Justin Hawkins takes another brutal swing at Yungblud: “if the future of rock comes from musical theatre and Disney, if this is Ozzy’s heir, we’re in trouble”
Back in September, The Darkness’ Dan Hawkins labelled Yungblud’s VMAs Ozzy Osbourne tribute as “nauseating”. In the months since, Justin Hawkins has backed his brother up, revealing just why the pair are critical of the Doncaster rockstar.
The point of contention is how some are heralding Yungblud as Ozzy Obsourne’s “heir”. However, Justin thinks Harrison is just too squeaky-clean to be the next generation’s Prince of Darkness. “If the future of rock comes from musical theatre and Disney, if this is Ozzy’s heir, we’re in trouble,” Justin tells Classic Rock in a new interview.
READ MORE: The Darkness guitarist slams Yungblud’s VMAs Ozzy tribute as “nauseating” and “s**t” – but what’s the problem?
For those unaware, Yungblud, AKA Dom Harrison, previously starred as on Disney Channel show, The Lodge. The show ran between 2016 and 2017, with Harrison taking on the role of Oz, a cheeky, boy-next-door rocker – arguably a watered down, PG version of what he’s up to nowadays.
Despite Harrison moving on from his Disney days, most recently collaborating with Aerosmith for the One More Time EP, the Hawkins brothers can’t detach Harrison from his past. Harrison’s career has certainly been a bit more family-friendly than Ozzy Osbourne’s rampage of bat-chomping and drug-addled benders, that’s for sure.
With that in mind, The Darkness just can’t see him being Ozzy’s “heir”. Previously, Justin has also told Classic Rock that Harrison’s recent metamorphosis has felt like “101 School of Rock stuff”. But who can blame Justin for his caution; rockers are going to be critical of anything that threatens to encroach on Ozzy Osbourne’s legacy.
While Justin insists his and his brother’s opinion was never intended to start a “spat”, he did throw a slight dig at Harrison elsewhere in his chat with Classic Rock interview. Namely, he criticised Harrison’s use of auto-tune during the VMAs. “We said [called it a] ‘bit shit’ [because of the] auto-tune that was being run in real time,” he says. “If the future of rock needs auto-tune to carry a song, then we are in trouble.”
However, Harrison has previously proved his worth at Black Sabbath’s Back To The Beginning show. His performance of Changes showed some real vocal skills, and his performance has been repeatedly praised as an unsuspected standout of the event.
While the Hawkins brothers aren’t set to accept Yungblud as “Ozzy’s heir” any time soon, the Osbourne family have repeatedly expressed feelings that Harrison is similar to Ozzy. In a new interview with Piers Morgan on his Uncensored talkshow, Ozzy’s wife, Sharon Osbourne, seemed fond of the idea of Harrison portraying her late husband.
After revealing there was a “deal” agreed upon and that the job now was to “look for people to work on the movie”, Morgan asked “do you have any idea who you want to play him?”. After Sharon admitted she has someone in mind, she refuses to name anyone – but, when Morgan suggests “Yungblud?”, she lets out a small smile. While she doesn’t deny the suggestion, she simply says: “I’m not saying a word.”
The post Justin Hawkins takes another brutal swing at Yungblud: “if the future of rock comes from musical theatre and Disney, if this is Ozzy’s heir, we’re in trouble” appeared first on Guitar.com | All Things Guitar.
Source: www.guitar-bass.net
