Rod Stewart's AI tribute to Ozzy Osbourne is proving divisive with fans – watch here
4 August 2025, 11:24
Rod has been paying tribute to the Black Sabbath singer during his One Last Time tour.
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Rod Stewart’s latest tribute to Ozzy Osbourne has left fans feeling conflicted.
The ‘Sailing’ star was one of the first stars from the music industry to pay tribute to the Black Sabbath frontman when he died in July.
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Now, footage has emerged of how Sir Rod has continued to remember Ozzy while performing some of his One Last Time tour dates in the US.
While dedicating his performances of ‘Forever Young’ to the late singer, an AI video showing Ozzy Osbourne smiling for selfies with other music legends who have passed away plays on the screens behind Rod.
The video has been deemed bizarre by many fans, with some people going as far as to say the fake footage is disrespectful to the families of the stars who have passed away.
But others have praised Rod’s team for creating a deeply moving moment in the show.
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Some of the stars shown smiling for photos with Ozzy in the AI video’s heavenly setting include Freddie Mercury, George Michael, Amy Winehouse and Tina Turner.
Michael Jackson, Kurt Cobain, XXXTentacion and Tupac also make an appearance.
“I understand what the concept of doing this is, and why [Rod] did it, because the song is called ‘Forever Young’” one person commented on X.
“But,” they continued: “Instead of showing AI pictures, why didn’t he just show picture of them?”
Others were a lot less able to get behind the idea, however.
“I feel personally insulted,” one person penned, while another shared the idea felt “out of touch.”
A third simply summarised on TikTok: “Sooo weird.”
Rod’s personal tribute to Ozzy was posted to his Instagram on the day of the ‘Changes’ singer’s death.
“Bye, bye Ozzy. I’ll see you up there – later rather than sooner,” it read.
Other stars who paid tribute to Ozzy included Brian May and Phil Collins.
"His last appearance at Villa Park was a glorious way to say goodbye – the love in that place for him was gigantic," Sir Brian wrote.
Phil shared a sweet photo of him smiling with Ozzy, captioned: "In happier times, love always PC x"
