Birmingham bids emotional farewell to Ozzy Osbourne

To the thunderous sound of Black Sabbath and the chants of thousands of fans decked in purple and black, the father of heavy metal was laid to rest - in the city that made him, and that he never truly left behind.

- HOLLY EVANS

Ozzy Osbourne’s funeral procession brought Birmingham to a standstill yesterday as admirers from across the generations gathered to bid farewell to one of its most iconic sons. The hearse carrying the 76-year-old legend made its way from his childhood home in Aston to Broad Street, where fans stood shoulder to shoulder on the route, some having waited through the night to bid farewell to their hero.

Among them was Simon Hall, 57, wearing a thick leather jacket imprinted with Black Sabbath logos and record signs. “He was a working-class hero,” he said. “He represented the best of us and the worst of us in so many ways. The best thing about Ozzy is his humility, his honesty, the fact that he’s flawed like all of us and yet he did it all with an elfish smile and a cheeky grin.”

Some of his most dedicated fans had gathered early along Broad Street with their camping chairs to nab a prime spot. By 8am the numbers had reached the hundreds, and by midday tens of thousands lined the popular nightclubbing street. So eager were many to glimpse the cortege that several climbed up onto bus stops, shop roofs and even lampposts to wave a final farewell.