Featured Image Credit: Mathew Tsang / Contributor via Getty
Rod Stewart is under fire for his 'poor taste' AI Ozzy Osbourne tribute used during his tour.
Rod Stewart's latest tour concert brought a unique background that hasn't sat well with fans.
The 80-year-old 'Maggie May' singer has been dedicating his 1988 hit 'Forever Young' to Osbourne during his US tour dates, following the Black Sabbath frontman's death last month at age 76.
But it's the accompanying visual that's drawn criticism online.
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The rock legend included an AI-generated video showing Ozzy Osbourne taking selfies with deceased music icons in what appears to be heaven.
Footage from Stewart's concert at the Ameris Bank Amphitheatre in Georgia shows the AI sequence featuring a cheerful Osbourne posing for photos with departed music stars.
The digital afterlife scene includes Prince, Tina Turner, Bob Marley, Tupac Shakur, Aaliyah, Michael Jackson, Freddie Mercury, Kurt Cobain, George Michael, XXXTentacion, Whitney Houston, and Amy Winehouse.
The video has been viewed over three million times on X, with many users finding the idea tasteless.
“This is the craziest, most disrespectful s*** I ever saw in my LIFE!!!” said one person who shared the video, while another called it a 'new low' for concert visuals, adding: “we truly are in the end times”.
According to TMZ, Tupac Shakur's stepbrother, Mopreme Shakur, said he has no issues with the tribute. "I’m pretty sure we all love Rod Stewart,” he said. “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."
Over on Reddit, the comments are more divided after one user shared a standstill of the AI visual that they described as 'poor taste.'
One user commented: "That's f***ing gross".
Another supporter wrote: "If there's anything that Ozzy Osbourne would have hated, it's anything in poor taste".
However, others see it as something the late singer would've appreciated.
"Ozzy would probably think this was hilarious tbh," a third Reddit user claimed.
"What an absurd level of trolling. I hope Rod keeps it up and expands it," someone else argued.
Osbourne was diagnosed with Parkinson’s disease in 2019 and passed away at the age of 76 on 22 July, surrounded by his family.
Thousands of fans visited the Black Sabbath Bench in his hometown of Birmingham to leave flowers, balloons, and cards. The Osbourne family made their own visit to the memorial site ahead of the heavy metal icon's private funeral.
