom of the City and following his celebrated appearance at the Back to the Beginning concert at Villa Park earlier this month, it was important to the city that we support a fitting, dignified tribute ahead of a private family funeral.”
Iqbal acknowledged “how much this moment will mean to his fans.”
“We’re proud to host it here with his loving family in the place where it all began, and we are grateful that they have generously offered to pay to enable this to happen and support the city is giving him the farewell he deserves,” Iqbal concluded.
Ozzy — who had Parkinson’s disease as well as limited mobility stemming from a 2003 quad bike accident that nearly killed him — died on July 22 at the age of 76 despite paramedics’ hours-long efforts to save his life.
Shortly after, his family issued a collective statement that read, “It is with more sadness than mere words can convey that we have to report that our beloved Ozzy Osbourne has passed away this morning.
“He was with his family and surrounded by love,” they went on. “We ask everyone to respect our family privacy at this time. Sharon, Jack, Kelly, Aimee and Louis.”
In addition to the children he had with Sharon, the former Black Sabbath frontman also shared son Louis Osbourne, who is about 50, with his first wife, Thelma Riley, to whom he was married from 1971 to 1982.
The exes are also parents to son Elliot Kingsley, who is in his mid-50s, and daughter Jessica Osbourne, 45.
Ozzy’s health was reportedly already in “fragile” condition when he and Sharon, 72, moved back to England in 2023 to live out “their final chapter” in Buckinghamshire.
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