Niamh Shackleton
Rod Stewart's unusual tribute to a series of late singers has left people 'horrified'.
Stewart is currently touring around the US and music fans at his Alpharetta, Georgia, concert in recent days were floored by an unexpected tribute to Ozzy Osbourne.
Osbourne passed away on 22 July at his home in Buckinghamshire, UK. His passing came six years after his Parkinson's disease diagnosis. An official cause of death is yet to be shared, however.
"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 Osbourne family said in a heartbreaking statement shared on the day of the Black Sabbath frontman's death.
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"He was with his family and surrounded by love. We ask everyone to respect our family privacy at this time."
Osbourne has since been laid to rest in his hometown on Birmingham, UK, where his family, including wife Sharon Osbourne, took to the city's streets to mourn with fans.
Tributes have been rolling in for the late76-year-old in the wake of is passing, and a recent tribute held by Rod Stewart has raised some eyebrows.
At one of his concerts, Stewart sang 'Forever Young', while an AI montage of Osbourne was played on screen where the rocker posed with a selfie stick with a host of other fallen music legends such as Prince, George Michael, and Tina Turner.
One concert-goer, named Sloane Steel, shared a video of the odd montage to Instagram and it's since gone viral. They branded the tribute as 'the craziest most disrespectful sh*t I've ever seen in my life'.
"Omfg I was there too and was horrified by this," one person replied to the now-viral clip.
A second said: "Good idea: pay tribute to Ozzy and his friends in heaven. Bad Idea: Making an AI-generated video with his dead friends/members."
A third person penned: "News flash: Rod Stewart is cringe. Who knew?"
"I am shocked that no one told Rod that this was a terrible idea!!!" somebody else said.
But not everyone was as shocked by the tribute as others.
Someone replied: "Am I missing something? I don’t understand how this is disrespectful?"
A different person questioned: "How exactly is this disrespectful?"
A handful of other people asked the same thing and apparently saw no issue with the AI-generated tribute.
UNILAD have approached Rod Stewart's reps for comment.