Thousands filled the streets of Birmingham on Wednesday to bid a heartfelt farewell to hometown legend Ozzy Osbourne as the heavy metal icon was laid to rest.
The Black Sabbath frontman, known as the "Prince of Darkness" and infamous for biting a bat onstage, died July 22 at age 76.
Diagnosed with Parkinson’s disease in 2019, Osbourne passed away just 17 days after performing a final sold-out concert in Birmingham.
The funeral procession began around 12:00 p.m. GMT, following a route chosen by Osbourne’s family through the city he called home.
Fans chanted "Ozzy! Ozzy! Ozzy!” while others shouted, "We love you, Ozzy!” as his coffin, resting in a black Jaguar hearse adorned with flowers, slowly made its way through the streets.
The procession, which earlier passed the star’s childhood home in the city’s Aston area, was accompanied by a live brass band performance by local musicians from Bostin’ Brass.
Fan Mhairi Larner said it was "overwhelming” and "very emotional” to be part of the city’s farewell to a star who had been so "proud of his roots.”
"I’ve been a fan as long as I can remember, and I raised my son to do the same,” said the 31-year-old carer, who had traveled from the central city of Nottingham.
"He was just nuts, a little bit weird, but it’s nice to have someone like this,” she told Agence France-Presse (AFP).
Another fan, Reece Sargeant, came with friends to say goodbye.
"I think it was important to come and pay our respects. Ozzy and Black Sabbath really put Birmingham on the map,” he said.
The 16-year-old described the band’s last concert as "out of this world.”
Osbourne famously said he wanted his funeral to be a celebration of his life and not a "mope-fest.”
The procession paused at the Black Sabbath bench – an art installation featuring headshots of each member on a bridge also named after the band.
Visibly emotional family members, including his widow Sharon Osbourne, laid flowers at the bench and read some of the written tributes left there along with balloons and flowers.
Thousands of fans have gathered at the bridge in recent days, mourning the death of the musician who was instrumental in pioneering heavy metal.
The cortege, led by police motorcycles, then continued its slow journey toward a private funeral service.
‘Tribute’
"Ozzy was more than a music legend – he was a son of Birmingham,” Zafar Iqbal, the lord mayor of the central English city, said in a statement.
"It was important to the city that we support a fitting, dignified tribute ahead of a private family funeral.
"We’re proud to host it here with his loving family in the place where it all began,” Iqbal, who could be seen hugging family members when the procession stopped in central Birmingham, added.
Black Sabbath enjoyed huge commercial success in the 1970s and ’80s after forming in Birmingham in 1968.
Their eponymous 1970 debut album made the U.K. top 10 and paved the way for a string of hit records, including their most famous song, "Paranoid.”
The group went on to sell more than 75 million albums worldwide and were inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2006. Osbourne was added for a second time last year as a solo artist.
Osbourne gained notoriety for his outlandish stunts, many fueled by his legendary indulgence in drugs and alcohol.
In 1989, he was arrested for drunkenly trying to strangle his wife, Sharon, which he once mentioned in a 2007 interview.
His live performances at the height of his hedonism have gone down in rock folklore, particularly the 1982 gig in the U.S. city of Des Moines when he bit a bat onstage.
Osbourne said he thought a fan had thrown a rubber bat onstage and that it was not until he took a bite that he realized it was real.