• Reporter 12
• 31 Jul, 2025

Thousands of Black Sabbath fans were paying their respects Wednesday to frontman Ozzy Osbourne as his hearse made its way through the streets of Birmingham, the English city where he grew up and where the band was formed in 1968.

The hearse carrying Osbourne, who died last Tuesday at the age of 76, was making its way down Broad Street, the city’s major thoroughfare, to the Black Sabbath bench, which was unveiled on the Broad Street canal bridge in 2019.

“Ozzy, Ozzy, Ozzy, oi, oi, oi,” fans screamed as the hearse arrived.

Six vehicles carrying the Osbourne family, who paid for the procession, followed. The family emerged briefly, with his wife of 43 years Sharon visibly moved.Long-time fan Antony Hunt said it has been an “emotional” day and that he wanted to be in the city to pay his respects.

“What’s amazing is there’s so many, such a wide variety of age groups, from little, little children, teenagers to people in their 60s, 70s, so it’s great to see that,” he said.