Tens of thousands line Birmingham streets to say goodbye to Ozzy Osbourne

Tens of thousands of people lined the streets of Birmingham on 30 July to say goodbye to Ozzy Osbourne, as his funeral cortege travelled through the city where he was born.

Osbourne, the frontman of Black Sabbath and one of the most famous rock stars in the world, died at his home in Buckinghamshire on 22 July, aged 76, surrounded by his family. He had Parkinson's disease.

The route

The cortege left Villa Park and passed Osbourne's childhood home on Lodge Road in Aston before heading into the city centre along Broad Street, which was closed to traffic.

It stopped at the Black Sabbath Bridge, where Osbourne's family viewed the flowers and messages left by fans at the Black Sabbath Bench, and met the Lord Mayor of Birmingham. The procession then passed the Black Sabbath mural on Navigation Street and The Crown, the pub where the band played their first concert.

A final bow at Villa Park

Osbourne's death came just 17 days after his farewell performance. On 5 July, he reunited with the original line-up of Black Sabbath for Back to the Beginning, a charity concert at Villa Park watched by more than 40,000 people in the stadium and a peak livestream audience of 5.8 million.

Unable to stand because of Parkinson's, he performed seated on a black throne. All proceeds were shared between Cure Parkinson's, Birmingham Children's Hospital and Acorns Children's Hospice.

A week before the concert, Osbourne and his bandmates Tony Iommi, Geezer Butler and Bill Ward were made Freemen of the City of Birmingham.

The Prince of Darkness

Born John Michael Osbourne in 1948, he co-founded Black Sabbath in 1968, and the band is widely credited with pioneering heavy metal. After leaving the band in 1979, he built a hugely successful solo career, releasing thirteen solo albums, and later found a new audience through reality television.

He never forgot his roots. In 2007 he was presented with a star on the Birmingham Walk of Stars on Broad Street by the Lord Mayor, telling the crowd: "I am really honoured. All my family is here and I thank everyone for this reception."

Tributes

On the same day as the procession, the Band of the Coldstream Guards played Black Sabbath's "Paranoid" during the Changing of the Guard at Buckingham Palace. A private funeral for family and close friends is being held separately.

At Birmingham Museum and Art Gallery, an exhibition on Osbourne's life, memorabilia and legacy, which opened on 25 June before his death, remains on display.