Ozzy Osbourne

The fans of the legendary leader of Black Sabbath, Ozzy Osbourne, presented their respects to the Heavy Metal icon on Wednesday when their funeral procession made its way through Birmingham, England.

Osbourne, who died last week At the age of 76, he grew up in the city of the center of England, where Black Sabbath was formed In 1968.

The procession reached Broad de Birmingham street in the city center to a bridge of the channel appointed in honor of Black Sabbath. The bridge presents a bank with natural size cuts of the four founding members of the band: Osbourne, Terry “Geezer” Butler, Tony Iommi and Bill Ward.

An emotional Sharon Osbourne, the musician’s widow, stopped at the site and placed Flores in the growing monument around the bank while fans watched the barriers behind. She was accompanied by the two youngest children of the couple, Kelly and Jack, who starred in her parents in the reality show “The Osbournes”, which was broadcast in the early 2000s.

The mayor of Birmingham Zafar Iqbal also visited the site on Wednesday. In a statement on Tuesday, Iqbal said: “Ozzy was more than a music legend: he was the son of Birmingham.”

The fans were ahead of the procession to pay tribute to the singer known as the Prince of Darkness and reflect on the role that he and his family played in their lives.

Graham Croucher, a 58 -year -old train driver from Northampton, told Reuters news agency that Osbourne played the soundtrack of his life.

“He dared to be different because it was different,” said Croucher. “And I think we are also celebrating that because it was different. And I think we can all see a lot of ourselves in Ozzy, but he could do it. He could go out with his.”

Amanda Summers, a 37 -year -old singer from Bolton, said she felt excited but happy to be with other people who worshiped Osbourne and wanted to show support for the family.

“I have been a Black Sabbath fan for a long time, he saw ‘The Osbournes’ on television, so we have grown up with these in our homes, so they are like our family, you know?” She told Reuters.

Darren Verdi -ashton, a 56-year-old businessman from Birmingham, said Osbourne’s death was still a great shock.

“I don’t know what will happen when I arrive, but I think I will probably lose it,” he told Reuters.

Since the death of Osbourne, fans have been going on the bridge and Black Sabbath, leaving flowers, photos and notes.

“Do you stop on the crazy train?” A handwritten message is said in a shirt of the Aston Villa Soccer team that was linked to the bridge last week, referring to the single “Crazy Train” of the solo debut album of Osbourne in 1980. The message added: “But metal lives forever.”

After the death of Osbourne, “Crazy Train” was transmitted and touched both on the radio that the song reached the Billboard Hot 100 list for the first time, classifying at number 46 in its most recent edition.

Fans who couldn’t get to Birmingham to honor Osbourne were invited to see a live transmission from the bank and the bridge.

Iqbal said it was important that the city had a “decent and dignified tribute” to the legendary rocker before the funeral of the private family.

“We know how much this moment will mean for your fans,” he said. “We are proud to organize it here with his beloved family in the place where it all started.”

Osbourne Retrained from the tour In 2023, three years after revealing that he was Diagnosed with Parkinson’s diseasea degenerative movement disorder.

His death occurred less than three weeks after he appeared on stage for the last time, meeting with his bandmates Black Sabbath at a Birmingham concert that presented performances of rock legends influenced by the band.

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

The Association press contributed to this report.

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• Ozzy Osbourne