Yungblud Teams Up With The Smashing Pumpkins For New ‘Zombie’ Version
Yungblud says it was a ‘dream come true’ to partner with the legendary band for a rendition of his Grammy nominated track ‘Zombie.’
Yungblud has shared a new version of his Grammy nominated track “Zombie” with the Smashing Pumpkins. Produced by Matt Schwartz and the Pumpkins’ founder and frontman Billy Corgan, the occasion marks the legendary rock band’s first ever collaborative release with another artist. The track arrives with an official music video, directed by Charlie Sarsfield and starring Yungblud and The Smashing Pumpkins.
Back in 2023, Corgan spoke about Yungblud during an interview after watching a live video of the rock performer and recognizing his potential, saying “I can tell where he’s going, and if I’m right, we’ll be talking about him for the next 50 years.” He has since repeated this co-sign and likened Yungblud’s evolution to that of Elton John. Eventually, the two met in Birmingham last July during Black Sabbath’s farewell concert, in which both artists performed tributes to Ozzy Osbourne.
Speaking on the collaboration, Yungblud shares: “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.
‘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 adds, “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.”
Yungblud has previously shared an acoustic version of “Zombie,” which is nominated for Best Rock Song at the 68th annual Grammy Awards. It appears on IDOLS, Yungblud’s fourth studio album, which is nominated for Best Rock Album. Yungblud is also nominated for Best Rock Performance for his live cover of Black Sabbath’s “Changes,” performed at the MTV Video Music Awards alongside Aerosmith’s Steven Tyler, Joe Perry, and Nuno Bettencourt. Yungblud and Aerosmith released a collaborative EP, One More Time, which debuted at No. 1 on Billboard’s Top Rock Albums chart and topped the UK Albums Chart.
Later this year, Yungblud will embark on a sold-out tour across North America. Those dates kick off May 1 at the Michigan Lottery Amphitheatre.
