Less than a month ago, Sharon, 72, joined 40,000 fans and millions online to witness Ozzy Osbourne say goodbye and thank you to his home city at the Black Sabbath Back to the Beginning gig at the ground of his beloved Aston Villa FC. Sadly, it was to be the final curtain for Godfather of Metal who passed away aged 76 on July 22. His funeral procession yesterday (Weds) took place in front of a crowd of mourners that Birmingham City Council said stretched for more than a mile and was made up of tens of thousands. His wife Sharon looked visibly emotional as she stepped from the funeral car helped by her and Ozzy’s son Jack as the cortege halted by Black Sabbath Bridge, named in honour Ozzy and his band on the city’s Broad Street. Sharon and Jack were joined at the event with the Osbourne’s daughters Aimee and Kelly – who all raised their hands in a peace sign while paying their respects.

Cheers and shouts of “Ozzy, Ozzy, Ozzy” pierced the moment of sombre silence and applause broke out and rock hand signs followed from the assembled masses, many of whom were kitted out in full metal music attire. “We love you Ozzy” and “Let’s go f**king crazy” could also be heard from the mourners, the latter phrase being one issued by Ozzy himself at his last gig just a few weeks ago.

Speaking to the Daily Express, mourner Faye Reynolds, 33, from Birmingham, said: “This means everything, I went to my first rock music gig at 10 years old, and Ozzy created this, he started it all, heavy metal, and that’s my life, it’s who I am. He’s inspired my life. I always think, what would Ozzy do?

“He’s a son of Birmingham. It’s beautiful seeing so many people here, it’s like being at a festival, it’s the same atmosphere.”

Young fan Abdullah Shatir-Yasin, aged 13, had drawn two pieces of artwork honouring the heavy metal icon, including one showing the singer as “Saint Ozzy”.

He said: “My grandma started listening to him at my age and she’s passed down vinyl, and my auntie passed down CDs, and my mum’s passed down cassettes.

“It’s a rite of passage. It’s amazing to see the impact that Ozzy has had on all of these people’s lives.”

And Charlie Grant, 34, from The Crew Rock bar, Nuneaton, Warks, revealed she had an Ozzy inspired tattoo done on her left arm of a Guinea pig named “The Pig of Darkness”.

Charlie said she had been a fan for 20 years. “His music was one thing, but him as a person, he never forgot where he was from”, she said.

The hearse carrying Ozzy’s coffin passed the star’s childhood home in Lodge Road, Aston, at about 12.45pm on Wednesday on its route into Birmingham city centre.

Flowers have been placed outside the terraced property, close to Villa Park, while the owners of the house have 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 on Lodge Road, watched by a handful of fans and the current owner of the house.

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.

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.