Foolish Behaviour.
Rod Stewart is facing scrutiny for paying tribute to the late Ozzy Osbourne with an AI-generated clip at one of his recent concerts.
The video from the “Maggie May” singer’s show on Friday, August, 1, was captured by a concertgoer and showed footage of Osbourne celebrating in Heaven with other deceased music legends like Michael Jackson, Tina Turner, Prince, Kurt Cobain, Bob Marley, Amy Winehouse and George Michael as Stewart’s 1988 hit “Forever Young” played in the background.
AI-generated images of Whitney Houston, Tupac Shakur, Freddie Mercury, Aaliyah and XXXTentacion also appeared in the clip.
Osbourne appeared smiling with Turner as the Queen of Rock ‘n’ Roll held onto a selfie stick. In another part of the footage, the late Black Sabbath rocker held the selfie stick as he posed with several of the other late legends.
“Yes the rumors are true: I went to a Rod Stewart concert last night (lol) and witnessed man made horrors beyond my comprehension. Ozzy Osbourne with a selfie stick in heaven smiling with Tina Turner, Bob Marley, Prince, and…XXXTentacion,” the audience member captioned the video.
The concertgoer continued to express their distaste for the tribute, writing over the clip, “This is the craziest most disrespectful s–t I ever saw in my LIFE!!!”
“Rod Stewart really thought this was a brilliant idea. 😑,” one person responded to the footage. “I’ve seen some s—ty AI visuals in concerts but this is a new low. We truly are in the end times,” another replied.
Several people insisted that Prince would be the most upset about his image being used for the AI video.
“Weekend at Bernie’s vibes. Prince didn’t even want his music on Spotify and changed his name to a Symbol to protect his intellectual property I’m 100% sure he wouldn’t have signed off on Rod Stuart Puppeteering his face for this tacky 💩,” someone wrote, while a second commented, “Prince would beat rod stewart with hammers if he knew about this.”
Prince changed his name to the unpronounceable symbol in 1993, with many speculating it was a ploy to get out of his contract with his longtime label, Warner Bros. Records. The “Purple Rain” singer, who died in 2016 at age 57, was then referred to as the “Artist Formerly Known as Prince.”
The Post has reached out to Stewart and Osbourne’s rep for comment.
The Prince of Darkness died on July 22 at age 76 following a series of health ailments, including a Parkinson’s diagnosis.
“It is with more sadness than mere words can convey that we have to report that our beloved Ozzy Osbourne has passed away this morning,” the statement obtained by The Post from his wife, Sharon Osbourne, and four of his other children, Kelly, Jack, Aimee and Louis, read.
“He was with his family and surrounded by love. We ask everyone to respect our family privacy at this time,” his loved ones concluded.
Following his passing, Stewart took to social media and wrote, “Bye, bye Ozzy. Sleep well, my friend. I’ll see you up there — later rather than sooner.”
His wife, Sharon, 72, sobbed alongside their three children, Aimee, 41, Kelly, 40, and Jack, 39, as thousands gathered in the rocker’s hometown of Birmingham, England, for his funeral procession on July 30.
The “Mama, I’m Coming Home” singer was laid to rest the next day by the lake at his home in Buckinghamshire following his private funeral, attended by fellow rockers, including his Black Sabbath bandmates, Marilyn Manson, White Zombie frontman Rob Zombie and Slipknot frontman Corey Taylor.
On Monday, Kelly shared a heartfelt message to fans, thanking them for their support while giving an update on how her family is coping after losing its patriarch.
“Grief is a strange thing — it sneaks up on your in waves,” she said in part. “I will not be OK for a while — but knowing my family are not alone in our pain makes a difference.”
