Ozzy Osbourne‘s grief stricken widow Sharon was supported by her children and thousands of fans today as she laid a single rose for her late husband during his poignant funeral procession through the streets of Birmingham.

The Black Sabbath frontman, who died last week aged 76, was commemorated in a parade through his hometown – with his family pausing at Black Sabbath Bridge to an outpouring of love from the crowd.

Sharon and Ozzy’s children Jack, Kelly and Aimee laid their own floral tributes at the site – and made a peace sign as they gestured their gratitude to fans – while accompanied by Ozzy’s son Louis from his first marriage to Thelma Riley.

The funeral cortege was led by a live brass band, Bostin’ Brass, who performed versions of Black Sabbath songs such as Iron Man, as thousands of tearful devotees lined the streets and sang along in Ozzy’s memory.

Huge crowds gathered along the route hours in advance of the 1pm start, to pay their respects to the Prince of Darkness whose hits included Paranoid and Sabbath Bloody Sabbath.

The hearse carrying the singer’s coffin – adorned with purple flowers spelling out ‘Ozzy’ – passed the star’s childhood home in Lodge Road, Aston, shortly after midday.

Flowers had been placed outside the terraced property, close to Villa Park while the owners of the house put up a picture of Osbourne in the front bay window.

The Jaguar hearse and six Mercedes funeral cars, accompanied by police motorcycle riders and a police car, drove slowly along the street watched by a handful of fans and the current owner of the house.

Thousands of people were pictured taking their places not only on Black Sabbath Bridge but along the city centre route along which his cortege travelled towards the Black Sabbath Bridge bench.

Fans have left heartfelt messages and floral tributes around the Black Sabbath mural on Navigation Street in recent days to honour the heavy metal star who was born in the Aston area of Birmingham.

Members of the public have also signed a book of condolences, opened by Birmingham Museum And Art Gallery, which is currently holding an exhibition titled Ozzy Osbourne (1948-2025): Working Class Hero.

While organising the procession, Birmingham City Council collaborated with the Osbourne family, who funded all of the associated costs.

One Black Sabbath fan gathering along Broad Street, giving the name of Goose, told today of discovering heavy metal as a teenager and feeling uplifted by Ozzy.

They said: ‘That’s when I found, like millions of people around the world, that there was music that was for us, something that understood us.

‘We knew that there was somebody out there that felt the way that we did and it was a constant presence.

‘Ozzy helped give that to the world. He was a family member. He felt like a family member to so many people and he touched so many people’s lives.’

Fellow fan fan Evie Mayo said the heavy metal star had inspired her and everyone in Birmingham, as she waited by the Black Sabbath Bridge for his cortege to arrive.

She said: ‘I think he was so influential, he was such an inspirational person.

‘I think he really impacted everyone here, especially in Birmingham as well.

‘Now that he’s not here any more, you can feel the impact of it. He inspired a lot of people and he was a great person.’

She added: ‘He inspired me by, I love his music, absolutely love his music. I’m learning guitar so that I can learn some of his songs.’

Birmingham-based musicians Alicia Gardener-Trejo and Aaron Diaz were also there, performing songs by Ozzy and Black Sabbath, with Alicia telling BBC News of being ‘super-excited’ to be involved amid today’s commemorations.

She said: ‘It’s a huge honour to be playing the music of Ozzy and Black Sabbath today. I’m a huge fan. I’m pretty speechless. Growing up, listening to Ozzy – it’s huge to be part of this.’

Aaron said: ‘Ozzy and Black Sabbath’s music really represents something about Birmingham – there’s grit there, there’s heaviness, but there’s also humour and there’s a sort of humility in it as well.’

Lee Clarke and his mother Tracey travelled 200 miles from Plymouth to get to Birmingham for today’s event, boarding a sleeper train overnight.

He told BBC Radio WM: ‘I decided long ago, when it happened I would go – thought we’d get more notice.

‘Its pretty hard to be a metalhead and not like Ozzy Osbourne – all the other music, the other bands, they wouldn’t exist if it wasn’t for him.’

Tracey told of becoming a fan over the past decade due to her son’s influence and said of their arrival today to join the crowds: ‘I just feel the need to be here and show the family how loved Ozzy was.

‘I’m sure they know, but it’s just somewhere I felt I wanted to be today. He was an ordinary man – an extraordinary, ordinary man.’

Meanwhile, 10-year-old Eliza turned up bearing an umbrella with model bats attached, as well as a sign saying: ‘Goodnight Ozzy – Birmingham forever.’

Eliza, accompanied by her mother and grandmother, said: ‘Ozzy is a local lad, a boy from Aston, and he’s allowed kids like me to dream big – Ozzy is Birmingham.’

Her mother Claire Finn-O’Shea described Birmingham as ‘a city in mourning’, adding: ‘We love what Ozzy did for the city. We love that he stuck to his roots. I feel like we will get upset today when we see the coffin.

‘It feels like it’s a big deal, and it’s so generous of the family to bring him home to Birmingham – because for the fans to be involved, that’s a massive thing.’

Adam Davies, 19, who was repeatedly leading chants of ‘Ozzy, Ozzy, Ozzy’ with the crowd roaring back ‘oi, oi, oi’, confessed: ‘I skived off uni today, telling them I was ill and I probably will be after all this shouting but I wouldn’t have missed it for the world.’

