“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

Yungblud had a pretty decent 2025 – a UK Number One in the shape of his fourth album, Idols, plus three Grammy nominations. Then there was his guest slot at the rock event of the decade, the Back To The Beginning concert. At it stands, he’s now, undeniably, the biggest British rock artist of his generation.

He’s also been talking the The Guardian about his gradual rise to prominence. Of that performance at the Ozzy tribute, he says he was “extremely nervous” beforehand. “About 50,000 people were there. 25,000 haven’t got a clue who I am, 15,000 think I’m a poser, and maybe 10,000, one of their kids has mentioned me to them.

“But the minute I got on stage, everything went calm. I grew up in a guitar shop (his father owned one), I’ve always been around older rock-heads – my dad, my uncles, the people who worked there and played in bands around Doncaster. It’s what I grew up with. I thought: ‘This is where I come from, this is going to bring me home.’”

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The singer (whose real name is Dominic Harrison, of course) also explained what he thought the secrets to his rise have been. Initially, radio and the music press gave him a wide berth, so he turned instead to making DIY YouTube videos and using social media.

“People started sending me direct messages and I started hitting them back: no one gave a shit in England, it was kids in the Netherlands. I put a gig on there and we sold out 150 tickets in 10 minutes."

Harrison releases a new version of his hit Zombie this week in collaboration with the Smashing Pumpkins. It’s the first time the Pumpkins have ever had a feature slot with another artist and The Guardian also spoke to Billy Corgan, who was full of praise for the singer, saying: “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.”

“I truly believe when all is said and done, he will stand up there with the greats,” Corgan added, “And it’s worth noting that Ozzy believed this, too.”