Dan Hawkins of The Darkness has called the VMAs Ozzy Osbourne tribute featuring Yungblud, Steven Tyler, and Joe Perry “cynical” and “sh*t.”
Dan Hawkins, guitarist for The Darkness, has taken to Instagram to voice his anger at MTV’s tribute to the late Ozzy Osbourne at this year’s Video Music Awards (VMAs).
The tribute, which took place yesterday, featured a lineup including Yungblud, Steven Tyler, Joe Perry, Nuno Bettencourt, and longtime Black Sabbath keyboardist Adam Wakeman. The tribute included performances of ‘Crazy Train,’ Black Sabbath’s ‘Changes,’ and a rendition of ‘Mama, I’m Coming Home’.
While the performance was meant to honour Ozzy Osbourne, who died in July, it was met with criticism from some fans who saw it as opportunistic. Hawkins appeared to agree with that sentiment. Posting a clip from the VMAs on Instagram, he captioned it: “Another nail in the coffin of rock’n’roll. Cynical, nauseating and, more importantly, sh*t.”
He added: “Makes me sick how people jump on this sh*t to further their own careers,” closing the post with the hashtag “#whatabunchofc*nts.”
Some users suggested Hawkins’ anger might not have been directed at the performers onstage but at Ariana Grande, who was shown reacting to the segment in the short video he shared – her reaction went viral overnight. The guitarist added another caption over the clip which reads, “What a bunch of bellends.”
Yungblud, who wore one of Ozzy Osbourne’s crosses during the performance, has previously vowed to perform ‘Changes’ at every show for the rest of his life in tribute to the Prince of Darkness, who had a profound impact on his career. He also joined Steven Tyler and Bettencourt in July at Black Sabbath’s Back To The Beginning show in Birmingham, where they took part in what would become one of Osbourne’s final tributes in his hometown.
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