Last weekend, Yungblud led an all-star cast of rock greats out onto the VMAs stage for a medley of Ozzy Osbourne classics, which was performed as a tribute to the late Black Sabbath singer.
Many of those in the audience and watching at home were quick to praise the Crazy Train / Mama, I’m Coming Home mash-up, but Dan Hawkins wasn’t among them. Instead, The Darkness electric guitar player took to social media to blast the performance – and he didn’t hold back in his assessment.
“Another nail in the coffin of rock n roll. Cynical, nauseating and more importantly; shit,” he wrote, before taking direct aim at the musicians involved in the tribute medley itself.
He adds, “Makes me sick how people jump on this shit to further their own careers.” Hawkins captions the clip – which also features pop singer Ariana Grande admiring the show – “What a bunch of bellends”. Comments for the post have been turned off.
For the medley, Yungblud – one of the standout performers at Back to the Beginning, whose awe-inspiring rendition of Changes was regarded as one of the many highlights of the event – was joined by Nuno Bettencourt, Steven Tyler and Joe Perry.
Alongside Perry, Bettencourt – who proved to be the MVP of the show that night with his supergroup-spanning contributions – was on hand with his Washburn to deliver the goods for the medley, while Tyler (just as he did at Back to the Beginning) demonstrated that his vocals were still in fine form, despite the fact Aerosmith retired from touring last year.
Prior to the performance, Yungblud shared a picture of himself with Ozzy at Back to the Beginning with the caption, “They’ve asked me to pay tribute to you at the @vmas on Sunday night. I’ll try my best to do you proud Oz. Tune in from up there. I love you forever”.
During Back to the Beginning, Ozzy had also given Yungblud a necklace, which was worn during the VMA show. Yungblud – whose own man-of-the-people ethos resonates with Ozzy’s legacy – has waxed lyrical about his admiration for Osbourne in the past on numerous occasions. Footage of the pair’s pre-show meet up was also recently released.
