Justin Hawkins defends his brother Dan's scathing Yungblud Ozzy tribute criticisms
"It doesn’t ring authentic," Justin agrees
The Darkness’ Justin Hawkins has defended his younger brother Dan’s scathing comments about the Ozzy Osbourne tribute at the MTV Video Music Awards.
At the VMAs ceremony in New York on Sunday 7th September, Yungblud, Extreme’s Nuno Bettencourt and Black Sabbath keyboardist Adam Wakeman performed ‘Crazy Train’ and ‘Changes’, before they were joined by Aerosmith’s Steven Tyler and Joe Perry for ‘Mama, I'm Coming Home’.
Appalled by the seven-minute Ozzy medley, Darkness guitarist Dan Hawkins shared footage on Instagram, and blasted: “Another nail in the coffin of rock n roll. Cynical, nauseating and more importantly; s---. Makes me sick how people jump on this s--- to further their own careers.”
In the new episode of his esteemed Justin Hawkins Rides Again podcast, Justin addresses the “mischief” Dan “got himself into simply by speaking his mind”.
Speaking from his hotel room in Pennsylvania, Justin said: “Dan was so triggered that he instructed his social media manager to post something along the lines of ‘What a bunch of bell---s’, which is just poking a bit of good-natured fun at the people involved.”
After describing Nuno Bettencourt as “one of the greatest guitarists to ever walk the earth” and heaping praise on Joe Perry and Steven Tyler, Justin watched footage of Yungblud on the red carpet.
“I know what he’s doing, I think he’s doing Ozzy,” Justin said of the way Yungblud spoke to reporters. “The tribute to Ozzy extends to what he was doing on the red carpet. So the minute he got there, he was like ‘OK, this is for Ozzy.’ One difference though, Ozzy was f---king hilarious, he really was funny.”
After praising Nuno again while watching footage of the medley, Justin continued: “I suppose one of the things that irks musicians of a certain age is to watch Ozzy invent heavy metal, do his solo stuff with Randy Rhoads and all this amazing decades of brilliant music, and then sort of see Ozzy turn into the household name Ozzy, post-MTV television series Ozzy, and then you kind of think ‘What the f--- does all those decades of being brilliant have to do with that?' And ‘What the f--- does all those decades of inventing metal and having an incredible legacy got to do with Yungblud?
“I feel like what irks musicians of a certain age is the fact that Yungblud seems to have positioned himself – it feels cynical to some people I think, I’m not saying I feel this way – it feels like he’s positioned himself as a natural heir to the Ozzy legacy, having had nothing to do with the really, really important stuff.”
The video then shows a video of a young Dominic Harrison performing ‘Tell It Like it Is’ for Disney TV show The Lodge. Darkness drummer Rufus Tiger Taylor quips “you can see Black Sabbath all over that. Heavily influenced clearly, I think Ozzy was always his North Star.”
Justin then adds: “All of this posturing is Jim Morrison meets the bloke from Stone Temple Pilots meets everybody else who’s ever owned a pair of leather trousers and gone like that (pulls the Morrison-esque Jesus pose). It’s really 101 School of Rock stuff, you know? It’s just the latest in a long line of – I’m sorry to say it – poseurs.
“What’s happening here is like rock suddenly has mainstream, centre stage, the world’s attention for one moment at the VMAs having been overlooked for decades. Here we are at the MTV Awards, we have an opportunity to do a fitting opportunity to Ozzy, which also puts rock on the map a little bit and inspires kids to listen to guitar music. Everybody in this band is jostling for position. You get a little moment like that when you should let the riff breathe for a bit – Nuno’s overplaying in that bit to try and go ‘I’m Nuno! Remember me?!’ It feels a bit forced... it’s just feels like it’s a bit too much in this moment when we have the spotlight. For seven minutes, the world is looking at rock and this is what we’ve given them.”
Mimicking Yungblud’s headbanging while holding the microphone stand, Justin quipped: “It’s like you’ve watched a movie about rock and metal. I suppose it’s more like what a male stripper would do with heavy metal music playing. It doesn’t ring authentic.”
Jusin goes on to praise “Nuno Bettencourt’s fingers” as the “eighth to eighteenth wonders of the world”, but he’s less complimentary about Yungblud’s “painful” vocal technique: “It’s rock n’ roll, but not as we know it.
“It kind of has this Disney veneer over the top of it, like it’s rock n’ roll seen through an Instagram filter of some sort. That’s what makes it galling I think for people who have tweeted to voice disdain.”
"It's actually like watching David Hasselhoff, who I think is one of the greats... So when I say that, it's not actually an insult. I just mean that it's like rock'n'roll done by somebody who, perhaps, was famous for driving a talking car and who probably felt reassured by wearing little red shorts and looking after you at the beach. It's like a television personality doing rock'n'roll."
Questioning why MTV couldn’t get the surviving members to Black Sabbath to pay tribute, Justin concludes the video: “I hope some of what I’ve said today can shed some light on what musicians of a certain age – i.e. my age - find irksome about a performance like that.
“I think it’s just about integrity, authenticity and seeing that something that has genuinely been outsider’s music since Ozzy invented it to be sort of front and centre like that and be whitewashed like that in that slightly galling television way. It’s hard to watch when you’ve spent your life playing this stuff. I’ll leave you with this final thought: the greatest trick the devil ever pulled is convincing the world that Ozzy gave a s--- about him.”
Ozzy Osbourne's final concert in photos:
Black Sabbath and Ozzy Osbourne's Back to the Beginning
A giant inflatable Ozzy greeted fans arriving at Holte End of Villa Park.
