(Credits: YouTube / Tom Pallant)
Thu 18 September 2025 15:03, UK
The Darkness frontman Justin Hawkins has responded to the backlash his comments about Yungblud’s tribute to Ozzy Osbourne at the MTV VMAs received.
With Nuno Bettencourt, Joe Perry, and Steven Tyler at his side, Yungblud honoured the late Black Sabbath frontman at the UBS Arena in New York. The Darkness guitarist Dan Hawkins reacted to the tribute negatively, deeming it “another nail in the coffin of rock’n’roll”, as well as describing it as “cynical, nauseating and, more importantly, shit”. He concluded by calling those involved “a bunch of bellends”.
His brother, Justin, then took to his YouTube channel, Justin Hawkins Rides Again, which boasts more than 600,000 subscribers, to add his thoughts. At the time, he compared the performance to a Disney Channel version of metal, adding, “It doesn’t ring authentic. 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.”
After his comments divided the internet, Justin took to his YouTube channel again to expand on his criticism. He began by reacting to a specific comment that said: “So let me understand this. Ozzy takes a liking to Yungblud. Yungblud participates in tributes to Ozzy and is running with attention. Now everybody wants to shit on him for it? This world is so fucked, people love nothing more than hating. I like this kid’s spirit and see no reason to criticise the shit out of him for it.”
After reading that comment aloud, Justin added, “I don’t think I criticised Yungblud’s spirit. I admire that as much as the next person. What I was saying was that it comes off like a TV personality doing rock.”
He continued, “I find it a bit cringe, and the thing about my career is that I’ve done things that are embarrassing or cringe… [and] everyone’s been really quick to kick the shit out of me. Its got to be said. We can’t live in this culture where criticism is not allowed. When I’ve done embarrassing things, people have called me out, and I appreciate that kind of guidance and criticism. That’s how you become a better artist.”
A little later, he added, “The thing about opinions is, I’m allowed mine as well.” Turning again to Yungblud, the star mused, “Someone like Yungblud should be resilient enough to cope with a little bit of critique because he’s got a huge following and his last few albums have done really, really well.”
He finished, “He doesn’t need me to support him… although I have said positive things about his earlier releases because I think, culturally, he could be quite an important individual. I just don’t think he’s written any good songs yet — and that’s my opinion.”
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