Punk rockers the Dropkick Murphys and reality Tv star Kelly Osbourne have taken aim at editors of Rolling Stone magazine for turning the surviving suspect in the Boston Marathon bombings into their new cover star.

Dzhokhar Tsarnaev, 17, remains in custody, charged with 30 counts following his alleged involvement in planting two pressure cooker explosives near the finish line of the annual race in Massachusetts on 15 April (13).

The teen, who has pleaded not guilty to the crimes, has become the focus of the music bible's new cover story, which features the headline: "The Bomber: How a popular, promising student was failed by his family, fell into radical Islam and became a monster".

The image has sparked outrage online and the stars of the Dropkick Murphys, who have been raising money for victims of the blasts, were among those who expressed their disdain via Twitter.com.

A post on their social networking blog on Wednesday morning (17Jul13) reads: "Rolling Stone you should be ashamed. How about one of the courageous victims on your cover instead of this loser scum bag!"

Osbourne has also commented on the controversy, tweeting, "Shame on you @RollingStone for glorifying a monster! incase you failed to realize #TheBostonBomber is a murderer not a band & has no place being on the cover of @RollingStone", while pop star Pink made her feelings clear by sharing U.S. radio presenter Ted Stryker's message, which reads: "Horrible, classless, stupid choice Rolling Stone. It's not smart or edgy. Very disappointed."

Three people were killed and another 264 were injured in the April tragedy. Tsarnaev was arrested days after the blasts following a massive manhunt, which resulted in the death of his older brother Tamerlan, who was killed in a shoot-out with police.