Ozzy Osbourne’s rarely-seen son is breaking his silence nearly four months after the legendary Prince of Darkness was laid to rest.
Louis Osbourne – whom the late heavy metal pioneer welcomed with his first wife, Thelma Riley, in 1975 – reflected on his famous dad’s emotional funeral during an appearance on Jack Osbourne’s “Trying Not To Die” podcast Tuesday.
“Since dad passed, what’s been the standout thing for you that you were like ‘I was not expecting that?’” Jack, 40, asked his brother during the latest episode.
“The volume of people at the cortege,” Louis, 50, responded. “Because it’s my hometown where the cortege was, I live in Birmingham, and I know the street that it was going to be on.”
Following Ozzy’s shocking death at 76 on July 22, a public funeral procession was held through his hometown of Birmingham, England, on July 30.
Thousands of fans lined the streets as a hearse carrying the late “Crazy Train” rocker traveled along Broad Street, accompanied by a brass band playing Black Sabbath classics.
The procession later stopped at the Black Sabbath bench and bridge, where Ozzy’s loved ones – including his wife Sharon and kids Louis, Kelly, Jack and Aimee – laid out flowers and were met with an outpouring of support from fans.
“As we turned onto the street, or just slightly before we turned onto the street, I just thought it was going to be like two or three people deep for like half a kilometer before where the Black Sabbath bridge was and it would be a throng,” Louis recalled.
“As we came towards the street and turned onto the street, I’m getting goosebumps thinking about it now, it was f–king insane,” he continued. “Like people climbing up lampposts, hanging out of windows, standing on top of bus stops to get a look at it. It was awe-inspiring.”
While Louis acknowledged that fans “loved” his father, he never realized “how many” and “how much” until the day of Ozzy’s public funeral.
“Once we had all got out of the cars and showed our respects, and put some flowers down and moved on again, it kept on going for another half a mile, and then people were following us all around town,” he concluded.
Photos from the day of the “Miracle Man” singer’s cortege through Birmingham captured Ozzy’s loved ones mourning him before saying goodbye for the last time the following day.
Sharon, 73, was seen laying purple flowers at a memorial for her late husband. Another touching pic showed the former TV star hugging Kelly, 40, and holding Jack’s hands as she broke down in tears.
Each member of the famous family, meanwhile, included a reference to the musician in their black funeral attire.
Sharon wore Ozzy’s wedding ring on a chain around her neck, and Jack honored his dad with a small silver cross pin at the end of his tie. Kelly rocked a pair of round wire-rimmed sunglasses as Aimee, 41, wore a bat brooch on her black blazer.
Ozzy was later laid to rest next to the lake of his Buckinghamshire home during a private ceremony held on July 31.
Besides his closest loved ones, the memorial was attended by Ozzy’s longtime guitarist, Zakk Wylde, and former Black Sabbath bandmates Terence “Geezer” Butler, Tony Iommi and Bill Ward.
Shortly before Louis’ appearance on Jack’s show this week, Sharon revealed that Ozzy was hospitalized two weeks ahead of his final Black Sabbath show on July 5.
“The story, I don’t think even you know it, we had him in the hospital and we were just terrified that people were going to find out,” she confessed during “The Osbournes” podcast on Nov. 12.
“So we had all the security and the hospital… the hospital was amazing, they really were,” she added. “The people at the front desk were told ‘nobody, if they ask for Ozzy, he’s not here. Nobody’s allowed up.’ All of that.”
