Yungblud Fires Back: “Bitter and Jealous” Rock Stars Slammed Over Ozzy Tribute Backlash
In the electrified aftermath of a heartfelt yet polarizing tribute to the late Ozzy Osbourne at the 2025 MTV Video Music Awards, Yungblud has unleashed a pointed clapback against his detractors—without ever dropping their names. The Doncaster dynamo, real name Dominic Harrison, addressed the controversy head-on during a raw, emotional episode of Jack Osbourne’s Trying Not to Die podcast, released October 7, 2025. Labeling his critics as “bitter and jealous,” Yungblud dismissed their barbs as desperate bids for relevance, insisting true rock icons don’t stoop to slinging mud at rising talents. “They’re trying to insert themselves into the conversation to obtain some kind of relevancy on the back of us honoring one of the greatest rock stars that ever lived,” he vented, his voice laced with defiance and a touch of pity. 3 It’s a classic generational rift: one side seeing reverence, the other exploitation, all set against the backdrop of Osbourne’s tragic passing just months earlier.
Flash back to September 7, 2025, at New York’s UBS Arena, where the VMAs pulsed with pop gloss and spectacle. Amid the bubblegum anthems and viral stunts, Yungblud joined an all-star supergroup—Aerosmith’s Steven Tyler and Joe Perry, Extreme’s Nuno Bettencourt, and Black Sabbath’s Adam Wakeman—for a seven-minute medley honoring the Prince of Darkness, who succumbed to a heart attack on July 22 at age 76. 8 The setlist was a Sabbath deep dive: Tyler’s gravelly wail on “Crazy Train,” Perry’s riff mastery on “Iron Man,” Bettencourt’s fiery solo in “Paranoid,” and Yungblud’s punk-infused take on the tender ballad “Changes”—a song Ozzy himself had championed as a personal favorite. Harrison, shirtless in ripped leather and donning a necklace gifted by Osbourne during a 2023 music video shoot, poured sweat and soul into the performance, screaming lyrics like a man possessed. “Ozzy was like my Batman,” he’d later recall on the podcast, reminiscing about their first meeting: “Within 10 minutes, he made me a salami sandwich.” 4 The crowd erupted; social media buzzed with clips racking up 50 million views. It felt like a baton pass from metal’s godfather to its chaotic heir.
But not everyone was headbanging. Within hours, disgust rippled through rock’s elder guard. One prominent guitarist decried the medley as “cynical and nauseating,” branding it “another nail in the coffin of rock n roll” and slamming the performers as “a bunch of bellends.” 6 His frontman sibling piled on via YouTube, likening Yungblud’s leather-clad, high-energy stage presence to a “male stripper” and dismissing the whole affair as “101 School of Rock stuff… the latest in a long line of—I’m sorry to say it—poseurs.” 0 “Yungblud seems to have positioned himself as a natural heir to the Ozzy legacy, having nothing to do with the really important stuff,” the singer added, critiquing the performance as “rock n’ roll seen through an Instagram filter.” 6 The Hawkins brothers—icons of early-2000s glam-rock revival—went viral, their comments fueling think pieces on authenticity in a TikTok era. Fans divided: Some hailed it as gatekeeping from has-beens; others nodded to a perceived dilution of metal’s raw edge.
A month later, on Jack Osbourne’s podcast, the rebuttal landed like a power chord. Host Jack, Ozzy’s son and a longtime pal of Harrison’s, teared up defending his friend’s involvement. “After the VMAs, there were some rock stars slagging you off… ‘Oh, he’s just clout-chasing, jumping on the bandwagon of Ozzy passing,’” Jack recounted, voice cracking. 1 He refuted the narrative fiercely: “You were so much more involved… Dom meant something to my dad. My dad meant something to Dom.” Yungblud, 28 and battle-scarred from years of mental health advocacy, leaned in with empathy-tinged fire. “You will never see someone that’s bigger or more emotionally evolved than you talk shit on you,” he said, name-dropping admirers like Metallica’s James Hetfield who’d texted praise post-performance. 4 “They don’t need to insert themselves… They’re bitter and jealous. They ain’t real rock stars.” 6 He welcomed the scrutiny, though: “It’s hard to understand someone who is trying to do rock music in a new way because, of course, I’m referencing the past.” 2 For Yungblud, it’s not defense—it’s evolution.
This dust-up isn’t isolated; it’s rock’s eternal tug-of-war between purists and innovators. Yungblud’s trajectory mirrors the chaos he channels: From 2018’s self-titled EP exploding with “Parents,” a Gen-Z cri de coeur against conformity, to 2022’s Weird!, his highest-charting album blending punk, pop, and hip-hop. Osbourne wasn’t just an idol—he was a mentor. Harrison performed “Changes” at Ozzy’s July 5 farewell concert at Birmingham’s Villa Park, weeks before the icon’s death, earning plaudits from metalheads for his raw cover. 2 Their bond? Forged in vulnerability—Ozzy, the reality TV survivor who’d battled Parkinson’s and addiction, saw his younger self in Yungblud’s unfiltered fury. “He was always my north star,” Harrison told NME post-passing. 6 Critics like the Hawkinses, whose band Permission to Land (2003) spoofed glam excess, might see echoes of their own theatricality in Yungblud’s flair—yet decry it as performative. Justin later defended the critique on YouTube: “We can’t live in this culture where criticism is not allowed… That’s how you become a better artist.” 6
The podcast moment has reignited the debate, with #YungbludVsRockStars trending on X, amassing 2 million posts. Supporters flood timelines with clips of the VMA set, praising its live vocals amid the show’s lip-sync scandals: “Amongst all the bubblegum and pizzazz, we were probably one of the only acts singing live,” Yungblud boasted. 2 Detractors double down, but Jack’s emotional plea—“These people didn’t fucking know. They don’t know the fucking story”—has swayed neutrals, humanizing the tribute as family-endorsed catharsis. 9 Broader rock discourse? It’s a microcosm of post-Ozzy grief: How do you honor a revolutionary without commodifying him? VMAs execs defended the slot as “a bridge between eras,” but Yungblud’s response elevates it—turning shade into spotlight on legacy’s messy handoff.
As October 2025 unfolds, Yungblud eyes forward: A massive 2026 world tour, teased on the podcast, promises “the weirdest, most inclusive rock show ever,” with collabs from Machine Gun Kelly to Bring Me the Horizon. 9 His clapback? A reminder that rock thrives on rebellion, not resentment. “Ozzy taught me to keep going,” he reflected. In slamming the “bitter” brigade, Yungblud doesn’t just defend—he embodies the Prince’s unkillable spirit. Gatekeepers, take note: The coffin’s nailed shut on yesterday’s beef. Rock’s future is loud, live, and unapologetically here.
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