Yungblud is not afraid to defend modern rock music from even the most intimidating boomers. After shock-jock Howard Stern complained that “rock is dead,” the young English rock star called this notion a “load of bulls***.”
During an appearance on Stern’s SiriusXM show, the host lamented that he hasn’t been enjoying new rock music. “I’ve been feeling lately like rock is dead, you know? And it makes me sad because I love rock and roll music,” Stern said.
Respectfully, Yungblud disagreed. “Rock music is so brilliant, and it gets its flowers in hindsight because it’s such a sacred genre,” he said. The singer then asserted that he believes most older rock fans share Stern’s sentiment because of their overindulgence in nostalgia.
“Every dad says, ‘I don’t like that band.’ It sounds like a band that they knew as a kid,” Yungblud explained. “You know what I mean? Every dad says to his kid, ‘I don’t like that. That sounds like what I knew.’ It always happens.”
Yungblud, likely speaking from personal experience, also chided the idea that there needs to be a rock music savior. “People always put so much pressure on one person bringing it back. ‘Who’s going to save rock and roll?’ And that’s a load of bulls***,” he asserted.
“It’s spherical at the minute,” Yungblud said of modern rock. He then name-dropped some really important bands that are blowing up right now. “In hardcore, you’ve got Knocked Loose and Turnstile,” he said. “In punk, you’ve got Amyl and the Sniffers and Lambrini Girls; in indie, you’ve got Fontaines [D.C.] and Geese and Wunderhorse.”
Yungblud’s new album, ‘Idols’, was released in June 2025
The singer went on to note that his latest album, Idols, is also evidence that rock music is still epic and energetic. He seeks to “bring a sense of theatre and showmanship and adventure and nine-minute songs back in a 2025 way.”
The record was no easy feat, however. Yungblud said it was a “f***in’ risk” to be as ambitious as he and his band were. “When we went in to play the first single, which was nine minutes, to the labels, I went f***in’ green. But, I think we were in a place where we have a community, we have a culture, we have a fanbase that will go with us.”
Finally, Yungblud added, “It was mad to do but to see the amount of people that have got behind it and loved it has been f***in’ up.”
The post ‘That’s a Load of Bulls**t’: Yungblud Pushes Back on Howard Stern for Complaining That ‘Rock Is Dead’ appeared first on VICE.
