{"id":437041,"date":"2025-12-10T04:31:18","date_gmt":"2025-12-10T04:31:18","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/437041\/"},"modified":"2025-12-10T04:31:18","modified_gmt":"2025-12-10T04:31:18","slug":"yungbluds-biggest-risk-was-idols-and-it-took-him-to-the-grammys","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/437041\/","title":{"rendered":"Yungblud’s Biggest Risk Was \u2018Idols’ And It Took Him to the Grammys"},"content":{"rendered":"

\n\tYungblud<\/a> has always been unapologetically himself, but over the last year, the 28-year-old musician has fully formed into the British rockstar he\u2019s longed to be. <\/p>\n

\n\tIt\u2019s a Tuesday morning in November and Yungblud, born Dominic Harrison, is early to this Zoom conversation, strumming on a guitar as he waits. It\u2019s a rare moment of rest for a performer who doesn\u2019t, by his own admission, know how to not give everything 100 percent.<\/p>\n

\n\tYungblud\u2019s spent much of this last year touring, and he\u2019ll spend much of 2026 doing the same. He released a full-length album, Idols, in June and recently teamed up with Aerosmith for a joint EP, One More Time, that was released in November. In between tours and album releases, Yungblud put on his second year of Bludfest, a U.K. music<\/a> festival aimed at being accessible and inclusive for all fans.<\/p>\n

\n\tThe grueling schedule is impressive but presumably takes a toll on any performer. Days before this conversation, Yungblud announced to his fans on social media that he was canceling a handful of shows that remained in 2025 at the suggestion of his doctor. The rocker assures that overall he\u2019s doing OK.<\/p>\n

\n\tIdols has been a career-defining moment for the Doncaster, U.K., native \u2014 one of several throughout 2025. The album brought him two Grammy nominations in the best rock album and best rock song categories. His third Grammy nomination came from a moment that very well might\u2019ve changed the course of his career: his live performance of Black Sabbath\u2019s \u201cChanges\u201d at the Back to the Beginning benefit concert, honoring the late Ozzy Osbourne<\/a> and serving as his last show.<\/p>\n

\n\t\u201cThat was probably the moment \u2014 I think it was bubbling \u2014 but I think the world started paying attention after that,\u201d Yungblud tells The Hollywood Reporter. The live performance, recorded for the upcoming concert film, Back To The Beginning: Ozzy\u2019s Final Bow, earned Yungblud and his fellow collaborators a nomination for best rock performance. It\u2019s a special nomination for many reasons; first, due to the fact that a live recording was nominated, and second, due to Yungblud\u2019s own personal relationship with his late idol, with whom he\u2019d grown close with in recent years.<\/p>\n

\n\tBelow, the British rocker speaks with THR about finally making the album he wanted to make with Idols, wrapping his head around scoring three Grammy nominations and how he\u2019s feeling after his health-related show cancellations.<\/p>\n

\n\tHow\u2019s everything going right now? How are you feeling?<\/strong><\/p>\n

\n\tI\u2019m good. I mean, I\u2019m just kind of sat here comprehending the fucking year. At the start of this year, I was filming a [music] video in the Bulgarian snow for \u201cHello Heaven, [Hello],\u201d and now I\u2019m sat here. It\u2019s been the craziest year of my life, so I think I\u2019m just trying to catch it all. It\u2019s been wild to end the year with what looks like two No. 1 albums in the U.K. My first number one in America, three Grammy nominations and 400,000 tickets sold has just been like, whoa. I\u2019m pretty shocked.<\/p>\n

\n\tWhat\u2019s the emotion going through your head when you find out you\u2019re nominated for a Grammy? What does it mean to get this recognition?<\/strong><\/p>\n

\n\tWhat\u2019s cool about the Grammys is [it\u2019s] from your peers. I think in the past, the internet or music critics have had a lot to say about me. But when you get, I don\u2019t know, recognized or even noticed by your peers \u2014 the people who write music, produce music, play music \u2014 that\u2019s a cool thing. Any musician starts as a fan first, don\u2019t we? When you\u2019re a fan of other people\u2019s work, it\u2019s cool. This year, a lot of my heroes have kind of hit me up [told me they] really loved what [I] did. This album, it feels so beautiful [to have it be] to be recognized in that way because I really took a risk on it.<\/p>\n

\n\tIn what way?<\/strong><\/p>\n

\n\tAt the end of my last record, I was really unhappy because I felt like I\u2019d not completed what I set out to do. As a result of that, I really went away and wanted to make a piece of music and a body of work that would be such an adventure and would be so off the wall and so against the rules of modern music. I just wanted to take a risk, even if it was the end of my career. It\u2019s so funny, isn\u2019t it? When music is a roulette table, when it\u2019s red or black, and you don\u2019t know and you\u2019re nervous and you\u2019re scared, I really think you\u2019ve made something great. I think that\u2019s how rock music\u2019s supposed to be made. It\u2019s been amazing to arrive at this destination at the end of the biggest risk of my life. I can\u2019t believe it. I had an idea, that I thought would be great, and to see people respond to it is really cool.<\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t\t\t\"\"<\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t\tYungblud performs at \u2018A New York Evening With Yungblud\u2019 at National Sawdust on Sept. 15, 2025, in New York City.<\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tRob Kim\/Getty Images for The Recording Academy<\/p>\n

