Followers of legendary Black Sabbath frontman Ozzy Osbourne are paying their respects to the heavy steel icon in the present day as his funeral procession makes its method by way of Birmingham, England.
Osbourne, who died final week on the age of 76, grew up in Birmingham, and town in central England is the place Black Sabbath was shaped.
“Ozzy was greater than a music legend — he was a son of Birmingham,” the Lord Mayor of Birmingham Zafar Iqbal stated in an announcement Tuesday.
Reuters/Jim Ruymen
The procession was anticipated to make its method down Birmingham’s Broad Avenue within the heart of town towards a canal bridge named in honor of Black Sabbath.
The bridge incorporates a bench with life-size cutouts of the band’s 4 founding members — Osbourne, Terry “Geezer” Butler, Tony Iommi and Invoice Ward.
Jacob King/PA Photos through Getty Photos 
Since Osbourne’s loss of life, followers have been flocking to the positioning to pay tribute to the singer often known as the Prince of Darkness, leaving flowers, footage and notes.
“Ultimate Cease On The Loopy Prepare?” a handwritten message stated on an Aston Villa soccer group shirt that was tied to the bridge final week, referring to the only “Loopy Prepare” from Osbourne’s debut solo album in 1980. The message added: “However Steel Lives Without end.”
After Osbourne’s loss of life, “Loopy Prepare” was streamed and performed on the radio a lot that the track made it onto the Billboard Sizzling 100 chart for the primary time, rating at No. 46 on its most up-to-date version.
Ioannis Alexopoulos/Anadolu through Getty Photos 
Followers who could not make it to Birmingham to honor Osbourne have been invited to watch a livestream of the bench and bridge.
Iqbal stated it was vital for town to have a “becoming, dignified tribute” to the legendary rocker earlier than the non-public household funeral.
“We all know how a lot this second will imply to his followers,” he stated. “We’re proud to host it right here together with his loving household within the place the place all of it started.”
Osbourne retired from touring in 2023, three years after revealing that he was identified with Parkinson’s illness, a degenerative motion dysfunction.
His loss of life got here lower than three weeks after he appeared onstage for the ultimate time, reuniting together with his Black Sabbath bandmates in a Birmingham live performance that featured performances from rock legends influenced by the band.
“You don’t have any concept how I really feel,” Osbourne advised the gang of over 40,000 followers that evening, based on BBC Information. “Thanks from the underside of my coronary heart.”
