Rod Stewart under fire for bizarre AI-generated tribute to Ozzy Osbourne
Rod Stewart has come under fire for using AI-generated images to pay tribute to dead celebrities at recent shows, including the late Ozzy Osbourne.
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During his current US tour, Stewart, 80, dedicated Forever Young to the Black Sabbath singer, who died just two weeks ago at the age of 76.
This tribute has been accompanied by a bizarre AI-generated video depicting the heavy metal icon laughing and taking selfies with other dead celebrities, including Michael Jackson and Freddie Mercury.
The videos also feature the likeness of Prince, Tina Turner, Bob Marley, Jimi Hendrix, George Michael, Whitney Houston, Kurt Cobain, Janis Joplin, Amy Winehouse, Aaliyah, Tupac Shakur and XXXTentacion.
Rod Stewart pays tribute to Ozzy Osbourne during concert by displaying AI-generated visuals of Ozzy taking selfies with dead celebrities in heaven.
— Pop Base (@PopBase) August 4, 2025
pic.twitter.com/823Ta3cZ87
While some fans found the tribute endearing, many have taken to social media to criticise the use of celebrities’ likenesses without their permission.
One X user wrote: “This is bizarre for many reasons, not the least of which being the fact that Rod Stewart has performed with Ozzy Osbourne. Instead of blasting AI images of Ozzy in heaven, they could show this real & quite lovely picture of Rod Stewart with his arm around the actual Ozzy Osbourne.”
While another added: “This is so disrespectful it's not even funny.”
The families of some of the celebrities appear unconcerned by the videos, with Tupac Shakur’s stepbrother, Mopreme Shakur, telling TMZ: “I’m pretty sure we all love Rod Stewart. 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.”
XXXTentacion’s mother, meanwhile, said she was happy her son was up there with some of the biggest names in music.
Writing on Substack, the blogger who originally posted the video of Stewart’s concert said she regrets sharing the clip.
Sloane Steel wrote: “I shouldn’t have posted this video making fun of an old man trying to pay tribute to some of his friends. I’m sure he had no ill intent behind this. But AI is an insidious beast. And this kind of soulless maudlin slop is the most offensive form of AI ‘art’.”