\n\tYou\u2019ve spoken in the past about how you felt you had to infuse a lot of other influences in the music you were making, not just the straightforward rock that Idols is. Something has obviously shifted for you in terms of mainstream perception lately. Does it feel almost like a vindication knowing that this is the music you\u2019ve been wanting to make, and it\u2019s working out?<\/strong><\/p>\n

\n\tI think that\u2019s always the case isn\u2019t it? You watch any documentary of any great musician that you love and they go, \u201cI finally did what I wanted, and it all worked.\u201d It\u2019s so crazy. I don\u2019t know why. As artists, we go and do all this shit and experiment and listen to other people because every single great artist in every documentary tells us that they did that. Then they flip the switch, and it all worked. You\u2019ve got to be lost to figure out who you are. You\u2019ve got to be running away from something to realize that you\u2019re running towards something also. I\u2019m truly myself right now, so people can formulate a decision whether they like me or not. Less people are on the fence.<\/p>\n

\n\tSome kind of mainstream recognition has come across me. I think with it all, the mainstream is a crazy place because it\u2019s not safe. When you\u2019re in your own cult, it\u2019s safe and it\u2019s all positive. The way you handle the mainstream is if you are yourself or not. If you\u2019re yourself, you can get out of bed in the morning if people don\u2019t like you. If you\u2019re not, then you\u2019re hiding. If people don\u2019t like you for being something you are not. It is the worst feeling in the world.<\/p>\n

\n\tI\u2019ve heard you say in interviews that you don\u2019t get to pick how people perceive you, and that\u2019s something I ask nearly every artist I speak with. You likely have the version of yourself you want people to see. Do you feel that\u2019s what this is for you? Do you feel you\u2019re at that place?<\/strong><\/p>\n

\n\tI really think I almost learned enough in the eight years I\u2019ve been doing this to approach this album and really make people see who I am without a translucent\u2026 It\u2019s a pure, neat whiskey version of who I am. This album, it\u2019s been amazing and the music I\u2019m about to make is going to be a continuation of what I just made. I think people have been deterring me from doing rock music for forever because it\u2019s not been around for years. It\u2019s not been around for 15 years minimum. I\u2019ve got to make what my fucking soul wants to make, even if it is the end of my professional career, because I can\u2019t handle the fact that I am\u2026 It\u2019s the most frustrating thing in the world when you can\u2019t go the full way. You\u2019re running 80 meters on a 100-meter sprint. The last 20 meters is diluted or deterred or caged by another person\u2019s opinion. I\u2019m like, why the fuck? Why? You want to run the whole way. There\u2019s nothing more liberating. Now I\u2019ve ruined everything, and I think I finally found some freedom.<\/p>\n

\n\tI\u2019m sure it helps in terms of authenticity and creativity.<\/strong><\/p>\n

\n\tIt doesn\u2019t hurt as much. It hurts more to make it, but it doesn\u2019t hurt as much when people digest it or judge it because it\u2019s fucking art, man. If you make a record from your head and people patch you out, it hurts. If you make a fucking record from your soul and your heart and people hate it, you can\u2019t really do much about it.<\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t\t\t\"\"<\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t\tYungblud performs during the 2025 MTV Video Music Awards on Sept. 7, 2025, in Elmont, New York.<\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tMike Coppola\/Getty Images for MTV<\/p>\n

\n\tYou got what you needed out of it.<\/strong><\/p>\n

\n\tYeah, man, it\u2019s like you fucking explode. Remember that film, Eight Mile, when they do that rap battle? He goes in his verse, \u201cYeah, I am from a fucking trailer and you did fuck my mom.\u201d Then the guy has nothing to burn him on. He\u2019s just like, this is who I am. I think that\u2019s the greatest art. When you can kind of have the courage to do that, then nothing can burn because you\u2019ve already laid it all on the table. There\u2019s no skeletons in your closet.<\/p>\n

\n\tTo go back to the Grammys for a second, how are you feeling about the fact that \u201cChanges\u201d got a nomination? I assume that\u2019s a pretty special feeling for you at this moment in time.<\/strong><\/p>\n

\n\tThat was probably the moment \u2014 I think it was bubbling \u2014 but I think the world started paying attention after that. I watched that back, and I don\u2019t know what the fuck came over me there. It\u2019s so amazing that it got nominated for rock performance, as actually the only live performance in the category. I think it\u2019s cool that something has got critically acclaimed for me, just telling the guy who got me into music and started everything for me that I love him. I was saying thank you. Honestly, when I left the stage, I did not expect it to ignite that much. I knew it was magic, and I knew that we came together \u2014 it\u2019s such a crazy moment. I felt like I was in a movie. I feel like I walked out to 50,000 people, half of \u2019em didn\u2019t know who I was. Half of \u2019em were probably wondering why the fuck I was there, or some of them probably didn\u2019t like me. That concert brought six generations of rock fans together, and I think it was the first time people had something in common with me. Like, oh, fuck, man, [he] just likes Sabbath. He just likes Ozzy, like me. I just tried to give it everything. It was the first moment that I\u2019ve ever\u2026 I\u2019m fucking riddled with ADHD, so when you\u2019re standing on stage with 20,000 people, you\u2019re like, oh look, there\u2019s a sign there and oh, there\u2019s a girl on her shoulders\u2019 there. You\u2019re seeing a million things in lights. It\u2019s like an ADHD person\u2019s fucking nightmare. I really centered [myself]. It was the first time I\u2019ve ever sung a piece of music to one person.<\/p>\n

