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Today, GRAMMY® Award-winning artist YUNGBLUD releases a special live recording of his hit single “Zombie,” performed with The Smashing Pumpkins’ Billy Corgan at Chicago’s legendary Riviera Theatre. The intimate performance marks the only time YUNGBLUD and Corgan have performed their reimagined version of “Zombie” together live.
Watch “Zombie (Live From The Riviera Theatre) (feat. Billy Corgan)” HERE. Listen to the track HERE.
Recorded in Chicago on July 30, the performance took place during a landmark week for both artists, one day before YUNGBLUDtook the stage at Lollapalooza, performing the penultimate set ahead of The Smashing Pumpkins’ Friday night headline performance.
Originally released on YUNGBLUD’s chart-topping album IDOLS, “Zombie” quickly became one of the defining songs of the era, earning a GRAMMY® nomination for Best Rock Song. The song is now the fastest-streaming single of YUNGBLUD’s career and has accumulated over 200 million total streams. The track later took on a new life when YUNGBLUD joined forces with The Smashing Pumpkins to reimagine the song. Produced by Matt Schwartz and Billy Corgan, the collaboration brought Corgan’s unmistakable guitar sound to a song deeply influenced by The Smashing Pumpkins, bringing the relationship full circle, alongside drums and guitar from The Smashing Pumpkins’ Jimmy Chamberlin and James Iha, resulting in a fully reimagined version of the original composition.
The studio version was accompanied by an official music video directed by Charlie Sarsfield, starring YUNGBLUD and The Smashing Pumpkins. Watch the official music video HERE.
The reimagined studio version was met with critical acclaim, with Rolling Stone highlighting how Yungblud “digs deeper into the quiet devastation of ‘Zombie,’” while KERRANG praised its “beefier, grittier but still crushingly emotional” sound and Corgan’s vocals. NMEsimilarly celebrated the collaboration’s ’90s makeover and The Smashing Pumpkins’ signature “colossal wall of sound.”
The release arrives amid a whirlwind year for YUNGBLUD. Following the release of his chart-topping, GRAMMY®-nominatedalbum IDOLS, the British artist has continued his completely SOLD-OUTIDOLSWorld Tour, bringing the record to fans around the globe. He has also continued to bridge generations of rock through a run of collaborations, including One More Time with Aerosmith (LISTEN), which topped the UK Albums Chart and Billboard’s Top Rock Albums chart.
Watch YUNGBLUD and Billy Corgan perform “Zombie,” Live From The Riviera Theatre HERE.
Listen to “Zombie” by YUNGBLUD and The Smashing Pumpkins, HERE. Watch the original music video HERE.
IDOLS, the latest album from YUNGBLUD is out everywhere now.
