Fans to bid farewell to Ozzy Osbourne at U.K. funeral procession

Fans of legendary Black Sabbath frontman Ozzy Osbourne will have a chance to pay their respects to the heavy metal icon today when his funeral procession makes its way through Birmingham, England.

Osbourne, who died last week at the age of 76, grew up in Birmingham, and the city in central England is where Black Sabbath was formed.

"Ozzy was more than a music legend — he was a son of Birmingham," the Lord Mayor of Birmingham Zafar Iqbal said in a statement Tuesday.

The procession is scheduled to start at around 1 p.m. local time (8 a.m. Eastern). It will make its way down Birmingham's Broad Street in the center of the city toward a canal bridge named in honor of Black Sabbath.

The bridge features a bench with life-size cutouts of the band's four founding members — Osbourne, Terry "Geezer" Butler, Tony Iommi and Bill Ward.

Since Osbourne's death, fans have been flocking to the site to pay tribute to the singer known as the Prince of Darkness, leaving flowers, pictures and notes.

"Final Stop On The Crazy Train?" a handwritten message said on an Aston Villa soccer team shirt that was tied to the bridge last week, referring to the single "Crazy Train" from Osbourne's debut solo album in 1980. The message added: "But Metal Lives Forever."

After Osbourne's death, "Crazy Train" was streamed and played on the radio so much that the song made it onto the Billboard Hot 100 chart for the first time, ranking at No. 46 on its most recent edition.

Fans who couldn't make it to Birmingham to honor Osbourne were invited to watch a livestream of the bench and bridge.

Iqbal said it was important for the city to have a "fitting, dignified tribute" to the legendary rocker before the private family funeral.

"We know how much this moment will mean to his fans," he said. "We're proud to host it here with his loving family in the place where it all began."

Osbourne retired from touring in 2023, three years after revealing that he was diagnosed with Parkinson's disease, a degenerative movement disorder.

His death came less than three weeks after he appeared onstage for the final time, reuniting with his Black Sabbath bandmates in a Birmingham concert that featured performances from rock legends influenced by the band.

"You have no idea how I feel," Osbourne told the crowd of over 40,000 fans that night, according to BBC News. "Thank you from the bottom of my heart."

• United Kingdom
• Ozzy Osbourne