Birmingham, England, says goodbye to local Metal heroes: NPR

London – Tens of thousands of fans met in Birmingham, England, the hometown of Metal, Ozzy Osbourne on Wednesday to change the sound of rock 'n' roll in something heavier and darker before they died at the beginning of this month.

The coffin of the Black Sabbath singer was driven along the Broad Street along the city center, a route on which the Cortege on a bridge that he had helped after the band he had helped almost six decades ago.

Birmingham's Black Sabbath Bridge has become an important landmark for his admirers, and in the days since his death there was also a focus on tribute. The von Osbourne family, including his visibly emotional wife Sharon, stopped on site during the funeral procession and spent a few minutes to watch the sea of flowers and news before adding the monument. Sharon in tears added her own pink rose to the growing pile.

Together with some of Ozzy children and many grandchildren, they also recognized the amount of well-wishers with waves, while many fans lowered their cell phones and held their hands with the two-finger peace sign that the Heavy Metal Performer had used on stage so often. A spontaneous cry of “Ozzy Ozzy Ozzy Oi Oi Oi!” also broke out.

Osbourne's fame was expanded beyond his musical career after he and his family appeared in the reality TV show The Osbournes This was broadcast in the early 2000s as the most viewed programming of MTV.

His family had financed the procession privately, a moving moment for Birmingham when she celebrated a man whom his mayor Zafar Iqbal described as one of the “largest living legends in the city”.

A local group, the Bostin Brass Band, followed six police motorcycles during the procession, while he performed black Sabbath classics from several albums from decades than the fans co -dogs.

A little more than two weeks earlier, Osbourne himself grew up in his hometown as part of the “Black Sabbath: Back to the Beginning” concerts in Villa Park, a large local football stage, near John Michael “Ozzy” as a child.

This performance was the first time that the band's original list had been reunited for more than a decade, as part of a concert in which large acts such as Metallica and Guns N 'Roses were presented, which moved large crowds to Birmingham and collected extensive means for charitable purposes.

On Wednesday, many of these fans returned to the city.

When the procession passed, some photos took place or leaned with their heads, others waited to say goodbye to their own flowers – often through local police officers – to a man who was called the “prince of darkness”.

Others who were balanced on nearby railings or even climbed on a bus stop, while the advertising screens along the route showed a picture of the singer with the news: “Ozzy Forever – Birmingham will always love you.”

IQBAL, the mayor, the Osbourne and his bandmates The Freedom of the City award at a ceremony only a few weeks earlier, described the immense love fans for the musician and his family and emphasized how Osbourne “Birmingham brought on the map”.

As is well known, Ozzy had expressed the wish that his funeral was not depressing, and his fans clearly took this feeling to heart. A private service followed the public procession, which only participated in friends and family members.

The atmosphere on the streets of the city seemed respectful, but also infused with a solemn spirit – a suitable homage to a life that lived on his own conditions, and a legacy that exceeded music and held up the world's cultural firmament, while it was connected to the city forever.