{"id":233457,"date":"2025-07-31T10:36:57","date_gmt":"2025-07-31T10:36:57","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/abianewscentral.com.ng\/thousands-honour-ozzy-osbourne-at-uk-hometown-funeral-procession\/"},"modified":"2025-07-31T10:36:57","modified_gmt":"2025-07-31T10:36:57","slug":"thousands-honour-ozzy-osbourne-at-uk-hometown-funeral-procession","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/abiaradiostations.com.ng\/news\/thousands-honour-ozzy-osbourne-at-uk-hometown-funeral-procession\/","title":{"rendered":"Thousands Honour Ozzy Osbourne At UK Hometown Funeral Procession"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>Thousands Honour Ozzy Osbourne At UK Hometown Funeral Procession<br \/>\n<\/p>\n<div>\n<p>\u00a0<\/p>\n<p><strong>Thousands lined the streets of UK city Birmingham on Wednesday to pay an emotional farewell to hometown hero Ozzy Osbourne as the heavy metal hellraiser was laid to rest.<\/strong><\/p>\n<p><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">Black Sabbath frontman Osbourne, who earned the nickname the \u201cPrince of Darkness\u201d and once bit a bat while on stage, died on July 22 at the age of 76.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">He had been diagnosed with Parkinson\u2019s disease in 2019 and died 17 days after playing a final gig to a sold-out crowd in Birmingham.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">Osbourne\u2019s funeral procession set off at around 1200 GMT on a route planned with the rocker\u2019s family through the English city.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">Chants of \u201cOzzy! Ozzy! Ozzy!\u201d could be heard, with one fan crying out \u201cwe love you Ozzy!\u201d as his coffin \u2014 sitting in a stately black Jaguar hearse topped with flower arrangements \u2014 and other vehicles crawled by.<\/span><\/p>\n<p>\u00a0<\/p>\n<figure id=\"attachment_947135\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-947135\" style=\"width: 650px\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\"><noscript><img fetchpriority=\"high\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-947135\" src=\"https:\/\/www.channelstv.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/07\/Thousands-mourn-Osbourne-1.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"650\" height=\"350\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.channelstv.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/07\/Thousands-mourn-Osbourne-1.jpg 650w, https:\/\/www.channelstv.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/07\/Thousands-mourn-Osbourne-1-300x162.jpg 300w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 650px) 100vw, 650px\"\/><\/noscript><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-947135\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Mourners and music fans line the streets to pay their respects as the funeral cortege of Ozzy Osbourne, the late lead singer of Black Sabbath, makes its way through Birmingham, central England, on July 30, 2025. (Photo by Ben STANSALL \/ AFP)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>\u00a0<\/p>\n<p><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">The procession, which earlier passed the star\u2019s childhood home in the city\u2019s Aston area, was accompanied by a live brass band performance by local musicians from Bostin\u2019 Brass.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">Fan Mhairi Larner said it was \u201coverwhelming\u201d and \u201cvery emotional\u201d to be part of the city\u2019s farewell to a star who\u2019d been so \u201cproud of his roots\u201d.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">\u201cI\u2019ve been a fan as long as I can remember, and I raised my son to do the same,\u201d said the 31-year-old carer who had travelled from the central city of Nottingham.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">\u201cHe was just nuts, a little bit weird, but it\u2019s nice to have someone like this,\u201d she told AFP.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">Another fan, Reece Sargeant, came with friends to say goodbye.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">\u201cI think it was important to come and pay our respects\u2026. Ozzy and Black Sabbath <\/span><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">really<\/span><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\"> put Birmingham on the map,\u201d he said.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">The 16-year-old described the band\u2019s last concert as \u201cout of this world\u201d.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">Osbourne famously once said he wanted his funeral to be a celebration of his life and not a \u201cmope-fest\u201d.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">The procession paused at the Black Sabbath bench \u2014 an art installation featuring headshots of each member on a bridge also named after the band.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">Visibly emotional family members including his widow, Sharon Osbourne, laid flowers at the bench and read some of the written tributes that have been left there, along with balloons and flowers.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">Thousands of fans have gathered at the bridge in recent days, mourning the death of the musician who was instrumental in pioneering heavy metal.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">The cortege, led by police motorbikes, then continued its slow journey towards a private funeral service.<\/span><\/p>\n<p>\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>\u00a0<\/p>\n<h2><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">\u2018Tribute\u2019<\/span><\/h2>\n<p>\u00a0<\/p>\n<p><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">\u201cOzzy was more than a music legend \u2013 he was a son of Birmingham,\u201d Zafar Iqbal, the lord mayor of the central English city, said in a statement.