At the MTV Video Music Awards in New York earlier this week, it was clear there was a new rock god on the block.

British singer-songwriter Yungblud, 28, who’s been tipped as the pretender to the Ozzy Osbourne‘s throne – the pair enjoyed a close relationship before the Black Sabbath’s star’s death in July, appeared more than comfortable rubbing shoulders – and at points writhing – with rock royalty.

The shirtless, tattooed ex public schoolboy who’s broken into the mainstream this year after signing his first record deal at 21 stole the VMA show posing up a storm alongside Aerosmith’s Steven Tyler and Joe Perry.

The singer had earlier joined the rock legends on stage to perform a tribute to Osbourne, which had left Wicked star Ariana Grande gasping in awe, at the UBS Arena in New York where the awards were held.

Writing on his Instagram account ahead of the show, Yungblud wrote a heartfelt message to his late pal, saying: ‘I’ll try my best to do you proud Oz. Tune in from up there. I love you forever.’

Yungblud’s big night out in the Big Apple felt a million miles from the singer’s altogether less wild upbringing in South Yorkshire.

The heart-on-sleeve star, who’s been praised for talking about male mental health, has seen his profile soar in recent months – with Oppenheimer star Florence Pugh starring in the video for his track Zombie and an entire festival, Bludfest, named after him held in Milton Keynes this summer.

Six weeks ago, Yungblud, real name Dominic Richard Harrison, deleted all of his previous photos on Instagram and showcased a brand new image, ditching his previously colourful attire for a mostly monochrome and leather wardrobe.

While he has amassed millions of fans worldwide, he has frequently faced off accusations that he’s not entirely authentic.

Critics of the singer have highlighted his privileged upbringing – one of his first lyrics on his 2017 single King Charles reads: ‘I admit I’ve never been broke but I have been broken.’

Some have also questioned the star’s strong northern accent, suggesting the singer hams it up to appear more working class.

Yungblud attended Ackworth School, a private day and boarding school near Pontefract; he was later suspended for mooning at a Maths teacher.

His grandfather Rick and his father, Justin Harrison, ran Doncaster’s Music Ground guitar emporium, a successful chain of guitar shops that has sold instruments to Noel Gallagher, Johnny Marr and Bryan Adams.

In an interview with Louis Theroux for the BBC in 2022, he told the documentary maker: ‘I’m from the North, I’m from Doncaster. I never said I didn’t go to private school. I never professed to be a working class hero’.

Speaking on We Need to Talk with Paul Brunson in May this year, the singer painted a more down-to-earth picture, describing the ‘cash-in-hand’ guitar shop his grandfather, a musician who had played with T-Rex’s Marc Bolan, had run in Doncaster, saying: ‘It was very Northern. A lot of emotions flying around, a lot of arguments but also a lot of unity’.

Others have targeted the singer identifying as ‘pansexual’, where a person is sexually or romantically attracted to people regardless of their sex or gender.

Yungblud has frequently declared himself ‘the pan man’- but others have accused him of ‘queerbaiting’, which he’s strongly denied.

The star dated glamourous musician Jesse Jo Stark from 2020 but called time on their long-term romance earlier this year, with Yungblud calling his ex ‘the love of his life’.

The pair have been recently spotted together once more, however, fuelling rumours of a rekindled romance. He’s also dated US singer Halsey when he was 21 but said the relationship was like ‘two things colliding’ and that the pair weren’t ‘completing each other’.

In the same Theroux documentary in 2022, the rock star responded furiously to allegations that he was pretending to be gay to gain a bigger fanbase, saying: ‘How dare you question my sexuality. People don’t know my life, people don’t know the partners I’ve had.’

He added: ‘When I came down to London, I experimented with every, every kind of thing.’

When asked by Theroux if he was attracted to men, he replied: ‘Yeah, I’m attracted to people’ before saying that sexuality ‘can change’ and that people ‘shouldn’t judge’.

Referencing Harry Styles, he called the former One Direction singer ‘beautiful’ and said: ‘I’d kiss him, don’t know if he’d kiss me!’

He added that he’s become a target for trolls because ‘I have an energy that people don’t believe is real’.

The singer-songwriter, who provides mental health services at gigs, has also spoken out about the ‘toxic’ relationship his parents had.

Speaking to The Standard in May this year he said his father was physically abusive to his mother and siblings in the family home, saying: ‘My father was rough on my sisters. It was always right on the edge of blowing up. It still is.

‘It’s crazy, man, seeing your father on top of your mother, hitting her, and taking his stress out on me, but then still being so close.

‘The whole kitchen would explode if there was no milk in the fridge.

‘We never addressed it. It was never black and white, always very complex. This wasn’t a white picket fence upbringing.’

Responding to claims he was abusive towards his family in the Louis Theroux interview in 2022, Yungblud’s father Justin said: ‘I don’t think my behaviour in my opinion [was abusive]….it wasn’t one sided.’

He said of the tempestuous relationship he had with the star’s mother, Samantha, when the singer and his two younger sisters were growing up: ‘We did shout at each other, you know, excessively.

‘I had anger issues and I’m still going for therapy every week. The last few years I’ve been a lot calmer but obviously I needed therapy to control anger bursts and that’s what I did.’

In spite of the criticism that the Doncaster singer has endured during his rise to rock’s mainstream, which he says left him feeling like he had to ‘shut down’ when he first experienced it on social media as a 21-year-old, he’s made plenty of very famous friends along the way.

When Ozzy Osbourne died in July, Yungblud opened up about about their close friendship on his Instagram account.

The singer said he was texting Ozzy just before the rocker’s son, Jack Osbourne, messaged him to say ‘he’s gone’.

He told The Sun: ‘The past couple of weeks have been very weird to connect with. You get to know someone personally, who you love. And then they leave.

‘I was texting him, then his son Jack text me and said “He’s gone”. I’m like, “What?”‘

Speaking about the Black Sabbath star’s funeral, Yungblud said he was overwhelmed with the amount of ‘authentic love’ in the room.

He added: ‘Being around the family and being at the funeral, the amount of love there. That family are real as f***. The dream is to have kids and a family like that. There’s no gimmicks. It’s authentic.’

Last month, Yungblud shared a picture of the gift the rocker gave him before he died, hours after he gave a reading at the funeral at his home in Buckinghamshire.