Ozzy Osbourne honored with Black Sabbath Bridge funeral procession

BIRMINGHAM, England - The city of Birmingham, England, celebrated the life of one of its most iconic sons — Ozzy Osbourne — who passed away at the age of 76.

Osbourne's public funeral procession took place Wednesday ahead of a private funeral. 

Ozzy Osbourne's funeral procession

What's happening?:

Osbourne's hearse and accompanying vehicles conducted a slow procession down Broad Street to the Black Sabbath bridge and bench, where thousands of fans have recently left tributes and messages. 

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What they're saying:

The Lord Mayor of Birmingham, Councillor Zafar Iqbal MBE, JP, said it was "important" for the city to honor Osbourne in the city that he loved so much.  

"Ozzy was more than a music legend - he was a son of Birmingham. 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. 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, 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."

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Ozzy Osbourne's life and legacy

The backstory:

Born John Michael Osbourne on Dec. 3, 1948, in Birmingham, England, Osbourne would go on to be one of the most prolific musicians in recorded history.

Once he left school, Osbourne held odd jobs before finding his way into music which would eventually lead him to form the band Black Sabbath and subsequently be nicknamed the godfather of heavy metal, according to IMDB.

The "Prince of Darkness" rose to prominence during the 1970s as the lead singer for the band, scoring iconic hits such as "War Pigs," "Iron Man," "Paranoid" and many more. But after a tumultuous on-again, off-again relationship with the band, Osbourne would officially leave the group in 1978. He ventured out on his own to become a solo artist in the 1980s.

Even as a solo artist, Osbourne was wildly successful. He produced over a dozen albums, many of which went multi-platinum, according to Rockcelebrities.net.

Osbourne would eventually team back up with his old bandmates on several occasions in the late 90s and early 2000s. Black Sabbath was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2006 and the band is still credited to this day as creating heavy metal.

Ozzy Osbourne and Black Sabbath

Dig deeper:

"Black Sabbath are the Beatles of heavy metal. Anybody who’s serious about metal will tell you it all comes down to Sabbath," Dave Navarro of the band Jane’s Addiction wrote in a 2010 tribute in Rolling Stone. "There’s a direct line you can draw back from today’s metal, through Eighties bands like Iron Maiden, back to Sabbath."

Sabbath fired Osbourne in 1979 for his legendary excesses, like showing up late for rehearsals and missing gigs. "We knew we didn’t really have a choice but to sack him because he was just so out of control. But we were all very down about the situation," wrote bassist Terry "Geezer" Butler in his memoir, "Into the Void."

Osbourne reemerged the next year as a solo artist with "Blizzard of Ozz" and the following year’s "Diary of a Madman," both hard rock classics that went multiplatinum and spawned enduring favorites such as "Crazy Train," "Goodbye to Romance," "Flying High Again" and "You Can’t Kill Rock and Roll." Osbourne was twice inducted to the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame — once with Sabbath in 2006 and again in 2024 as a solo artist.

The original Sabbath lineup reunited for the first time in 20 years in July for what Osbourne said would be his final concert. "Let the madness begin!" he told 42,000 fans in Birmingham.