Rod Stewart thought it would be a good idea to pay homage to Ozzy Osbourne during a live set using AI-generated clips.
Videos by Wide Open Country
In a moment that has blown my mind, a concert-goer on August 1st videoed the moment Rod Stewart screened an AI-generated clip that gathered Ozzy Osbourne with a slew of deceased musical icons.
While singing "Forever Young," several clips showed Ozzy Osbourne in heaven taking a selfie with iconic musicians. Each of them bears a large smile and got along famously as Osbourne wielded the selfie stick.
In the clips, Ozzy Osbourne doubled up with the likes of Michael Jackson, Tina Turner, Prince, Kurt Cobain, XXX Tentacion, Freddie Mercury, Bob Marley, Tupac, Amy Winehouse, and George Michael.
To the average fan, this may appear as an innocent way to pay homage to the great dead singers. However, taking the faces of these people, many of whom met tragic deaths, and sticking them on virtual puppets with Ozzy Osbourne is a level of dystopia I'm not ready for.
Naturally, Rod Stewart received a lot of flack for this stunt.
Fans Angry At Rod Stewart For AI-Generated Ozzy Osbourne Clips
Many took to the comments to share their disgust at the 'homage.'
"Prince was 100% against this type of technology. He made that very clear while he was alive. This is all very much so in poor taste!" exclaimed one. Using Prince's face when he's long gone after being against technologies such as this is a level of disrespect I can hardly comprehend.
"Kurt would have loved this," sarcastically quipped one. A suicide victim with a tragic end should not be so haphazardly thrown into a video such as this. It tramples on his life and his death, and he's not around to do anything about it.
"How about we just dig their corpses up and make them walk around it's just as ghastly," wrote a third.
"This is bizarre wtf," simply added one more.
In practice, seeing our heroes all happy in heaven is a comforting thought. But it should remain a thought. With enough exposure to such warped videos, their real, tragic, and separate lives will become muddied.
This is not how we should be treating our dead.
