After Ozzy Osbourne‘s passing in late July, tributes poured out for the rock legend, including a performance at the MTV VMAs in September by Yungblud, Steven Tyler, and Nuno Bettencourt. The trio took the stage to perform several Black Sabbath and Ozzy hits, notably “Changes,” which Yungblud (real name Dominic Harrison) also performed at the Back To The Beginning concert honoring Ozzy.
Now, the up-and-coming rock star is having to defend himself and his performance against none other than his contemporaries. Criticisms came recently from Justin and Dan Hawkins of British rock band The Darkness, with Dan initially slamming the VMAs performance as “cynical, nauseating and, more importantly, shit.”
Dan also wrote, “Makes me sick how people jump on this shit to further their own careers.” The Hawkins brothers went back and forth with their comments, reacting to each other’s posts and to fans’ opinions. Justin claimed that Yungblud was apparently the “latest in a long line of – I’m sorry to say it – poseurs.” He also added that the young singer “comes off like a TV personality doing rock.”
Yungblud Reacts To Criticisms From The Darkness Brothers To His Ozzy Osbourne Tribute
Yungblud, meanwhile, responded to the Hawkins brothers during an interview with Jack Osbourne and Ryan Drexler on their Trying Not To Die podcast. The two spoke about the criticisms, as well as the behind-the-scenes relationship Yungblud had with Ozzy. According to Jack, his father held a more prominent place in the singer’s life than people know about.
“You will never see someone that’s bigger or more emotionally evolved than you talk shit on you,” said Yungblud, sitting across from Jack Osbourne. “You ain’t ever going to see fucking James Hetfield slag off a young rock star, because he’s James fucking Hetfield.”
He continued, “They don’t need to insert themselves into a conversation. Because they’re emotionally evolved and they know what it takes to get somewhere.”
Jack Osbourne Sets the Record Straight For ‘Bitter’ Critics
Jack Osbourne then took the time to elaborate on Yungblud’s relationship with Ozzy, defending him against critics who felt he was just “clout chasing” or “jumping on the bandwagon of Ozzy passing.”
Instead, said Jack, “You were so much more involved. These people didn’t fucking know, they don’t know the fucking story of it, the things we know, and I was kind of like, ‘Fuck you, dude’. Dom meant something to my dad, my dad meant something to Dom.”
“I think the strangest thing about that was all I was trying to do was my best for your old man, because he gave me such a gift,” Yungblud continued. “When people try and intellectualise a sense of spirit and six musicians on a stage going ‘fucking love you man’, it’s just bitter and jealous.
“They are doing the things they say we are doing. They’re trying to insert themselves into a conversation to obtain some kind of relevancy, on the back of us honoring one of the greatest rock stars that ever lived. And then they talk about authenticity and stuff like that. I just loved your dad.”
Photo by Kevin Mazur/Getty Images for MTV
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