Yungblud has fired back at critics who slammed his tribute to Ozzy Osbourne at the MTV Video Music Awards, calling them “bitter and jealous” during an appearance on Jack Osbourne’s podcast.
The English artist appeared on the latest episode of Jack Osbourne’s podcast to address the backlash surrounding his VMA performance (as per Rolling Stone), where he paid tribute to the late Black Sabbath frontman alongside Aerosmith’s Steven Tyler and Joe Perry, plus guitarist Nuno Bettencourt.
“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. 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,” Yungblud said during the hour-long conversation.
The criticism primarily came from The Darkness members Justin and Dan Hawkins, who called the VMA tribute “cynical, nauseating and, more importantly, shit.” They also branded Yungblud as the “latest in a long line… poseurs.”
Yungblud’s relationship with Ozzy began when they met on the video shoot for “The Funeral”, where the metal legend took the young artist under his wing. “Within 10 minutes of first meeting [Ozzy], he made me a salami sandwich,” Yungblud recalled, describing Osbourne as “like my Batman.”
The singer also discussed how his performance of “Changes” at Ozzy’s farewell ‘Back to the Beginning’ concert helped bridge generational gaps within rock music. “The ‘Back to the Beginning’ show, I think it made America pay attention [to me]. It was like the biggest gift,” he explained.
“I think what was crazy, for the older generation, Yungblud — for a while — had a bad stigma, ‘Oh I can’t listen to that, it’s for the kids…’ The most beautiful thing about [‘Back to the Beginning’] was that it was six generations of rock musicians coming together for the first time, and I think finally people had something in common with me.”
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However, the universal goodwill was short-lived when Ozzy passed away weeks after the farewell concert, leading to Yungblud’s controversial VMA tribute performance.
Defending his actions, Yungblud argued that his critics were guilty of the very behaviour they accused him of. “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 honouring one of the greatest rock stars that ever lived.”
