Days after playing one of the most talked about holiday concerts of the year — sharing the stage with Eddie Vedder, Bruno Mars, Slash and several other beloved artists — Yungblud found himself back home in the U.K.
Though, he won’t be there for long.
On Jan. 10, his Idols world tour continues as he hits the road in Australia. Not long after those shows, he’ll find out if he sweeps the Rock category at the 68th Annual Grammy Awards.
Everything Yungblud experienced in 2025, and everything ahead in 2026, rests largely on the work he poured into his fourth studio album, Idols.
“I think it was ultimately the biggest risk I ever took,” he told Loudwire Nights‘ Chuck Armstrong.
“I feel like the first iteration of what you knew me as Yungblud was over, so I really had to block out the world and make this album … For it to have been received so beautifully by the world when it was such a risk and such a different turn, you know for me, I think was just incredible.”
Yungblud said he remains proud of Idols and finds himself listening to it to this day.
“This is a real adventure and I think, for me, I really just wanted to go there orchestrally, turn the guitars up, turn the fucking drums up, lengthen the songs if I wanted to,” he shared.
“I’d always been deterred. Everyone in music was turning guitars down or EQing the drums to shit or making songs two-and-a-half minutes and I was just like, ‘If we can go the other way, that will also work.'”
He trusted that if there was a crowd that consumed the music he just described, there would be an army of fans ready for the adventure of Idols.
He was right.
Idols topped several charts across the globe, including debuting at No. 1 on the U.K. Albums Charts, selling more than 25,000 copies in that first week. The record has also been nominated for Best Rock Album at next year’s Grammy Awards.
“I wanted to approach songs how my favorite artists approach songs,” Yungblud admitted.
“When you listen to [Led Zeppelin’s] Houses of the Holy or you listen to [The Beach Boys’] Pet Sounds or you listen to [Pink Floyd’s] Dark Side of the Moon or you listen to [Queen’s] A Night at the Opera or you listen to [U2’s] Achtung Baby, these albums, they were such turning points for the artists because they had no limitations whatsoever and an innate sense of freedom.”
“I wanted to approach songs how my favorite artists approach songs … If people don’t accept this, then what’s the fucking point?”
He considered those particular albums as life or death for the artists — something he resonated with as he created Idols.
“If people don’t accept this, then what’s the fucking point?”
Yungblud’s Idols Comes From His Soul
Yungblud is very aware of the opinions people spew on the internet about him and his music. For him, it’s nothing new.
“On my third album, a lot of people had an opinion about me,” he said.
“A lot of people still have an opinion about me, but when you are a young kid and you’re trying to appease it and you make an album from your head, when people don’t like you, it hurts.”
With Idols, it seems as though nothing can hurt Yungblud.
“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 me mum that I love her, you know what I’m saying? I meant it that much. I meant it that much.”
Giving New Life to ‘Zombie’ With the Help of One of Yungblud’s Idols
With the Idols world tour having kicked off in 2025 and continuing into 2026 (including an instantly sold out North American jaunt), there’s no denying Yungblud’s latest album has a lot of life ahead — and that is especially true for “Zombie,” nominated for the Grammy Award for Best Rock Song this year.
A deeply personal song, “Zombie” is inspired by his grandmother and the reality of deteriorating in this world. While the album version of the song has a bit of a lighter feel to it, Yungblud always knew he had a darker vision for it.
On Jan. 2, the world will hear that vision for “Zombie” thanks to the help of Billy Corgan and the Smashing Pumpkins.
“When I was making ‘Zombie,’ I was really channeling Siamese Dream,” he said.
“It was really the sadness and the melancholic emotion mixed with the aggression of Billy’s fucking guitars … Billy, as a songwriter, was really at the forefront of my inspiration when I was making this album. When ‘Zombie’ came along, I knew I wanted to do a new version if it.”
He said the initial approach he took to the song was heavier, but he was worried it sounded too much like the Smashing Pumpkins. While he’s happy with “Zombie” as it exists on Idols, he always knew there would be another expression of the song.
“I called Billy and I was like, ‘Billy, please help me scratch this itch. I want this record to dig in harder.’ There still needs to be an almost Jekyll and Hyde element; there needs to be a version that’s full of light and full of life and optimism but then there needs to be this dark version that is pessimistic and a little bit bitter and a bit aggressive.”
Fortunately, Corgan loved it and jumped at the opportunity to reimagine the song with Yungblud. Within about 10 days from that conversation and a quick trip to Chicago, Yungblud recorded the song and filmed a new music video.
“It’s very natural. It’s pretty cool.”
Yungblud Channels Others’ Bitterness Into Energy + Hope
Beyond the music, something Yungblud felt a connection to with Corgan was how polarizing he is as an artist. As he already opened up about, he knows he churns strong emotions from fans, especially in rock ‘n’ roll.
“People like me or people don’t and that’s not always easy to handle,” he shared.
“It can make you feel really isolated and it can actually deter you as a young musician. But to be honest, ultimately, I think that’s why I’m fucking here — to take on bitterness a little bit because people don’t realize that this blind negativity deters young musicians from trying at all.”
“I think that’s why I’m fucking here — to take on bitterness a little bit because people don’t realize that this blind negativity deters young musicians from trying at all.”
Yungblud finds inspiration not only in Corgan but in several other artists he met and spent significant time with in 2025.
“What was beautiful about last year was meeting Steven Tyler, meeting Ozzy, meeting Billy — every great rock star has always felt the same. Isn’t it funny that every fucking great rock star was always hated? It almost encourages you more to use it as fuel and fight back.”
While watching Corgan in conversation with Allison Hagendorf on her podcast, Yungblud heard him talk about his music which significantly altered his perspective.
“He’s like here you have this young guy who has an incredible voice who is just figuring out who he is — he’s got to go make something that is limitless in imagination and is ultimately what he wants to do,” Yungblud recalled.
When he heard that, he canceled everything on his schedule went home in northern England and started working on Idols.
“Billy has always been an insane mentor to me in navigating blocking out noise blocking out world making art that is true to you.”
With Ozzy In Mind Yungblud Followed His Gut at Back to The Beginning
Beyond his own original music Yungblud is still pinching himself over sharing stage at Back To The Beginning on July 5 2025 in Birmingham. In minutes Yungblud grabbed world’s attention paying tribute Black Sabbath Ozzy Osbourne defining cover “Changes” which has also been nominated Grammy Best Rock Performance category honor shares others joined him stage: Nuno Bettencourt Frank Bello Adam Wakeman Sleep Token’s II.
The night before performance spent 20 minutes Ozzy marking final interaction legend. Though knew had honor him performance said also wanted show Ozzy nothing worry just hours before he’d take stage.
Listen To + Watch The Loudwire Cover Story Interview With Yungblud
No hindsight music unit displayed.
Here you can find original article; photos images used our article also come from this source. We are not their authors; they have been used solely informational purposes proper attribution their original source.
