On Wednesday, July 30, a funeral procession for the late Ozzy Osbourne passed through his hometown of Birmingham, England. As the legendary artist passed down Broad Street one final time, mourning fans and admirers gathered to pay their respects to the late Prince of Darkness. In his wake, the city’s Black Sabbath bench and bridge became lined with heartfelt material tributes, including flowers, photographs and hand-created art and artefacts. Osbourne’s hometown has announced that those items will be collected and preserved as a lasting testament to his undying legacy.

The Central Birmingham Business Improvement District is now tasked with managing the wealth of items left to memorialize Osbourne, sorting through contributions from fans who traveled from as far as Mexico, El Salvador and Trinidad and Tobago. A message from the central BID describes some of the items included as “guitars, mini amplifiers, angels, candles plus lots and lots of toy bats,” all of which will be entered into a digital record in the coming weeks. The flowers placed in remembrance will be mulched and distributed at the artist’s final resting place; among them, per the family’s wishes, are the 10 purple roses wrapped in black cloth left by Sharon Osbourne and other loved ones.

“Our team at Central BID has been sorting through them at a secret location, large enough to accommodate the thousands of poignant messages, flowers and gifts,” the Central BID detailed. “Thank you again to everyone who took the time to pay their respects to Ozzy Osbourne in Birmingham.”

“Ozzy was more than a music legend – he was a son of Birmingham,” Birmingham mayor Zafar Iqbal commented. “Having recently been awarded the Freedom of the City and following his celebrated appearance at the Back to the Beginning concert at Villa Park earlier this month, it was important to the city that we support a fitting, dignified tribute ahead of a private family funeral.”

Osbourne, the godfather of heavy metal, died on July 22. In his tenure as the founding frontman for Black Sabbath and his solo career, the singer and songwriter guided the development of a titanic subculture by possessing the hardest-hitting strains of rock with grim themes and his unmistakable howl, earning widespread reverence and household recognition as the “Prince of Darkness.” He was 76.

Read a full obituary for Osbourne here.