Yungblud responds to critics of VMA Ozzy Osbourne tribute performance

(NOTE LANGUAGE) Yungblud has responded to criticisms of his performance on the MTV Video Music Awards in tribute to the late Ozzy Osbourne.

The topic came up during Yungblud’s guest appearance on the Trying Not to Die podcast, which is co-hosted by Ozzy’s son, Jack Osbourne. 

“You’ll never see someone that’s bigger or more emotionally evolved than you talk s*** on you,” Yungblud says. “You ain’t ever gonna see f****** [Metallica frontman] James Hetfield slag off a young rock star, because he’s James f****** Hetfield. … They don’t need to insert themselves into a conversation, because they’re emotionally evolved and they know what it takes to get somewhere.”

While neither Yungblud nor Jack mention any critics by name, The Darkness guitarist Dan Hawkins made headlines when he called the VMA performance, which also featured Aerosmith‘s Steven Tyler and Joe Perry and Extreme‘s Nuno Bettencourt, “Cynical, nauseating and more importantly; s***.”

“All I was trying to do was my best for your old man, because he gave me such a gift,” Yungblud tells Jack. “When people try and intellectualize a sense of spirit and six musicians on a stage going, ‘I f****** love you, man,’ it’s just bitter and jealous.”

Jack also refutes the idea of Yungblud “inserting himself” into Ozzy’s narrative, sharing that he’s long been a friend of the Osbourne family.

“They are doing the things that they say we are doing,” Yungblud says of the critics. “They’re trying to insert themselves into a conversation to obtain some kind of relevancy, on the back of us honoring one of the greatest rock stars that ever lived. And then they talk about authenticity and stuff like that. And it’s like, I just loved your dad.”