Justin Hawkins doubled down on his criticism of portraying Yungblud as the “heir” of Ozzy Osbourne, while clarifying that his and his brother’s previous remarks about the young musician had to do with his performance at the MTV VMA earlier this year

Yungblud has been going from strength to strength with the four albums he released so far, with the last two, 2022’s “Yungblud” and this year’s “Idols,” topping the UK Album Chart upon release. While certain parts of the rock fanbase took some time to warm up to the 28-year-old rising star, several veteran rockers embraced him immediately — Mick Jagger said in 2022 that Yungblud was one of the musicians who made him “think there is still a bit of life in rock and roll”, while Ozzy Osbourne featured prominently in the music video for “The Funeral” single, sparking a great friendship between the two.

Justin Hawkins Remains Skeptical About Yungblud As Ozzy’s “Heir”

His performance of the 1972 Black Sabbath classic “Changes” at the godfathers of metal’s farewell show in Birmingham this July 5 made more parts of the rock fandom embrace Yungblud and received high praise — The Guardian’s review of the concert described it as “sincere,” “passionate,” and “compelling a whole-stadium singalong,” while Kerrang! described it as “fucking brilliant” — but Justin Hawkins remains unconvinced.

“If the future of rock comes from musical theatre and Disney, if this is Ozzy’s heir, we’re in trouble,” Hawkins told Classic Rock in a new interview (via Guitar), referencing the notion that Yungblud is being presented as the “heir” of The Prince of Darkness, and the fact that the musician started as an actor in Disney Channel’s “The Lodge”.

The Hawkins Brothers’ Spat With Yungblud

This isn’t the first time that a Hawkins from The Darkness criticized the young musician, né Dominic Richard Harrison.

After guitarist Dan Hawkins slammed Yungblud’s performance at the MTV VMA, which took place on September 7 on Long Island as “cynical, nauseating, and, more importantly, shit,” Justin elaborated on the criticism, arguing that comparisons to Ozzy Osbourne are inadequate given how much more energy The Prince of Darkness poured into creating and sustaining heavy music compared to Yungblud.

“I feel like what irks musicians of a certain age is the fact that Yungblud seems to have positioned himself as a natural heir to the Ozzy legacy, having nothing to do with the really important stuff,” Hawkins said, while adding several days later that he admired his younger colleague’s spirit, but that he “comes off like a TV personality doing rock.”

Now, Hawkins told Classic Rock that the original criticism was sparked by

“We said [called it a] ‘bit shit’ [because of the] auto-tune that was being run in real time. If the future of rock needs auto-tune to carry a song, then we are in trouble.”

The Osbournes Continue to Support Yungblud

Even so, Yungblud still enjoys considerable support from the Osbourne camp. In 2022, the young musician claimed that Ozzy told him “that he saw a lot of himself in [Harrison]”, while Sharon Osbourne congratulated Yungblud after his rendition of “Changes” from “Back to the Beginning” received a Grammy nomination for Best Rock Performance — in addition to nomination for Best Rock Album for “Idols”, and Best Rock Song for the single “Zombie”, per Billboard.

“I’m so proud of you. It’s just amazing, and I know Ozzy is smiling down at you. Love you always, Sharon,” she wrote in an Instagram post from November 8.

In the interview, she revealed there was a “deal” for an Ozzy biopic, and that the task at hand was to “look for people to work on the movie.”

Pressed about the potential candidates who could play her late husband, Sharon refused to give a direct answer, but said that there was one person she was thinking about. Asked if it was Yungblud, she vaguely said, “I’m not saying a word.”