“Dom has one of the greatest voices in the history of music, and as grand as that may sound there is no hype in what I’m saying”: Billy Corgan heaps praise on Yungblud, who the Smashing Pumpkins have just collaborated with…
By any reasonable measure, Yungblud had an exceptional 2025. His fourth studio album, Idols, debuted at Number One in the UK, he picked up three Grammy Awards nominations, and he earned a coveted guest appearance at the Ozzy Osbourne tribute concert often described as the rock event of the decade. Taken together, those milestones have cemented his position as the most prominent British rock artist of his generation.
Speaking recently to The Guardian, Yungblud reflected on the long road to that moment—and the nerves that came with it. He admitted that stepping onto the stage at the Ozzy tribute was daunting. With roughly 50,000 people in attendance, he estimated that half the crowd had no idea who he was, while many others were openly skeptical.
Yet the anxiety vanished the instant he began performing. Raised in a guitar shop owned by his father, Yungblud grew up immersed in rock culture, surrounded by older musicians, relatives, and working-class band lifers in and around Doncaster. In that moment, he said, it felt like returning to his roots rather than proving himself to strangers.
Born Dominic Harrison, the singer also spoke candidly about how he built his career without early support from traditional gatekeepers. UK radio and the music press were slow to engage, so he bypassed them entirely—posting homemade videos to YouTube and directly interacting with fans on social media.
Those efforts paid off quickly, if unexpectedly. While he struggled to gain attention at home, young listeners abroad—particularly in the Netherlands—responded immediately. After promoting a show online, he sold out a 150-capacity venue in just ten minutes, a turning point that confirmed he was onto something real.
This week, Harrison releases a new version of his breakthrough song Zombie, reimagined as a collaboration with The Smashing Pumpkins. The partnership is historic—it marks the first time the band has ever featured on another artist’s track.
The Guardian also spoke with Pumpkins frontman Billy Corgan, who was effusive in his praise. Corgan described Harrison’s voice as one of the greatest he’s ever heard, insisting his admiration wasn’t inflated or performative.
He went even further, predicting that Yungblud will eventually be counted among rock’s all-time greats—a belief he noted was shared by Ozzy Osbourne himself. For an artist once dismissed as an outsider, it’s a striking endorsement—and perhaps the clearest sign yet of how far he’s come.