Yungblud: The Greatest Showman

Yungblud: The most beautiful thing about my early shows was that [the fans] led the way with the culture of Yungblud – it really came from them. I had a lot to say when I was younger, and I was a part of a generational wave – me, Billie Eilish, Lil Peep, Mac Miller, Lil Nas X – that crashed. A generation that really figured out the [power of] mobile phones, Twitter, Instagram, TikTok, which, for better or worse, gave everyone a voice. Other artists focused on radio singles and streaming numbers, but all I really cared about was community. I wanted a culture, an identity. It’s almost like, when you’re young, the community is more important than the music. Now I’m 28, I’ve taken a step back and changed my way of thinking. It was, “OK, let me be as musically ambitious and imaginative with my music as I can be.”

Yungblud: Yeah. What’s been amazing this year is seeing the beautiful range of ages at a Yungblud show. After I released my third album [2022’s Yungblud], it was a really hard year for me because I’d let too many opinions in – from the labels, the radio, the fans, the world. When you start this at 18 years old, you never expect it’s going to get this big. You dream about it, you want it to [happen], but you never expect it. I’d already moved on from the first iteration you knew me as – an 18-year-old from the North who was extremely politically driven and almost loud, brash – and I wanted to become something else. I’d really fallen out of love with my name. I was becoming insecure about stuff I was reading on the internet, like, “How is he going to be Yungblud for ever?”, and comments about my music, my authenticity, my body. When you’re young, it’s hard to take that on. Growing up in the public eye is really fucking weird. [Yungblud] was number one in seven countries, but I was disheartened because I believed it could have been better. But I don’t regret that, because it led me to make Idols, and it led me to be as comfortable, grounded and grateful as I am now.

Yungblud: I loved any kind of expression. I loved art, theatre, mime, dance, ballet – I loved it all. I think it’s something that’s used against me sometimes within the rock community: “How can a theatre kid be a rock star?” But I think Iggy [Pop], Lou Reed, Bowie, Freddie [Mercury]… everything was rooted in theatre and the arts. Any sort of limitation on artistic expression is the most un-rock’n’roll thing you can place upon somebody. Rock’n’roll is all about creating the space to exercise your imagination.

Yungblud: Rock music is such a sacred genre; it doesn’t give up its crown easily, and there’s been a reluctance from the rock community to accept anything young. What was beautiful this year was the ‘Back To The Beginning’ concert in Birmingham with Ozzy [the legendary Black Sabbath frontman’s final gig, just 17 days before his death last July] – the first moment that different generations of rock musicians came together and went, “We might not necessarily all get each other, but our genre is more powerful when we’re together.” Each generation of rock music tells a different version of the truth, adhering to what their generation has been subject to. My ambition is to bring generations of rock fans together. I love rock music – I grew up in a guitar shop – and I don’t give a fuck about being the first to put my head above the trench. I don’t care about being hated. I don’t care about people misunderstanding me – that’s the fun bit.

Yungblud: I’m a by-product of my idols in the same way that my idols were a by-product of theirs. But I think classic rock has been seen as cheesy by people in the past. I want to inspire young bands to be able to reference Queen, Led Zeppelin, Oasis, Joy Division, The Cure, The Who, The Allman Brothers Band, in a way that can be new and fresh. What we’re doing – and what this culture is doing – is original. At the end of the day, people dictate what’s big, and people can be pissed off about it but my fanbase is growing by the day. And it’s not centred around this drug-taking, “How much can I drink?”, “How many groupies can I take on the road with me?” image that died in the ’80s. It’s all centred around love and unity and freedom, and freedom of speech, and positivity. And I love it, man.

Yungblud: I think it’s the new artistry. I think it’s what I’m here for. I’m here to write songs within mainstream music that make people think, so people who are going through [something similar] feel that they can talk. There’s no limitation with me; I’m very much an open book.

Yungblud: I think the internet is such a strange place for a young person to belong, because when you wake up in the morning you’ll have compared yourself with 15 different people before you’ve even had breakfast. If your opinion is against that of the internet that day, it forces you to shut down. I really think we’ve got to find a way to fucking exist with each other, to enjoy disagreement and educate one another without hate. I miss the age of sitting down with someone who’s my political opposition. That should be OK; that’s democracy. Everything is simplified when it comes to the internet, and nothing in this life is simple. Me using the internet to tell people to get the fuck off the internet for a couple hours is a thing that I’ve been trying to do.

Yungblud: I’m loving making music with my heroes and my idols. I want to get in the studio with everyone that’s hitting me up. And there’s so much music coming, I have Idols part two ready to go. I’m just so inspired at the minute. I feel like rock music is being welcomed by the mainstream again, and it’s my favourite music to make. I’m just exploding at all angles.