Ozzy Osbourne fans will be able to say goodbye to the heavy metal pioneer at a procession for his cortege through his home city of Birmingham tomorrow.
The star’s hearse will make its way down Broad Street towards the Black Sabbath bridge and bench – where thousands of fans have left flowers, messages and other tributes since his death.
Osbourne, 76, died less than three weeks after performing his “final bow” in the city – the Back The Beginning reunion with his Sabbath bandmates at Villa Park, which raised about £140m for charity.
Ozzy Osbourne on stage at Villa Park just a few weeks before his death. Pic: Reuters
Large crowds are expected to gather tomorrow as fans pay their respects to the performer who shaped heavy metal music and “proudly carried the spirit of Birmingham throughout his career”, the city council said.
Members of Osbourne’s family will also be in attendance and have funded the event, the council added.
“Ozzy was more than a music legend – he was a son of Birmingham,” said the city’s lord mayor, Councillor Zafar Iqbal. “We know 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.”
The life of Ozzy Osbourne
Mr Iqbal said it was important to the city to give the star “a fitting, dignified tribute ahead of a private family funeral”.
Osbourne and his Black Sabbath bandmates Terence “Geezer” Butler, Tony Iommi and Bill Ward were awarded the Freedom of the City in June, before the Back To The Beginning show, honouring their “significance to the cultural and musical identity of Birmingham”.
The star’s cortege will travel down Broad Street from about 1pm tomorrow, accompanied by a live brass band, Bostin’ Brass. For those not able to make it, a live stream of the Black Sabbath bench, which has been running since Osbourne’s death, will continue.
There is also a book of condolence for public messages at Birmingham Museum and Art Gallery, alongside the Ozzy Osbourne Working Class Hero exhibition, highlighting his solo career achievements.
Metal, bats, and reality TV: The wild life of Ozzy Osbourne
Osbourne, the self-styled Prince of Darkness, pioneered heavy metal with Black Sabbath before going on to have huge success in his own right. He was famous for hits including Iron Man, Paranoid, War Pigs, Crazy Train and Changes, both with the band and as a solo star.
The singer also found a different kind of fame thanks to noughties MTV reality show The Osbournes, which followed his somewhat chaotic life with wife Sharon and two of their children, Kelly and Jack.
Following his death, his family released a statement saying he died alongside them, “surrounded by love”.
