Yungblud appeared on the latest episode of Jack Osbourne’s podcast to fire back at the “bitter and jealous” critics of his tribute to Ozzy Osbourne at the MTV Video Music Awards.
During the hour-long conversation, the pair talked about Yungblud’s U.S. tour, how Ozzy mentored the singer after they met on Yungblud’s “The Funeral” video, and the all-star farewell Back to the Beginning concert, where Yungblud covered “Changes” in a performance he felt endeared him to an older generation of rock fans.
“The Back to the Beginning show, I think it made America pay attention [to me]. It was like the biggest gift,” Yungblud said. “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.”
However, that universal goodwill was short-lived as, after Osbourne died weeks after that all-star farewell concert, Yungblud returned to the stage to pay tribute to Ozzy during the MTV Video Music Awards, a performance that had its share of critics: As Jack Osbourne noted, after the VMAs, “some rock stars were slagging [Yungblud] off, and kinda being ‘Oh he’s just clout-chasing, jumping on the bandwagon of Ozzy’s passing.’”
“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 intellectualize a sense of spirit and six musicians on a stage going ‘fucking love you man’, it’s just bitter and jealous,” Yungblud said of the performance that also featured Aerosmith’s Steven Tyler and Joe Perry and guitarist Nuno Bettencourt.
“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.”
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As Billboard notes, Yungblud’s comments were a response to specific criticism made by the Darkness’ Justin and Dan Hawkins, who called the VMA tribute “cynical, nauseating and, more importantly, shit,” and added that Yungblud was the “latest in a long line of – I’m sorry to say it – poseurs.”
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“You will never see someone that’s bigger or more emotionally evolved than you talk shit on you,” Yungblud said, adding that other rockers praised the VMA performance over text message. “You ain’t ever going to see fucking [Metallica’s] James Hetfield slag off a young rock star, because he’s James fucking Hetfield. They don’t need to insert themselves into a conversation. Because they’re emotionally evolved and they know what it takes to get somewhere.”
“Ozzy was like my Batman,” Yungblud said, adding that within 10 minutes of first meeting Osbourne on “The Funeral” video shoot, “[Ozzy] made me a salami sandwich.”
