Rod Stewart sings of building “a stairway to heaven with a prince or a vagabond” in his song Forever Young and has said the lyrics are about his children.
But the words took on a new meaning when some of his recent shows featured an AI-generated video of celebrities including Prince and David Bowie taking selfies with Ozzy Osbourne in heaven.
During his US tour Stewart, 80, has been dedicating Forever Young to the Black Sabbath frontman, who died on July 22 aged 76. Most recently it has been accompanied by an AI-generated video depicting Osbourne smiling, laughing and taking selfies with a host of other dead musicians atop a heavenly cloud.
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Captioned “eternal stars”, the video features the likenesses of Prince, Tina Turner, Bob Marley, Michael Jackson, Freddie Mercury, Jimi Hendrix, Kurt Cobain, George Michael, Whitney Houston, Janis Joplin, Amy Winehouse, Aaliyah, Tupac Shakur and the rapper XXXTentacion.
Ozzy Osbourne depicted with Freddie Mercury and, below, Tina Turner
The tribute has been shown since Stewart’s show on July 29 in Charlotte, North Carolina. The Charlotte Observer newspaper described the video being shown on the big screen during the first verse and chorus of Forever Young. Stewart was quoted as saying: “Very sad. A lot of those people died ’cause of drugs. I’m still here, though!”
Millions of people have seen the video on social media, describing it variously as weird, disrespectful or, more receptively, as memorable and creative.
Stewart and Osbourne performed together in 2002 at Queen Elizabeth’s Golden Jubilee. Stewart sang with Tina Turner on It Takes Two and he is known to have met Freddie Mercury and George Michael.
The Golden Jubilee in 2002: Ricky Martin, Rod Stewart, Ozzy Osbourne and Cliff Richard
STEFAN ROUSSEAU/PA
Tupac Shakur’s stepbrother, Mopreme Shakur, is not concerned about the video. He told TMZ: “I’m pretty sure we all love Rod Stewart. I’m not sure about the legalities of it, but I have no problem with him memorialising the greats. Personally, I’m good with it.”
XXXTentacion’s mother Cleopatra Bernard said she had no issues with the video and was glad her son had made enough impact to be included in it. None of the other artists’ families or estates have commented publicly.
What the law says
Mark Engelman, an intellectual property barrister, said: “There are a number of legal issues which arise from the inclusion of images of dead personalities of the likes of Prince, Tina Turner, Bob Marley and others in video clips.
“The most immediate is passing off, by false endorsement. The estates of the dead artists might well consider claims that even dead artists, like dead trademarks, retain a goodwill associated with their names and images which would otherwise benefit the estate, unless Rod Stewart obtained the licence of those images.
“Images of dead personalities are also protectable by image and personality right protection in numerous jurisdictions of the world, especially those registered in Guernsey, which actually possesses a register of those rights.
“Lastly, defamation claims remain actionable even when the defamed is deceased, if the defamation relates to the trade of the late individual. Ozzy Osbourne is clearly depicted in the clip as a musician.”
Osbourne and Tupac Shakur
Frank Jennings, a partner at HCR Law, said: “It seems unlikely Stewart will face any legal action in the UK. This video highlights the difficulty of protecting personalities. Unlike in other jurisdictions, English law does not recognise a standalone ‘image right’ or ‘right of personality’.”
He added: “So far, save for restricting the sharing of intimate images including those generated by AI, the UK parliament has shied away from regulating AI, including the use of underlying IP assets.”
‘I shouldn’t have posted this video’
Sloane Steel, the blogger whose post from a Stewart concert in Alabama sent the AI video viral, appears to regret it.
She wrote on Substack: “I shouldn’t have posted this video making fun of an old man trying to pay tribute to some of his friends. I’m sure he had no ill intent behind this. But AI is an insidious beast. And this kind of soulless maudlin slop is the most offensive form of AI ‘art’.”
Steel had one particularly wry observation: “I can’t imagine why Ozzy would be visiting any of these people when a lot of his close friends like Randy Rhoads and Lemmy [Kilmister, of Motörhead] would presumably be waiting down below in the pits of hell ready to snap a quick selfie with him.”
Osbourne died in hospital of a heart attack two weeks after his farewell concert in Birmingham. He was laid to rest during a private family funeral on the Osbournes’ Buckinghamshire estate last Thursday.
The previous day his widow, Sharon Osbourne, 72, and their three children Aimee, Jack and Kelly, attended a procession in Birmingham attended by thousands of fans.
Stewart paid tribute to Osbourne on social media following his death, saying: “Bye, bye Ozzy. Sleep well, my friend. I’ll see you up there — later rather than sooner.” It remains to be seen whether Stewart will keep using the video; his next concert is on Friday in Tinley Park, Illinois.
A representative for Ozzy and Sharon Osbourne declined to comment. A representative for Stewart was approached for comment.