"To watch one of my idols work on something that I had written was one of the greatest honours of my life. " Watch Yungblud team up with Smashing Pumpkins for a reworking of 2025 single Zombie

Yungblud and Smashing Pumpkins — (Image credit: Press)

Yungblud has teamed up with Smashing Pumpkins for a new version of Zombie, the third single from his fourth album IDOLS, originally released last May.

The collaboration between the two artists was initiated when Yungblud (real name Dominic Harrison) and Smashing Pumpkins frontman Billy Corgan met at Ozzy Osbourne / Black Sabbath's farewell Back To The Beginning show in Birmingham last July: the pair had previously expressed admiration for one another's music and aura in recent years, with Corgan comparing Yungblud's transition from pop to rock to Elton John's musical journey.

"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," Corgan says. "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."

Sharing his love for Corgan's band, Yungblud says, "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.”

Watch the video last year.

YUNGBLUD, The Smashing Pumpkins - Zombie (Official Music Video) - YouTube

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Following his storming performance of Black Sabbath's Changes at the Back To The Beginning show, Yungblud has seemingly been taken under the wings of hard rock's elder statesmen.

He was invited to pay tribute to Ozzy once more at MTV's Video Music Awards (VMAs) in September, fronting a supergroup featuring Aerosmith's Steven Tyler and Joe Perry, plus Extreme's Nuno Bettencourt. He then collaborated with Aerosmith on the five-song One More Time EP, released in November.

To cap off an incredible 2025, the singer received three nominations for 2026's Grammy Awards (2026 ceremony), for Zombie (Best Rock Song), his album Idols (Best Rock Album), and, inevitably, Changes at Villa Park (Best Rock Performance).

Artists

A music writer since 1993, formerly Editor of Kerrang! and Planet Rock magazine (RIP), Paul Brannigan is a Contributing Editor to Louder. Having previously written books on Lemmy, Dave Grohl (the Sunday Times best-seller This Is A Call) and Metallica (Birth School Metallica Death, co-authored with Ian Winwood), his Eddie Van Halen biography (Eruption in the UK, Unchained in the US) emerged in 2021. He has written for Rolling Stone, Mojo and Q, hung out with Fugazi at Dischord House, flown on Ozzy Osbourne's private jet, played Angus Young's Gibson SG, and interviewed everyone from Aerosmith and Beastie Boys to Young Gods and ZZ Top. Born in the North of Ireland, Brannigan lives in North London and supports The Arsenal.

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