Ozzy Osbourne AI avatar divides fans as family defends interactive digital resurrection

Ozzy Osbourne's next stage act is an AI avatar, and fans are split

Ozzy Osbourne is the latest dead legend being pulled into the AI avatar era. Sharon and Jack Osbourne announced the project at Licensing Expo 2026 in Las Vegas, where they revealed a partnership with Hyperreal and Proto Hologram to create a lifelike digital version of the late Black Sabbath frontman. Ozzy died in July 2025 at the age of 76, just weeks after his final live performance with Black Sabbath in Birmingham. What's the purpose of AI Ozzy? The project is being described as an AI-powered avatar rather than a simple hologram clip. This avatar will use Ozzy's voice, image, and movement, and is meant to interact with fans in real time. Sharon Osbourne said fans will be able to ask the digital version of Ozzy questions and receive answers in his voice. Recommended Videos The rollout is expected to begin in Proto Luma units in the UK and the US later this summer. Those are life-size interactive display systems that combine holographic-style presentation with touchscreen and conversational AI features. Why fans already hate it However, the announcement hasn't gone as smoothly as the family would've expected. Some fans have called the project disrespectful and raised concerns about using Ozzy's likeness for future brand work and advertisements. Jack Osbourne responded to the backlash during a livestream, saying the project would be "so tasteful" and arguing that it was far more advanced than simply attaching an image of his father to a chatbot. Jack also claimed the family had discussed similar ideas with Ozzy before his death, adding that he believed his father would have been into the concept. With AI recreations of dead celebrities becoming one of the entertainment industry's most uncomfortable new battlegrounds, loyal fans aren't happy with this news. Ozzy is far from the first major figure to receive this treatment. The music industry has already seen digital recreations of artists such as Tupac Shakur, Michael Jackson, and many others. Hyperreal has also worked on an interactive AI avatar of Stan Lee.

Jack Osbourne Defends AI Ozzy Osbourne: 'It's Not Gonna be Fucking Lame'

Jack White, Barack Obama, Conan O'Brien Celebrate Stephen Colbert as 'The Late Show' Ends Jack Osbourne spoke up in defense of the AI avatar of Ozzy Osbourne that was announced last week. The Osbournes partnered with Hyperreal and Proto Hologram to create an AI-powered Prince of Darkness, which will be able to speak with his fans and will be available in Proto Luma units in the U.K. and U.S. later this summer. Jack and his mother Sharon Osbourne announced the project at Licensing Expo 2026 in Las Vegas, with Jack noting that "it's kind of scary how it's really very accurate." Despite the family's excitement, there has been some backlash from the public and from Osbourne's fans. Jack addressed the upset during a livestream Q&A on Saturday. "Here's the thing, it's gonna be so tasteful what we're doing. It's not gonna be fucking lame," Jack said. "It's really complex what we're doing. This isn't just like hooking up an image of my dad to ChatGPT. This is some high-level technology that we're gonna be working with, and it's gonna feel very real, and it's kind of wild how it will be utilized." He explained that he had discussed similar ideas with his dad prior to his death last year. "It's really cool and it's something that I think my dad would be into," Jack said. "We actually talked about it before he passed, about doing something like this ... I know he would be into this." At the announcement, Sharon explained, "You can ask [the digital] Ozzy anything, and he will answer you in his own voice -- and the answers will be what Ozzy would have said. We're going to take it all around the world. People can talk to him and he will talk back." "It's kind of scary how it's really very accurate," Jack said. "He will exist digitally as himself for as long as we have computers. Technology has come such a long way to where it's almost drag-and-drop. You could shoot a template for a commercial ... literally prompt what you want Digital Ozzy to do in that commercial and you just drop it in. It's that simple now." The CEO of Hyperreal, Remington Scott, told Rolling Stone that it created the Ozzy avatar using patented technology that allows the avatar to operate in real time. The company uses patented "Digital DNA" technology to gather the data it needs to create the avatars. "It can perform live, respond to audiences, and exist within interactive environments," Scott said. "This isn't pre-rendered content playing on a loop. It's a living performance, built exclusively from authenticated source material: curated, consented, and controlled by the people closest to Ozzy."