\n\tReally? In front of such a large audience too.<\/strong><\/p>\n

\n\tFifth thousand people. I can\u2019t remember it. I went into this, I don\u2019t know, this weird, transformative state. I was like, I\u2019m just going to really reach down to the depths of an incredible song and the depths of my very being and try to make something magic out of it. To be Grammy-nominated for a live performance is probably every performer\u2019s dream, every singer\u2019s dream. I think it\u2019s not a performance on record when I could do 20 takes of it, when I got 20 goes of it, when I got to do drop-ins and when I got to do overdubs. It was a moment in time that happened, and it could never have been the same again. It was just a moment in time that was and never will be again. I think that\u2019s beautiful about it.<\/p>\n

\n\tYou\u2019ve been very open about your own mental health and your struggle with finding your own identity, which can be a bit of a taboo thing in rock. Why was it so important to you?<\/strong><\/p>\n

\n\tIt\u2019s just what I write about. Since the beginning of my career \u2014 I\u2019m very bubbly and light, but I\u2019m extremely dark inside my head. That is what captured a generation\u2019s imagination. When I came out, I think I came up on a wave with great artists like Billie Eilish and Mac Miller and Lil Peep, and that\u2019s what I think caught a generation\u2019s heartbeat. It\u2019s because the internet came along. The murmurs of school and the pressures of everything where you can\u2019t truly say how you feel, but then someone does it on the internet and another person does it on the internet and then it starts to become a normal thing. I think inevitably art is written about the world that we\u2019re living in.<\/p>\n

\n\tI just feel like it was needed. I\u2019d watched people who I loved die. I\u2019d watched Chris Cornell; I\u2019d watched Chester [Bennington]; I\u2019d watched Kurt Cobain and had watched Amy Winehouse, and how sad is it that a time wouldn\u2019t allow them to have an outlet to potentially talk about what was going on in their head. It\u2019s about 2018, 2019 when it started to be normal to be like, yo, I don\u2019t think I\u2019m OK. Or be normal to be like, I need to take a break from touring for a second. I think it\u2019s so sad that those artists had to face that and be up against the mood of the world. I think that changed. I sing about my head, I sing about how I feel. It\u2019s the one thing I know that\u2019s real. In the same way that I\u2019d sing about sex, or I sing about love or I\u2019d sing about anything. In the same way that we sing about something that\u2019s tangibly so emotionally overwhelming, anxiety, depression and a feeling being overwhelmed and exhaustion is also that kind of thing.<\/p>\n

\n\tYou\u2019re very busy with touring, and unfortunately, you had to cancel some shows at the end of the year. How are you feeling? How do you take care of yourself in that way? <\/strong><\/p>\n

\n\tI think the fundamentally cool thing about me and my fanbase is I am completely honest with them. I basically just went and had some tests done, and I\u2019m showing early signs of exhaustion in my voice. There\u2019s no crazy fucking damage to it, but it\u2019s had a really hard year. This album is hard to sing. My instinct is to go and go and go and run and run. My doctor, I\u2019ve known him for a long time, since I\u2019ve been very young, he\u2019s said it\u2019s finally at to a place where I need to start taking this seriously. [I\u2019m] not just a 17-year-old young punk anymore who can do a shot of whiskey and say fuck it. I want to be the best for my community. I have a big tour in year next year, so I just made the decision that we were obviously going to play support to [Limp] Bizkit and [at] festivals. We had three shows in America. My doctor just [didn\u2019t] want [me] on planes and playing shows over two hours right now. He [said] if [I] want to write songs or want to kind of decompress and hit the studio? [He] said [he\u2019d have no issue with that. I\u2019m zero or 100. That\u2019s just who I am. It was amazing how everyone was nice. Everyone\u2019s so supportive, and I think that\u2019s what\u2019s so beautiful about my community.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Yungblud has always been unapologetically himself, but over the last year, the 28-year-old musician has fully formed into…\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":437042,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[29],"tags":[171,140216,975,16513,38290,67,132,68,10161],"class_list":{"0":"post-437041","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-music","8":"tag-entertainment","9":"tag-grammys-2026","10":"tag-music","11":"tag-ozzy-osbourne","12":"tag-person-of-interest","13":"tag-united-states","14":"tag-unitedstates","15":"tag-us","16":"tag-yungblud"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@us\/115693400606163859","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/437041","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=437041"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/437041\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/437042"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=437041"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=437041"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=437041"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}