Yungblud is coming off a Grammy win for covering Black Sabbath‘s “Changes” at the Back to the Beginning concert and has been embraced by many elder rockers, but in a recent chat with NME, Megadeth‘s Dave Mustaine expressed some concern about Yungblud’s future given the path of this past year.

Not only did Yungblud have a breakout performance at Back to the Beginning cementing his close friendship with the late Ozzy Osbourne, he finished out his year recording and releasing an EP with Aerosmith‘s Steven Tyler and Joe Perry and reworked one of his top Idols songs, “Zombie,” with Smashing Pumpkins‘ Billy Corgan.

What Did Dave Mustaine Say About Yungblud?

Within the NME interview, the questioning turned to Dave Mustaine’s familiarity with the current metal scene and getting his thoughts on some of the newer acts. When he was asked about Yungblud, he admitted not being familiar with the emerging artist’s music.

But when the interviewer listed off some of Yungblud’s 2025 accomplishments with veteran rock and metal artists, Mustaine voiced a concern.

He was asked if one artist could be tasked with carrying the torch for rock and metal for a new generation. He responded, “Perhaps. But when you say somebody is working with everybody, that to me means they’ve reached a point where they need to either take a break or find something else [to separate them from the pack] because you run the risk of your song sounding like the last person’s song, which then sounds like the last person’s song.”

What Has Yungblud Said About Being Embraced by Rock + Metal’s Biggest Names?

“Honestly, I’m still pinching myself,” Yungblud told Loudwire Nights host Chuck Amstrong last fall about the year he was having.

Ozzy, in particular, had always resonated with Yungblud before the upstart musician ever met his idol.

“Ozzy was always really my North Star, you know what I mean,” he said. “So the fact that I was going to, one, get to meet him and chill with him [and] him being in my video was just mental.”

He added that Ozzy had personally shared some advice. “The thing he said to me when he gave me his cross was, ‘Never compromise, be yourself, they’ll understand it later. Trust me.’ That’s what he said,” shared Yungblud.

The Back to the Beginning performance started opening other doors too.

“A lot of rock stars started reaching out to me, a lot of people were like, ‘Wow, that took balls, we respect it,'” he said.

“I’m getting emails from Brian May and Joe Perry and I’m like, ‘What? Wow.’ I think my whole goal was to really attack classic rock on this album.”

READ MORE: Loudwire Cover Story — Yungblud Has Taken Over

Though some of his rock idols may have lit the fire for his current Idols album, it’s ultimately his own vision that has helped it resonate with listeners.

Yungblud shared in Loudwire’s January 2026 cover story, “When you make an album from your heart and your soul and people don’t like it or people don’t like you or they don’t believe you, you can’t really do much about it because it came out of you, came out of your chest,” he says candidly. “Just as much as the oxygen you breathe or just as much as me fucking telling my mum that I love her, you know what I’m saying? I meant it that much. I meant it that much.”

See where we ranked Yungblud’s Idols album in our 13 Best Rock Albums of 2025 list below.