Birmingham gives an emotional farewell to Ozzy Osbourne as tearful family lead tributes

BIRMINGHAM, England (AP) — Ozzy Osbourne returned to the “home of metal” for the last time on Wednesday as an emotional Birmingham honored one of its most cherished sons.

Thousands of Black Sabbath fans paid their respects to the band's frontman as his hearse made its way through the city center followed by his tearful wife and children.

The hearse carrying Osbourne, who died last Tuesday at the age of 76, went down Broad Street, one of the city’s major thoroughfare, to the Black Sabbath bench, which was unveiled on the Broad Street canal bridge in 2019.

“Ozzy, Ozzy, Ozzy, oi, oi, oi,” fans screamed.

Six vehicles carrying the Osbourne family followed the hearse, accompanied by police motorcycle riders and a police car.

The family emerged briefly to inspect the array of tributes, with his wife of 43 years, Sharon, visibly moved and wiping away tears.

And long after the hearse had moved on for the private funeral, the city, which has embraced its reputation as the citadel of heavy metal, was pounding to the beat of Black Sabbath.

It was in Birmingham, where he grew up, that the world-conquering heavy metal band was formed in 1968.

Osbourne embraced the city in central England as much as it embraced him, as was evident on the streets.

Long-time fan Antony Hunt said it has been an “emotional” day and that he wanted to be in the city to pay his respects.

“What’s amazing is there’s so many, such a wide variety of age groups, from little, little children, teenagers to people in their 60s, 70s, so it’s great to see that,” he said.

Katie Brazier, head of events at Birmingham City Council, said Osbourne meant “everything” to the city.

“He never forgot where he came from,” she said. “You could still hear that Brummie accent wherever he was, you know, I think some people have hidden away from the fact that they are from Birmingham and they’ve got that accent but he kept it all the way through.”

Osbourne and his Black Sabbath bandmates — Terence Butler, Tony Iommi and Bill Ward — were recently awarded the Freedom of the City in recognition of their services to Birmingham.

Black Sabbath’s story began in Birmingham in 1968 when the four original members were looking to escape a life of factory work. Without doubt, the sound and fury of heavy metal had its roots in the city’s manufacturing heritage. Osbourne never forgot his working-class roots.

The band has been widely credited with defining and popularizing the sound of heavy metal — aggressive, but full of melodies.

Osbourne was Black Sabbath’s frontman during its peak period in the 1970s. His antics, on and off stage, were legendary, and often fueled by drink and drugs. He was widely known as the “Prince of Darkness.”

The band’s eponymous debut album in 1970 made the U.K. top 10 and paved the way for a string of hit albums, including 1971’s “Master of Reality” and “Vol. 4” a year later. It went on to become one of the most influential and successful metal bands of all time, selling more than 75 million albums worldwide.

At the final show on July 5, 42,000 fans watched the band perform for the first time in 20 years at Villa Park, home of the city’s biggest soccer club, Aston Villa, with Osbourne seated on a black throne. Osbourne had been in poor health in recent years, especially after being diagnosed with Parkinson’s disease in 2019.

Osbourne, who also had a successful solo career, found a new legion of fans in the early 2000s reality show “The Osbournes” in which he starred alongside Sharon and two youngest children, Kelly and Jack.

Pylas contributed from London.

The family of Ozzy Osbourne from left, Jack Osbourne, Sharon Osbourne and Kelly Osbourne lay flowers and view the flowers left at the Black Sabbath Bridge bench on Broad Street in memory of Black Sabbath frontman Ozzy Osbourne ahead of the funeral procession, in Birmingham, England, Wednesday July 30, 2025. (Jacob King/PA via AP)

Fans gather Broad Street ahead of the funeral procession for Black Sabbath frontman Ozzy Osbourne following his death , in Birmingham, England, Wednesday July 30, 2025. (Jacob King/PA via AP)

Fans gather near the Black Sabbath Bridge bench on Broad Street ahead of the funeral procession for Black Sabbath frontman Ozzy Osbourne, in Birmingham, England, Wednesday July 30, 2025. (Jacob King/PA via AP)

Fans gather near the Black Sabbath Bridge bench on Broad Street ahead of the funeral procession for Black Sabbath frontman Ozzy Osbourne, in Birmingham, England, Wednesday July 30, 2025. (Jacob King/PA via AP)

A fan waits near the Black Sabbath Bridge bench on Broad Street ahead of the funeral procession for Black Sabbath frontman Ozzy Osbourne, in Birmingham, England, Wednesday July 30, 2025. (Jacob King/PA via AP)

A fan waits near the Black Sabbath Bridge bench on Broad Street ahead of the funeral procession for Black Sabbath frontman Ozzy Osbourne, in Birmingham, England, Wednesday July 30, 2025. (Jacob King/PA via AP)

