Yungblud fans start off 2026 with a massive treat. He recently released another version of “Zombie“, this time darker and alongside The Smashing Pumpkins. This is a major highlight in the band’s career because, beforehand, they had never been featured on another artist’s song. Across three decades, they never worked with another artist on records that weren’t their own.
The song itself plays out even darker than its original. There’s a brooding quality to it, all centered around a heftier set of guitars. Consequently, its lyrical themes of grief and trauma take on an even heavier outlook. “Oh, I know that I can’t live without you, but this world will keep turning if you do. Would you even want me looking like a zombie?” Yungblud sings on the hook.
Collaborating with The Smashing Pumpkins acts as a full-circle moment for the British rocker. He recently told Loudwire that the song ultimately drew from familiar, classic source material from the band. Working with them allows him to bring the influence to the forefront. “When I was making ‘Zombie’, I was really channeling Siamese Dream,” he says. “It was really the sadness and the melancholic emotion mixed with the aggression of Billy [Corgan’s] guitars.”
Yungblud Explains Smashing Pumpkins’ Influence and Collaborating with Them
Additionally, Yungblud recounts how he wanted the record to sound and how it had to “scratch this itch.” “I called Billy, and I was like, ‘Billy, please help me scratch this itch. I want this record to dig in harder.’ There still needs to be an almost Jekyll and Hyde element; there needs to be the version that’s full of light and full of life and optimism, but then there needs to be this dark version that is pessimistic and a little bit bitter and a bit aggressive,” Yungblud says.
Ultimately, Yungblud’s entire artistic disposition was to laud iconic artists who reflect his own music. For example, when Ozzy Osbourne passed away last year, Yungblud spoke about how much the Black Sabbath lead meant to him personally and creatively.
“I think Ozzy was always my north star. It was really Ozzy Osbourne and David Bowie [that] meant everything to me,” Yungblud said back in August. “I think Ozzy was a character in my life that was such a reflection of everything I went through. I was always a bit over the top, I was always seen to be a bit crazy, I was always seen to be a bit loud, but when kind of some people saw that as a negative, Ozzy would provide me this hope that there was an avenue for someone like me in the world.”
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