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">\u201cIt was important to the city that we support a fitting, dignified tribute ahead of a private family funeral.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">\u201cWe\u2019re proud to host it here with his loving family in the place where it all began,\u201d Iqbal, who could be seen hugging family members when the procession stopped in central Birmingham, added.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">Black Sabbath enjoyed huge commercial success in the 1970s and 80s after forming in Birmingham in 1968.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">Their eponymous 1970 debut album made the UK top 10 and paved the way for a string of hit records, including their most famous song \u201cParanoid\u201d.<\/span><\/p>\n<p>\u00a0<\/p>\n<figure id=\"attachment_947136\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-947136\" style=\"width: 650px\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-947136\" src=\"data:image\/svg+xml,%3Csvg%20xmlns=\" http:=\"\" alt=\"\" width=\"650\" height=\"350\" data-lazy-srcset=\"https:\/\/www.channelstv.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/07\/Ozzy-Osbournes-Star-on-the-Hollywood-Walk-of-Fame.jpg 650w, https:\/\/www.channelstv.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/07\/Ozzy-Osbournes-Star-on-the-Hollywood-Walk-of-Fame-300x162.jpg 300w\" data-lazy-sizes=\"(max-width: 650px) 100vw, 650px\" data-lazy-src=\"https:\/\/www.channelstv.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/07\/Ozzy-Osbournes-Star-on-the-Hollywood-Walk-of-Fame.jpg\"\/><noscript><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-947136\" src=\"https:\/\/www.channelstv.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/07\/Ozzy-Osbournes-Star-on-the-Hollywood-Walk-of-Fame.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"650\" height=\"350\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.channelstv.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/07\/Ozzy-Osbournes-Star-on-the-Hollywood-Walk-of-Fame.jpg 650w, https:\/\/www.channelstv.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/07\/Ozzy-Osbournes-Star-on-the-Hollywood-Walk-of-Fame-300x162.jpg 300w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 650px) 100vw, 650px\"\/><\/noscript><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-947136\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Flowers are left at a makeshift memorial at Ozzy Osbourne\u2019s Star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame on July 22, 2025, in Los Angeles. (Photo by Patrick T. Fallon \/ AFP)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>\u00a0<\/p>\n<p><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">The group went on to sell more than 75 million albums worldwide and were inducted into the Rock &amp; Roll Hall of Fame in 2006. <\/span><\/p>\n<p><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">Osbourne was added for a second time last year as a solo artist.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">Osbourne gained notoriety for his outlandish stunts, many of which were fuelled by his legendary indulgence in drugs and alcohol.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">In 1989, he was arrested for drunkenly trying to strangle his wife Sharon, which he once mentioned in a 2007 interview.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">His live performances at the height of his hedonism have gone down in rock folklore, particularly the 1982 gig in the US city of Des Moines when he bit a bat on stage.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">Osbourne said he thought a fan had thrown a rubber bat onstage, and it was not until he took a bite that he realised it was real.<\/span><\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<p>funeral,Ozzy Osbourne,UK<br \/>\n<br \/><a href=\"https:\/\/www.channelstv.com\/2025\/07\/30\/thousands-honour-ozzy-osbourne-at-uk-hometown-funeral-procession\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Source<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Thousands Honour Ozzy Osbourne At UK Hometown Funeral Procession \u00a0 Thousands lined the streets of UK city Birmingham on Wednesday to pay an emotional farewell to hometown hero Ozzy Osbourne as the heavy metal hellraiser was laid to rest. Black Sabbath frontman Osbourne, who earned the nickname the \u201cPrince of Darkness\u201d and once bit a [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":233458,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2},"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[3],"tags":[1124,884,686],"class_list":["post-233457","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-entertainment","tag-funeral","tag-ozzy-osbourne","tag-uk"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"amp_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/abiaradiostations.com.ng\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/233457","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/abiaradiostations.com.ng\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/abiaradiostations.com.ng\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/abiaradiostations.com.ng\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/abiaradiostations.com.ng\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=233457"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/abiaradiostations.com.ng\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/233457\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/abiaradiostations.com.ng\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=233457"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/abiaradiostations.com.ng\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=233457"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/abiaradiostations.com.ng\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=233457"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}