The Darkness Guitarist Throws Shade on VMA Ozzy Tribute

Is he wrong? Is it worth it to critique a tribute? IDK but that's where we are. The MTV VMAs aired on CBS this week. It's a significant move... the first time they ever aired on CBS. Part of the evening's events included a 7+ minute Ozzy tribute.

The performance included Steven Tyler, Joe Perry, YUNGBLUD, and Nuno Bettencourt covering several Ozzy and Black Sabbath songs. "Crazy Train," "Changes" and "Mama I'm Coming Home." YUNGBLUD handled a majority of the performance and was the source of The Darkness' Guitarist, Dan Hawkins ire.

Dan didn't mince words. He called the performance "cynical, nauseating, and s**t" on his Instagram page. He called the performers "bellends" and said, "Makes me sick how people jump on this (sic) to further their own careers." He's clearing pointing at YUNGBLUD as the other performers have had successful careers for decades.

A clip of the show with YUNGBLUD singing side-by-side with Steven Tyler and Joe Perry accompanies the post. The comments have been turned off but previously, Dan took some heat from followers who pointed out that these were friends of Osbourne doing the Ozzy tribute so why the harsh critique?

Did you see the performance? It's worth watching and then I'd love to discuss... here you go:

I like YUNGBLUD a lot... he's got style, charisma, hustle, and gets today's media roles. He's good for the future of rock and roll, but it's easy to drink your own Kool-Aid. He could be getting a Jesus complex already and that never ends well.

I liked the beginning performance a lot and I liked the Aerosmith piece. YUNGBLUD performing with Aerosmith, however, that I did not love. Steven Tyler has had his share of vocal issues and having YUNGBLUD sing with him... well, it sometimes felt like YUNGBLUD was singing on top of Steven. I'm not saying on purpose, but that's how it sounded to me.

Duets are tricky. When the artists are in sync, it's magic. But other duets feel like they are also duels. I felt like this about this performance. I'm not saying YUNGBLUD deliberately turned it into a duel, but it felt like one. The VMA Ozzy tribute is not the time for that. Maybe you heard it differently. That's just my opinion, but I didn't love the end section of this.

To be fair, it's the MTV VMA's. I'm not who they are marketing to... I haven't been in their age demo in quite some time. Regardless, it was the right thing to do an Ozzy tribute. And a tough thing to do in the light of Back to the Beginning. That show set an impossibly high bar.

YUNGBLUD and Ozzy definitely did have a bond. YUNGBLUD considered Ozzy a hero and was honored when Ozzy gave him a cross necklace and returned the favor at Back to the Beginning. More than one person felt that Ozzy saw himself in YUNGBLUD.