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Ozzy Osbourne’s family is planning a “small, private funeral” for the star that will celebrate his life, a source close to the family tells PEOPLE
Osbourne died on July 22 at age 76, two weeks after his final performance
A source tells PEOPLE the late rocker “would never want a mope-fest”
Ozzy Osbourne may have been the Prince of Darkness, but his final days were full of light.
Osbourne, who died on July 22 at age 76, will be honored by his family with a funeral befitting the star’s infectious spirit, a source close to the family tells PEOPLE in this week’s cover story.
“They’re very grateful for the special family time they had together before Ozzy passed,” the source says. “They’re planning a small, private funeral that will be a celebration of his life. Ozzy would never want a mope-fest.”
The source adds that the rocker’s family, including wife Sharon, 72, and their kids Aimee, 41, Jack, 39, and Kelly, 40, is “touched by all the love and support pouring in from around the world.”
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Ozzy Osbourne in 1991
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Though Osbourne had struggled with his health in recent years (he announced in 2020 that he’d been diagnosed with Parkinson’s disease), his death came as somewhat of a shock; just two weeks earlier, he performed one final time at a farewell concert with Black Sabbath, the band he co-founded in 1968.
The show, held in his native Birmingham, England, was an emotional homecoming for the star, who seamlessly bridged the gap between menacing Black Sabbath frontman and foul-mouthed but soft-hearted family man on MTV’s The Osbournes.
“You have no idea how I feel,” he said from the stage while sitting in a throne topped with a bat. “Thank you from the bottom of my heart.”
It was a fitting farewell for Osbourne, who gained mainstream fame with the band on the back of hits like “Iron Man” and “Paranoid” before going solo in 1980 with the chart-topper “Crazy Train.” The year prior, he was ousted from the very band he’d co-founded amid a years-long struggle with substance abuse.
“I can do absolutely nothing in moderation,” he told PEOPLE in 1981. “If it’s booze, I drink the place dry. If it’s drugs, I take everything and then scrape the carpet for little crumbs.”
The rocker — who got sober in 2013 — eventually turned things around with the help of his manager-turned-wife Sharon. The daughter of music bigwig Don Arden, who’d previously managed Black Sabbath, Sharon helped steer Osbourne’s solo career, which lasted well into his 70s. The star’s final album, Patient Number 9, came out in 2022 and won Best Rock Album at the Grammys.
With Sharon by his side, Osbourne’s career reached new heights in the early 2000s with the runaway success of MTV’s The Osbournes, which chronicled the dysfunctional day-to-day of the couple and their two youngest children Jack and Kelly (Oldest daughter Aimee opted out).
Sharon, 72, told PEOPLE in 2022 that she considered the show “the best video diary” for the couple’s 10 grandchildren, noting, “It’s the greatest gift to pass down.”
Kelly spoke out days after her father’s death by sharing lyrics from the Black Sabbath song “Changes,” which she and her dad recorded as a duet together in 2003.
“I feel unhappy I am so sad,” Kelly wrote on her Instagram Stories. “I lost the best friend I ever had 💔”
Osbourne’s family announced his death with a statement obtained by PEOPLE that was signed by Kelly, Sharon, Jack and Aimee, as well as Louis, Osbourne’s son with first wife Thelma Riley (they also shared daughter Jessica and son Elliot).
“It is with more sadness than mere words can convey that we have to report that our beloved Ozzy Osbourne has passed away this morning,” the statement read. “He was with his family and surrounded by love. We ask everyone to respect our family privacy at this time.”
For more on Ozzy Osbourne, pick up this week’s issue of PEOPLE, on newsstands everywhere Friday.
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