Ozzy Osbourne‘s loved ones honored him at a funeral procession through his hometown of Birmingham, England.
Osbourne’s family attended his funeral on Wednesday, July 30, as fans lined the streets to issue their own goodbyes to the music legend. After visiting Broad Street, Osbourne’s coffin was laid with purple flowers before the procession stopped on the Black Sabbath bridge.
Ozzy’s wife, Sharon Osbourne, cried as their daughter Kelly Osbourne comforted her with their son, Jack Osbourne, close by. Sharon and Ozzy’s daughter Aimee Osbourne and Ozzy’s son Louis Osbourne (from a previous relationship) were also spotted holding up peace signs to the crowd.
Ozzy will be officially laid to rest in a private ceremony later on Wednesday, according to BBC News. Ozzy died on July 22 after a battle with Parkinson’s disease. He was 76.
“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,” his family said in a statement to Us Weekly. “He was with his family and surrounded by love. We ask everyone to respect our family privacy at this time.”
Ozzy’s death came just weeks after his farewell concert with Black Sabbath in Birmingham, England, on July 5. He performed a five-song solo set before being joined by bandmates Tony Iommi, Geezer Butler and Bill Ward for an additional four songs.
“It’s so good to be on this f***ing stage, you have no idea,” he told the crowd. “Let the madness begin!”
Two months earlier, Ozzy revealed in a May interview with The Guardian that his wife, Sharon Osbourne, came up with the idea for the show “to give me a reason to get up in the morning.”
After the Black Sabbath concert, Ozzy’s daughter Kelly shut down speculation that her father was “dying.”
“Yes, he has Parkinson’s, and yes, his mobility is completely different than it used to be, but he’s not dying,” she wrote via her Instagram Story on July 14.
For their part, Ozzy’s sisters Jean Powell and Gillian Hemming were surprised by his death after reuniting with him at the Black Sabbath show.
“He was frail, but it still came as a shock,” Powell, 85, told The Mirror on July 23. “He still had plans and things he wanted to do.”
In February, Ozzy — who first shared his Parkinson’s disease diagnosis in 2020 — revealed that he could no longer walk as a result of his health battle.
“You wake up the next morning and find that something else has gone wrong. You begin to think this is never going to end,” he told The Guardian in May.
As for how he was preparing for the Black Sabbath concert, he explained, “I do weights [and] bike riding, I’ve got a guy living at my house who’s working with me. It’s tough. I’ve been laid up for such a long time. I’ve been lying on my back doing nothing and the first thing to go is your strength. It’s like starting all over again.”
Read the full article here