Superfan Adam, who is studying engineering at Coventry University, recently met his Black Sabbath hero at a meet and greet and paying £666 for the privilege.

He told the Daily Mail: ‘I walked up to him and he put out his hand to shake mine and said, “Hello, my name is Ozzy Osbourne. How are you?”

‘It knocked me for six seeing and talking to him and wanted to say, “I know who you are, the greatest rocker on earth! It cost me nearly £700 of my student grant but it was worth every penny.’

Another fan Adam, from Walsall, also had his picture taken with the star, who was with his family at the Comic Con event at Birmingham’s NEC venue.

He will forever treasure the picture, saying: ‘I saw him just 10 days before he died. He was smiling, he looked happy and healthy. I was the last person to meet him before he was taken off in a wheelchair to go home.

‘He has inspired me and my friends and helped give some of them jobs in the music industry. He invented this genre of heavy metal music.

‘You’ve got to turn out to say goodbye to such an incredible musical genius. I had to be here today to pay me respects and it helps give me closure.’

Among others spectators saying farewell to the Birmingham heavy metal icon son was Ryan Darling, lead singer in a thrash metal band called Mount Slatra.

He said: ‘I’m a humongous fan of Ozzy and luckily got to his last concert. He was surreal on stage.

‘He has inspired me as front man abs songwriter myself. He pioneered that genre of music – he is the godfather of heavy metal and without him we wouldn’t have that music today.’

Ryan, 23, from Worcester, added: ‘I had to come and pay my respects. He has given us so much.

‘He came from a working class family and flung into the limelight and fame and was still able to be himself.’

Ryan, whose band recently featured on BBC radio show Forging Metal, added: ‘The impact he’s had on so many people’s life is huge.’

Earlier, the Lord Mayor of Birmingham Zafar Iqbal said: ‘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 in giving him the farewell he deserves.’

Broad Street has been closed to through traffic from 7am today, with buses and trams diverted before the road packed with bars reopens when the event finishes.

Osbourne and his Black Sabbath bandmates – Terence ‘Geezer’ Butler, Tony Iommi and Bill Ward – were recently given the freedom of the city of Birmingham, which recognises people’s exceptional service to the city.

They are expected to attend, while other reported celebrity guests at events to commemorate Ozzy include Sir Elton John.

The group, which formed in 1968, are widely credited with defining and popularising the sound of heavy metal.

Osbourne, who also had a successful solo career, found a new legion of fans when he appeared in the noughties reality TV series The Osbournes, starring alongside his wife Sharon and two youngest children, Kelly and Jack.

The music star, who was diagnosed with Parkinson’s disease in 2019, performed his last gig on July 5 in a concert that also saw performances from the likes of Anthrax, Metallica and Guns N’ Roses.

Ozzy took to the stage for his farewell concert at Villa Park stadium in his native Birmingham less than three weeks before his death – reuniting with his original Black Sabbath bandmates for the first time since 2005.

More than 42,000 fans packed into the venue for the Back To The Beginning show, during which he told the crowd in his final speech: ‘You’ve no idea how I feel – thank you from the bottom of my heart.’

A message on screen then read: ‘Thank you for everything, you guys are f***ing amazing. Birmingham Forever,’ before the sky lit up with fireworks.

He had told of it being his last performance due to his health, having opened up about his battle with Parkinson’s in 2020.

In a statement shared last Tuesday, Ozzy’s family said he died ‘surrounded by love’, adding: ‘It is with more sadness than mere words can convey that we have to report that our beloved Ozzy Osbourne has passed away this morning.’

He is survived by his wife Sharon and his five children Jessica, Louis, Aimee, Kelly and Jack.

Daily Mail revealed last Wednesday that an air ambulance was called to Osbourne’s grand country home as paramedics battled to save his life for two hours.

Friends told the Mail’s Alison Boshoff that his heartbroken wife Sharon was considering now burying Ozzy in the gardens of the 350-acre estate in an intimate family funeral.

Ozzy was born John Michael Osbourne in Birmingham in 1948, and dropped out of school at the age of 15.

After serving two months in prison for burglary, he decided to pursue his love of music.

By 1970, Black Sabbath – originally going by the name of Earth – had gained a huge following in the US and UK with the release of their first album.

Ozzy quit the band in 1978 and four years later divorced his first wife Thelma Mayfair, with whom he had two children, amid his ongoing substance abuse problems.

He went on to marry second wife Sharon, who helped him transform into a successful solo artist and the couple had three children together.

Ozzy gained a whole new audience of fans with the family’s reality TV show The Osbournes in 2001.

He spoke in 2011 about how he imagined his future send-off, telling the Times: ‘I honestly don’t care what they play at my funeral – they can put on a medley of Justin Bieber, Susan Boyle and “We Are The Diddymen” if it makes ’em happy.

‘But I do want to make sure it’s a celebration, not a mope-fest. I’d also like some pranks: maybe the sound of knocking inside the coffin, or a video of me asking my doctor for a second opinion on his diagnosis of “death”.

‘There’ll be no harping on the bad times. It’s worth remembering that a lot of people see nothing but misery their whole lives.

‘So by any measure, most of us in this country – especially rock stars like me – are very lucky. That’s why I don’t want my funeral to be sad – I want it to be a time to say, “Thanks”.’