Eddie Trunk thinks MTV’s Video Music Awards got one thing right. The heavy metal historian and media personality took to X to praise the show for its tribute to the late Ozzy Osbourne.
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During the Sept. 8 broadcast, MTV tapped Aerosmith’s Steven Tyler and Joe Perry, as well as Yungblud and Nuno Bettencourt, to perform a tribute to Osbourne. The Black Sabbath rocker died July 22 at age 76.
The tribute was a medley of Osbourne’s biggest hits: “Crazy Train,” “Changes,” and “Mama, I’m Coming Home.”
Trunk shared a video of the performance on X, writing, “I know for a fact these guys refused to play and sing to a track and lip synch on this, much like all the other ‘talent’ did in this show. Real artists playing real live rock, what a concept …”
In a follow up tweet, Trunk added of the tribute, “Great! Very well done.”
“Say what you will about these awards now but props to them for doing that and giving it that much of a segment,” he wrote. “It was the one true real live rock moment in the whole show and everyone in it crushed.”
What Others Are Saying About the VMAs’ Ozzy Osbourne Tribute
While Trunk was pleased with the VMAs’ tribute to The Prince of Darkness, the same can’t be said for Dan Hawkins. The guitarist and backing singing of hard rock band The Darkness, Hawkins took to Instagram to blast the tribute.
“Another nail in the coffin of rock n roll. Cynical, nauseating and more importantly; s**t,” he wrote. “Makes me sick how people jump on this s**t to further their own careers.”
For her part, Ariana Grande clearly enjoyed the Osbourne tribute. In a now-viral moment, Grande was seen watching on in awe from the crowd, shaking her head with her mouth agape.
Fans tended to lean to the side of Trunk and Grande, as they largely praised the performance online. Social media users called the performance “real music” that “honored Ozzy in the most powerful way.”
Photo by Christopher Polk/Billboard via Getty Images
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