Pub closes for Ozzy Osbourne’s funeral as “mark of respect”
A pub near Birmingham has closed for the day (July 30th) as “a mark of respect” for Ozzy Osbourne on the day of the late Black Sabbath frontman’s funeral.
Ahead of a private service later today in Buckinghamshire, the funeral procession will make its way through his hometown to Black Sabbath Bridge on Broad Street, beginning at 1pm on July 30th. The hometown celebration of Osbourne’s life, expecting to attract a huge crowd, will also feature music by local brass band Bostin’ Brass.
For those unable to make it to Birmingham, Black Sabbath have confirmed on social media that the procession in Birmingham will be available to watch at blacksabbathbridge.co.uk from 13:00 in the United Kingdom. They also shared a list of times in international locations, including 5:00 in Los Angeles, 8:00 in New York, 10:00 in Sydney, 2:00 in Rome, and 9:00 in Tokyo.
Among those in the crowd at Black Sabbath Bridge will be all of the staff at The Crew in Nuneaton, one of the leading rock bars in the West Midlands.
Taking to Facebook, the Nuneaton establishment wrote: “All of the staff at The Crew and Queens Hall will be joining the masses tomorrow in Birmingham for the Prince of Darkness’ funeral procession.”
They concluded their post by writing: “As a mark of respect, the pub will be closed until 3pm tomorrow.”
Within hours of Osbourne’s death being announced on July 22nd, Black Sabbath Bridge became a shrine to the Birmingham hero. Over the last week, fans have travelled from all over the world to pay their respects to a one-off figure by leaving messages of condolence as well as flowers which will culminate with the procession today.
Since opening in 2019 during a ceremony attended by the band’s Tony Iommi and Geezer Butler, Black Sabbath Bridge has become a must-see attraction for any fan of the heavy metal pioneers.
Following the funeral cortege in Birmingham, Osbourne’s hearse will make its way to Buckinghamshire for a private ceremony. After living in Los Angeles for many decades, Osbourne returned home to England for his farewell show in Birmingham and died at his family home in his native country on July 22nd.
In addition to fans celebrating his life over the past week, musical acts, from across the spectrum, have honoured Osbourne at shows. Notably, Coldplay covered ‘Changes’, Johnny Depp joined Alice Cooper to perform ‘Paranoid’ at London’s O2 Arena on July 25th, and Oasis dedicated ‘Rock N Roll Star’ to Osbourne at Wembley Stadium.
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