Floral tributes left at the Black Sabbath Bridge bench on Broad Street in memory of Black Sabbath frontman Ozzy Osbourne ahead of the funeral procession, in Birmingham, England, Wednesday July 30, 2025. (Joe Giddens/PA via AP)

Fans queue to view and leave tributes to musician Ozzy Osbourne, as thousands of fans gathered to watch a funeral procession for Black Sabbath frontman Ozzy Osbourne following his death aged 76, in Birmingham, England, Wednesday, July 30, 2025. (AP Photo/Alberto Pezzali)

Tributes left to honour musician Ozzy Osbourne as thousands of fans gathered to watch a funeral procession for Black Sabbath frontman Ozzy Osbourne following his death aged 76, in Birmingham, England, Wednesday, July 30, 2025. (AP Photo/Alberto Pezzali)

The funeral cortege of Black Sabbath frontman Ozzy Osbourne travels along Broad Street during his funeral procession, in Birmingham, England, Wednesday July 30, 2025. (Jacob King/PA via AP)

The family of Ozzy Osbourne from left, Jack Osbourne, Sharon Osbourne and Kelly Osbourne lay flowers and view the flowers left at the Black Sabbath Bridge bench on Broad Street in memory of Black Sabbath frontman Ozzy Osbourne ahead of the funeral procession, in Birmingham, England, Wednesday July 30, 2025. (Jacob King/PA via AP)

Fans gather Broad Street ahead of the funeral procession for Black Sabbath frontman Ozzy Osbourne following his death , in Birmingham, England, Wednesday July 30, 2025. (Jacob King/PA via AP)

Fans gather near the Black Sabbath Bridge bench on Broad Street ahead of the funeral procession for Black Sabbath frontman Ozzy Osbourne, in Birmingham, England, Wednesday July 30, 2025. (Jacob King/PA via AP)

Fans gather near the Black Sabbath Bridge bench on Broad Street ahead of the funeral procession for Black Sabbath frontman Ozzy Osbourne, in Birmingham, England, Wednesday July 30, 2025. (Jacob King/PA via AP)

A fan waits near the Black Sabbath Bridge bench on Broad Street ahead of the funeral procession for Black Sabbath frontman Ozzy Osbourne, in Birmingham, England, Wednesday July 30, 2025. (Jacob King/PA via AP)

A fan waits near the Black Sabbath Bridge bench on Broad Street ahead of the funeral procession for Black Sabbath frontman Ozzy Osbourne, in Birmingham, England, Wednesday July 30, 2025. (Jacob King/PA via AP)

Floral tributes left at the Black Sabbath Bridge bench on Broad Street in memory of Black Sabbath frontman Ozzy Osbourne ahead of the funeral procession, in Birmingham, England, Wednesday July 30, 2025. (Joe Giddens/PA via AP)

WASHINGTON (AP) — Most American presidents aspire to the kind of greatness that prompts future generations to name important things in their honor.

Donald Trump isn't leaving it to future generations.

As the first year of his second term wraps up, his administration and allies have put the president’s name on the U.S. Institute of Peace, the Kennedy Center performing arts venue and a new class of battleships.

That’s on top of the “Trump Accounts” for tax-deferred investments, the TrumpRx government website soon to offer direct sales of prescription drugs, the “Trump Gold Card” visa that costs at least $1 million and the Trump Route for International Peace and Prosperity, a transit corridor included in a deal his administration brokered between Armenia and Azerbaijan.

On Friday, he plans to attend a ceremony in Florida where local officials will dedicate a 4-mile (6-kilometer) stretch of road from the airport to his Mar-a-Lago estate as President Donald J. Trump Boulevard.

It’s unprecedented for a sitting president to embrace tributes of that number and scale, especially those proffered by members of his administration. And while past sitting presidents have typically been honored by local officials naming schools and roads after them, it's exceedingly rare for airports, federal buildings, warships or other government assets to be named for someone still in power.

“At no previous time in history have we consistently named things after a president who was still in office,” said Jeffrey Engel, the David Gergen Director of the Center for Presidential History at Southern Methodist University in Dallas. “One might even extend that to say a president who is still alive. Those kind of memorializations are supposed to be just that — memorials to the passing hero.”

White House spokeswoman Liz Huston said the TrumpRx website linked to the president's deals to lower the price of some prescription drugs, along with “overdue upgrades of national landmarks, lasting peace deals, and wealth-creation accounts for children are historic initiatives that would not have been possible without President Trump’s bold leadership.”

"The Administration’s focus isn’t on smart branding, but delivering on President Trump’s goal of Making America Great Again," Huston said.

The White House pointed out that the nation's capital was named after President George Washington and the Hoover Dam was named after President Herbert Hoover while each was serving as president.

