Is Yungblud the hardest working man in music? Well, if his 2026 is anything like last year, he’s certainly going to claim that title.
Where to begin with his 2025? He released the album Idols, stole the show at Black Sabbath’s last gig, appeared on a London Standard cover and was basically spreading his punky empowered effervescence everywhere.
Now, he has joined forces with Smashing Pumpkins for a reworking of his Grammy-nominated song Zombie, which is the first time the Pumpkins have ever collaborated with anyone.
Check out the video here:
Yunglud became pals with Billy Corgan after the pair met at the Sabbath concert in July where they both were honouring mutual friend Ozzy Osbourne. However, Corgan was already a professed fan of the singer, having paid tribute to him on his podcast, The Magnificent Ones, which paved the way for what seems to be a dream come true for Yungblud, who said:
“[Smashing Pumpkins’ album] Siamese Dream was an album that was there for me more than I could ever explain when I was growing so to be making music with the band that created it is really quite hard to comprehend. Billy has always been such a massive inspiration to me but more recently a huge mentor of mine. His outlook on the importance of truth in art is something that I’ve always held close to my heart.
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‘Zombie’ is the most important song of IDOLS to me. It’s deeply personal and it was heavily influenced by The Smashing Pumpkins’ ability to mix emotion, cinema and heavy guitars. I sent Billy an email, asking if he would re-imagine this song with me and when he agreed to it, it was a dream come true. To watch one of my idols work on something that I had written was one of the greatest honours of my life. I love that this new version of ‘Zombie’ is heavier, it has Billy Corgan’s iconic guitar sound, it has more urgency and it rips my heart out. I’m so proud of it.”
Corgan himself said, "Yungblud’s star shines bright, so it’s been great fun to lend our zig-zag voice to his ‘Zombie’ which he’s said was inspired by one of our own. Hence the encouragement that we make this rendition as personal as possible and I’m proud to say we’ve done that; if only to honor him in return.”
In April, Yungblud will kick off his UK arena tour, which includes a date at the O2 on April 24.