Black Sabbath and Ozzy Osbourne's Back to the Beginning
Back to the Beginning host Jason Momoa and Aerosmith's Steven Tyler pose in an empty Villa Park as gates open.
Black Sabbath and Ozzy Osbourne's Back to the Beginning
Atlanta, Georgia metal monoliths Mastodon were the first band to take to the Back to the Beginning stage.
Black Sabbath and Ozzy Osbourne's Back to the Beginning
Thrash legends Anthrax pose in front of the Villa Park crowd after their performance at Back to the Beginning. Wearing matching 'Sabbath Bloody Anthrax' T-shirts, Anthrax played their own song 'Indians' and a fiery cover of Black Sabbath's 'Into the Void'.
Black Sabbath and Ozzy Osbourne's Back to the Beginning
Anthrax guitarist Scott Ian, wearing a 'Sabbath Bloody Anthrax' T-shirt with 'Iommi 666' on the back, at the Back to the Beginning concert.
Black Sabbath and Ozzy Osbourne's Back to the Beginning
Yungblud belts out Black Sabbath's 'Changes' at the Back to the Beginning concert at Villa Park. Performing as part of Supergroup A, Yungblud dedicated the track to late Liverpool player Diogo Jota.
Black Sabbath and Ozzy Osbourne's Back to the Beginning
Aerosmith's Steven Tyler performed as part of 'Supergroup B', singing on 'The Train Kept A-Rollin'' and 'Walk This Way / Whole Lotta Love'
Black Sabbath and Ozzy Osbourne's Back to the Beginning
Back to the Beginning musical director Tom Morello with Steven Tyler at Villa Park.
Black Sabbath and Ozzy Osbourne's Back to the Beginning
An inflatable Ozzy Osbourne ball in Aston Villa colours bounces in the crowd at Villa Park.
Black Sabbath and Ozzy Osbourne's Back to the Beginning
Although he didn't appear at Villa Park, Tenacious D's Jack Black performed Ozzy Osbourne's 'Mr. Crowley' on the screens with a young band that included Scott Ian's son, Revel.
Black Sabbath and Ozzy Osbourne's Back to the Beginning
Tom Morello wore a Randy Rhoads T-shirt with 'Sabbath Rules' taped to the back of his guitar.
Black Sabbath and Ozzy Osbourne's Back to the Beginning
In character as Papa V Perpetua, Ghost leader Tobias Forge sang 'Bark at the Moon ' with Vernon Reid, Nuno Bettencourt, Adam Wakeman, Rudy Sarzo and Travis Barker.
Black Sabbath and Ozzy Osbourne's Back to the Beginning
One of the surprise performers, The Rolling Stones' Ronnie Wood played on The Train Kept A-Rollin' as part of Supergroup B.
Black Sabbath and Ozzy Osbourne's Back to the Beginning
Metallica's James Hetfield and Robert Trujillo in front of the glorious Villa Park crowd at Black Sabbath and Ozzy Osbourne's Back to the Beginning concert on Saturday 5th July.
Black Sabbath and Ozzy Osbourne's Back to the Beginning
Metallica's Lars Ulrich at Back to the Beginning. The metal titans' six-song set included covers of Black Sabbath's 'Hole in the Sky' and 'Johnny Blade', plus their own Metallica classics 'Creeping Death', 'For Whom the Bell Tolls', 'Battery' and 'Master of Puppets'.
Black Sabbath and Ozzy Osbourne's Back to the Beginning
As he took to the stage on his bat throne, Ozzy Osbourne told the adoring Villa Park crowd: "It's so good to be on this stage... You have no idea how I feel. Thank you from the bottom of my heart."
Black Sabbath and Ozzy Osbourne's Back to the Beginning
Ozzy Osbourne flips the bird at photographer Ross Halfin.
Black Sabbath and Ozzy Osbourne's Back to the Beginning
The Prince of Darkness on his bat throne.
Black Sabbath and Ozzy Osbourne's Back to the Beginning
Ozzy sang five solo tracks - 'I Don't Know', 'Mr. Crowley', 'Suicide Solution', 'Mama, I'm Coming Home' and 'Crazy Train' - before he was joined on stage by his Black Sabbath band mates Bill Ward, Geezer Butler and Tony Iommi one last time.
Black Sabbath and Ozzy Osbourne's Back to the Beginning
The concert at Villa Park was Ozzy Osbourne and Black Sabbath's last-ever live performance.
Black Sabbath and Ozzy Osbourne's Back to the Beginning
The Hand of Doom himself Tony Iommi at Black Sabbath's final concert at Villa Park.
Black Sabbath and Ozzy Osbourne's Back to the Beginning
Black Sabbath bassist Geezer Butler at Back to the Beginning
Black Sabbath and Ozzy Osbourne's Back to the Beginning
Black Sabbath drummer Bill Ward at Back to the Beginning
Black Sabbath and Ozzy Osbourne's Back to the Beginning
Black Sabbath guitarist Tony Iommi at Back to the Beginning
Black Sabbath and Ozzy Osbourne's Back to the Beginning
Black Sabbath bassist Geezer Butler at Back to the Beginning
Black Sabbath and Ozzy Osbourne's Back to the Beginning
Black Sabbath bassist Geezer Butler at Back to the Beginning
Black Sabbath and Ozzy Osbourne's Back to the Beginning
Black Sabbath guitarist Tony Iommi at Back to the Beginning
Black Sabbath and Ozzy Osbourne's Back to the Beginning
Black Sabbath drummer Bill Ward at Back to the Beginning
Black Sabbath and Ozzy Osbourne's Back to the Beginning
Black Sabbath guitarist Tony Iommi at Back to the Beginning