For Trump, it’s a continuation of the way he first etched his place onto the American consciousness, becoming famous as a real estate developer who affixed his name in big gold letters on luxury buildings and hotels, a casino and assorted products like neckties, wine and steaks.

As he ran for president in 2024, the candidate rolled out Trump-branded business ventures for watches, fragrances, Bibles and sneakers — including golden high tops priced at $799. After taking office again last year, Trump's businesses launched a Trump Mobile phone company, with plans to unveil a gold-colored smartphone and a cryptocurrency memecoin named $TRUMP.

That’s not to be confused with plans for a physical, government-issued Trump coin that U.S. Treasurer Brandon Beach said the U.S. Mint is planning.

Trump has also reportedly told the owners of Washington’s NFL team that he would like his name on the Commanders’ new stadium. The team’s ownership group, which has the naming rights, has not commented on the idea. But a White House spokeswoman in November called the proposed name “beautiful” and said Trump made the rebuilding of the stadium possible.

The addition of Trump’s name to the Kennedy Center in December so outraged independent Sen. Bernie Sanders of Vermont that he introduced legislation this week to ban the naming or renaming of any federal building or land after a sitting president — a ban that would retroactively apply to the Kennedy Center and Institute of Peace.

“I think he is a narcissist who likes to see his name up there. If he owns a hotel, that’s his business,” Sanders said in an interview. “But he doesn’t own federal buildings.”

Sanders likened Trump's penchant for putting his name on government buildings and more to the actions of authoritarian leaders throughout history.

“If the American people want to name buildings after a president who is deceased, that’s fine. That’s what we do,” Sanders said. “But to use federal buildings to enhance your own position very much sounds like the ‘Great Leader’ mentality of North Korea, and that is not something that I think the American people want.”

Although some of the naming has been suggested by others, the president has made clear he’s pleased with the tributes.

Three months after the announcement of the Trump Route for International Peace and Prosperity, a name the White House says was proposed by Armenian officials, the president gushed about it at a White House dinner.

“It’s such a beautiful thing, they named it after me. I really appreciate it. It’s actually a big deal,” he told a group of Central Asian leaders.

Engel, the presidential historian, said the practice can send a signal to people "that the easiest way to get access and favor from the president is to play to his ego and give him something or name something after him.”

Some of the proposals for honoring Trump include legislation in Congress from New York Republican Rep. Claudia Tenney that would designate June 14 as “Trump’s Birthday and Flag Day," placing the president with the likes of Martin Luther King Jr., George Washington and Jesus Christ, whose birthdays are recognized as national holidays.

Florida Republican Rep. Greg Steube has introduced legislation that calls for the Washington-area rapid transit system, known as the Metro, to be renamed the “Trump Train.” North Carolina Republican Rep. Addison McDowell has introduced legislation to rename Washington Dulles International Airport as Donald J. Trump International Airport.

McDowell said it makes sense to give Dulles a new name since Trump has already announced plans to revamp the airport, which currently is a tribute to former Secretary of State John Foster Dulles.

The congressman said he wanted to honor Trump because he feels the president has been a champion for combating the scourge of fentanyl, a personal issue for McDowell after his brother’s overdose death. But he also cited Trump’s efforts to strike peace deals all over the world and called him “one of the most consequential presidents ever.”

“I think that’s somebody that deserves to be honored, whether they’re still the president or whether they’re not," he said.

More efforts are underway in Florida, Trump’s adopted home.

Republican state lawmaker Meg Weinberger said she is working on an effort to rename Palm Beach International Airport as Donald J. Trump International Airport, a potential point of confusion with the Dulles effort.

The road that the president will see christened Friday is not the first Florida asphalt to herald Trump upon his return to the White House.

In the south Florida city of Hialeah, officials in December 2024 renamed a street there as President Donald J. Trump Avenue.

Trump, speaking at a Miami business conference the next month, called it a “great honor” and said he loved the mayor for it.

“Anybody that names a boulevard after me, I like,” he said.

He added a few moments later: “A lot of people come back from Hialeah, they say, ‘They just named a road after you.' I say, ‘That’s OK.’ It’s a beginning, right? It’s a start.”

FILE - A sign for the Rose Garden is seen near the Presidential Walk of Fame on the Colonnade at the White House, Jan. 13, 2026, in Washington. (AP Photo/Mark Schiefelbein, File)

FILE - President Donald Trump speaks with reporters as a flag pole is installed on the South Lawn of the White House, June 18, 2025, in Washington. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci, File)

FILE - Workers add President Donald Trump's name to the John F. Kennedy Memorial Center for the Performing Arts, after a Trump-appointed board voted to rename the institution, in Washington, Dec. 19, 2025. (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite, File)

FILE - A poster showing the Trump Gold Card is seen as President Donald Trump signs executive orders in the Oval Office of the White House, Sept. 19, 2025, in Washington. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon, file)