Yungblud opens up to the Mirror about Ozzy, breaking America, the Grammys…and life in the spotlight, in a fascinating and wide-ranging chat in Los Angeles
In a dark corner of Rainbow bar and Grill on LA’s Sunset Strip, Yungblud is in a bright red leather booth quietly sipping a diet coca-cola. Despite being sat in a rock and roll institution, the Doncaster-born 28-year-old is sticking to the softer stuff having indulged a little too much at a pre-Oscars party the night before.
“I went to bed at 8am which was why I was a little late for the interview,” he laughs. “It’s easy waking up in LA if you’ve been out all night…..I could be back in Donny and it’s pissing it down.”
It is in this very spot six years ago that the singer, whose real name is Dominic Harrison, first met his idol Ozzy Osbourne, at the latter’s album launch party. “We sat down together, he gave me a f****** hug, and we talked for two and a half hours just about random s***, and we’ve been tight ever since,” he said. “I’ve loved him my whole f****** life….I couldn’t believe it.”
The chance encounter marked the beginning of a touching friendship between the two men which continued right up until Ozzy’s sudden death last summer aged 76. It culminated with Dom’s astonishing rendition of Changes at Ozzy’s final Villa Park show just weeks before he passed away, and which earned him a Grammy for best rock performance.
He said: “When I saw him that day, he’d lost mobility, but he was laughing and joking. His daughter Kelly said that in the weeks up to his death, he was watching a video of that performance six times a day because he’d just got an iPad.”
Growing up in Doncaster as a Black Sabbath-worshipping teenager, it was the stuff of dreams. “I’ve looked at his photograph on my wall since I was four…he was like Batman to me. I was an ADHD, naughty kid from Donny, and aII I saw this guy who was celebrated for being himself – just crazy, mad, wild…and it made me feel normal,” he says. “When someone physically puts their arms around you and gives you a platform like he did … I’m just a kid from a guitar shop who got to sing with his hero.”
He remembers vividly the moment he found out Ozzy had passed away. “I was in the Bahamas in a recording studio, and had no signal, and I came out of a six-hour session and saw about 80 missed calls. I thought my dad had died, or my mum. Then I saw a text saying: “I’m sorry about Ozzy.” “I just broke down in tears. The person I was in the studio with was a big rock star too, and he was devastated too, and just walked out.”
Before he died there was one word of advice from Ozzy that has remained with him, and it explains in part why we’re here in this uber-cool corner of LA today. “Ozzy told me, ‘Go get America next,” says Dom. “It’s very much the dream….i would love to do him proud.” After spending a couple of hours in LA with him, you get the sense he is well on his way to seeing Ozzy’s wishes come true.
People are endlessly coming up to him on Sunset Boulevard asking for autographs, and selfies. Watching him interact with them, patiently asking them questions…you can see why he inspires so much loyalty from his fanbase. They love him.
While breaking the US is notoriously hard for any British artist, Yungblud does appear to be on a roll. He became the first British artist in history to earn three nominations in the Grammy rock categories in a single year, as well as securing a Top Ten album on the US Billboard charts with Aerosmith. US legends Smashing Pumpkins also jumped at the chance to work with him on Idols2, the follow-up to his fourth UK Number One album, Idols.
“It’s every British artist’s dream to break America. It feels like the Stones or Zeppelin again. Me, Olivia Dean, and Lola Young taking the Grammys… that’s f****** sick,” he laughs. “I love a pub, a pie, and the North. But I love the land of opportunity here. I don’t need to ask permission. At home, I felt I needed permission from the industry.”
Talking of which, he was bizarrely overlooked at this year’s BRIT Awards despite smashing it at the Grammys. “I don’t want to pipe down or bow my cap to the establishment just to get a Brit Award…and I don’t think about award shows much, but that stung a bit. We had two number-one albums and sold out 11 arenas – I was like, “Why does no one like me at home?”
He says he was reassured by the fact the Grammys are voted for by his peers including Chappell Roan, Dave Grohl and Lady Gaga. “That’s why it means so much..whereas the Brits are run by labels….music should be democratic,” he says.
Funny, engaging and sharp as a tack, Dom exudes rockstar charisma, not least as he sweeps into the bar dressed in shades and a leopard-print lined leather jacket. But, refreshingly, he also wears his heart on his sleeve. I ask him if he ever feels like he has missed out on anything given he has been making music since his teens.
“My adolescence,” he replies. “I missed out on that….and also the ability to f*** up in private. If I f*** up, it’s judged forever.”
There have been well-documented struggles along the way as he wrestled with life in the spotlight as a young artist. “It’s taken me 10 years to figure out who I am…including six years of the label and the press ripping me to shreds. It impacted me a lot – I had issues with alcohol and food. Dark relationships.”
Part of the coping mechanism has been to make his “world smaller” and ignore external noise. This even extends to not reading the comments left underneath his videos. “I don’t read them anymore….if I’m a racehorse, I need my blinkers on. If I look left or right, I’m gonna crash and get shot in the head and turned to glue,” he says. “Now I just keep my circle tight. I’ve got my dogs and a farm in Malibu with goats”
Boxing too has been a godsend for his mental health. “I tried therapy, but it felt like an interview. Boxing is my therapy. You have to check in with yourself, or you become a c*** because you aren’t “you.” As we finish up, I say it’s a shame he doesn’t read the comments anymore. I tell him I’d watched his barnstorming performance of Changes on YouTube again earlier and every one of the 15,000 comments is positively glowing. But as we leave the bar and fans crowd around him on the Sunset Strip… it feels safe to say he already knows…
Yungblud’s festival Bludfest is in Czechia on June 27th, 2026. Idols II is out now
Disclaimer : This story is auto aggregated by a computer programme and has not been created or edited by DOWNTHENEWS. Publisher: mirror.co.uk
