For any aspiring rock star, getting a seal of approval from an iconic legend such as Ozzy Osbourne would be a genuine ‘pinch me’ moment. So just try to imagine how mind-blowing it was for Yungblud back in 2022 when The Prince of Darkness, wielding a machete on a Californian studio lot, hailed him as a kindred spirit and offered him some heartfelt careers advice.
The encounter between the fast-rising Doncaster-born musician and British metal’s most beloved national treasure took place in Pomona, California, during the filming of Yungblud’s video for The Funeral, the lead single from his self-titled third album, which featured not only a cameo from Ozzy Osbourne, but also a guest appearance from Sharon Osbourne too. And as Yungblud, aka Dominic Harrison, revealed in a recent interview with writer Dave Everley for his Louder cover feature, the meeting between himself and Osbourne was all the more surreal and meaningful because originally Ozzy and Sharon weren’t supposed to be in the video at all.
“I had asked Kelly Osbourne to be in a video – I’ve known her for years, I met her in a pub on the circuit, on a mad night out – but she couldn’t be there as she was on tour,” Yungblud recalls. “And she was, like, ‘My mum and dad will come.’ I was, like, Fuck. Off.”
As unlikely as this proposal may have seemed at the time, Kelly Osbourne was as good as her word, convincing her mum and dad to do her pal a solid favour. The result? An instant classic promo video, during which heavy metal‘s premier power couple run over Harrison with their car. And as if this were not memorable enough, Yungblud also got to hang out with Ozzy and Sharon for an hour in their on-site trailer, during which Ozzy proved to be a charming host.
“Ozzy made me salami sandwiches with a fucking machete knife,” Yungblud recalls, still buzzing with the memory. “And he was like, ‘You remind me a lot of me: you’re mad and you’re crazy and just lead with your fucking spirit’.”
“A lot of people compare me and Ozzy,” the singer declares. “Not our music, cos that’s different, but I believe we have this unfiltered fucking thing that is hard to put your finger on.”
“If you can be completely truthful, people aren’t going to get it, and then they’re gonna get it,” he continues. “For a period you’re gonna be loved, and for a period you’re gonna be hated. And Ozzy was, like, ‘That’s the journey. When you look back at it at 70, that’s the fucking fun bit, you look back at it and go, Fucking hell, that was mad, or that was a rough time, or that was a great time.
“And he said, ‘You don‘t want to live your life censoring it, or don’t be a rock star’. He said, ‘You get this opportunity because you are not afraid to say the things other people will be. So when you stop fucking doing that, you ain’t a rock star any more’.”
“That shit hit me like a ton of bricks,” Yungblud concludes. “Because, Fuck, yeah!”
You can read Yungblud’s Louder cover story here. Then go to the official Louder store to buy a world exclusive Yungblud T-shirt featuring his hand-drawn lyrics.
Yungblud’s new album Idols is set for release on June 20 via Locomotion/Island Records. The second staging of his bespoke Bludfest all-dayer takes place on June 21 at the Milton Keynes Bowl.
