Heartwarming meaning behind Sharon Osbourne’s gesture as she paid tribute to Ozzy at funeral

Fans spotted Sharon Osbourne making a sweet gesture in tribute to her late husband Ozzy as he was laid to rest earlier today (30 July).

The widow of the Black Sabbath frontman was unable to disguise her emotions as she saw the huge turnout in his hometown of Birmingham this afternoon.

Tens of thousands of people lined the streets to bid one final goodbye to the 76-year-old rocker, who died 'surrounded by love' last Tuesday (22 July) morning.

He had been living with Parkinson's disease since 2019, which he previously said made it feel as though his feet had 'bricks tied to them' when he was walking.

Ozzy had also had a nasty fall around the same time, which left him needing surgery, while he also suffered from a number of other health problems.

The star did one final lap of honour in Birmingham before his funeral got underway on Wednesday.

The hearse that carried his coffin - which was lined with purple flowers - passed by a string of poignant locations, including his childhood home. Six Mercedes funeral cars, along with police motorcycle riders and a police car, closely followed the procession.

The late Ozzy Osbourne, pictured in 2009, was laid to rest in Birmingham today (Jamie McCarthy/WireImage)

Huge crowds crammed together along the route to pay their respects to Ozzy, as the hearse also travelled down Broad Street and past the Black Sabbath bench, where thousands of tributes have been left for him.

This landmark is where wife Sharon and their three children, Aimee, Jack and Kelly, emerged from a car to take in the unbelievable crowd which had turned out for the musician.

Fittingly, former X Factor judge Sharon gestured towards the endless rows of fans by making two peace signs with both hands - which is a move that has become synonymous with Ozzy over the years.

Explaining the meaning behind the gesture, one fan who has followed Ozzy since the 70s explained in a Facebook post: "Some will say I am nit picking and not respecting how others view things.

(Loannis Alexopoulos/Anadolu via Getty Images)

"But I am seeing a lot of posts and pictures of billboards with images of the devil horns hand sign. Now I know that sign has become the 'official' sign of rock and roll, but Ozzy's gesture has always been the double peace sign.

"It was [Ronnie James] Dio that did the horns and made them popular with rock and roll long after Ozzy had been doing the double peace signs. Let's all please remember just another one of the things that Ozzy brought us!"

Ozzy previously addressed his penchant for using the peace sign during an interview with Rolling Stone in 2002.

Explaining his reasoning behind it, the Black Sabbath star said: "We were the last hippie band. We were into peace."

To add even more emotion to the moment between the Osbourne's and fans earlier today, the crowd then began chanting: "Ozzy Ozzy Ozzy, oi oi oi!"

Others shouted 'Thank you, Ozzy'.

His widow Sharon was seen replicating her late husband's iconic gesture (BBC)

Sharon became visibly upset as her husband's diehard fans paid homage to the heavy metal star in the city where his final performance took place just weeks ago.

The 72-year-old, who was married to Ozzy for over four decades, was seen embracing the Lord Mayor of Birmingham, Zafar Iqbal, at the Black Sabbath bench.

Each family member carried a pink rose which were wrapped in black paper tied with a purple ribbon.

These were then laid on top of the many other floral tributes that sat next to a poster of the star, which read: "Birmingham will always love you."

A local brass band also played some of Ozzy's most famous hits, including 'Iron Man', before the Osbournes arrived.