“Was it really necessary to refer to anyone as a bell**d? Let me try to explain”: Justin Hawkins jumps to his brother’s defence after criticism of Yungblud’s VMAs Ozzy Osbourne tribute
Justin Hawkins of The Darkness has spoken out on his brother’s negative comments regarding the Ozzy Osbourne tribute performance at the MTV VMAs.
A band consisting of Yungblud, Extreme’s Nuno Bettencourt, and Aerosmith’s Steven Tyler and Joe Perry performed a medley of Black Sabbath and Ozzy Osbourne hits at the awards ceremony, including Crazy Train, Mama, I’m Coming Home, and Changes – the latter of which was performed by Yungblud at the final Sabbath gig, Back To The Beginning, and received praise online.
READ MORE: “I was very bummed”: Wolfgang Van Halen explains the real reason he had to drop out of Ozzy and Black Sabbath’s farewell concert
Though many loved the tribute, including a very animated Ariana Grande who was in attendance at the event, others were not so keen. Hawkins’ brother, Dan Hawkins, took to Instagram to refer to the supergroup as a “bunch of bellends”, and criticised the performance as “nauseating”.
In a new video posted to the Justin Hawkins Rides Again YouTube channel, The Darkness vocalist has reflected on the comments made by his brother, and has tried to explain why he thinks the set didn’t go down so well with him.
“I feel like what irks musicians of a certain age is the fact that Yungblud seems to have positioned himself as a natural heir to the Ozzy legacy, having nothing to do with the really important stuff,” he says (via Classic Rock). “All of this posturing is Jim Morrison meets the bloke from Stone Temple Pilots meets everybody else who’s ever owned a pair of leather trousers. It’s 101 School of Rock stuff, you know?”
Though praising Nuno Bettencourt, he goes on to add: “It’s actually like watching David Hasselhoff, who I think is one of the greats… So when I say that, it’s not actually an insult. I just mean that it’s like rock ‘n’ roll done by somebody who, perhaps, was famous for driving a talking car and felt reassured by wearing little red shorts and looking after you at the beach. It’s like a television personality doing rock ‘n’ roll.”
Though the Hawkins brothers don’t see the appeal, other artists have formerly praised Yungblud including Matt Sorum and Geezer Butler. There’s also no denying that the young rock artist did in fact have a close bond with Osbourne before he passed.
Back in 2022, Ozzy and Sharon Osbourne featured in the video for Yungblud track The Funeral. Last year, Yungblud also featured on The Osbourne’s YouTube channel for an interview with Sharon and daughter Kelly Osbourne. Throughout, the pair continually shared their surprise at the similarities between him and Ozzy.
You can watch Justin Hawkins’ video below:
The Darkness are currently on tour in Canada, while Yungblud is touring in the US in support of his recent album, Idols.
The post “Was it really necessary to refer to anyone as a bell**d? Let me try to explain”: Justin Hawkins jumps to his brother’s defence after criticism of Yungblud’s VMAs Ozzy Osbourne tribute appeared first on Guitar.com | All Things Guitar.
Source: www.guitar-bass.net
