Yungblud’s ‘Idols’ Hits #1 On The ARIA Chart
It started with a ride on a boat in Sydney Harbour and finished with a #1 album on the ARIA Album Chart – as YUNGBLUD brought his IDOLS World Tour to Australia in January and singlehandedly served a much-needed jolt of rock n’ roll into the country – playing to his biggest audiences ever in Australia.
YUNGBLUD has always been an artist confident in his convictions. But what Australia experienced during his six shows around each mainland capital was his incredible generosity for letting true fans into his world. From his arrival into Sydney and connecting with fans at his own photo exhibition by renowned photographer Tom Pallant, to popping up at Brisbane’s Crowbar with his Aussie support act The Dune Rats following his two sold out nights at the Riverstage, YUNGBLUD was spotted out and about in each city, connecting with fans as he went.
His 2025 release Idols, his fourth studio album, was considered a risk by many. It’s an album that YUNGBLUD channeled his many musical inspirations into what he felt was his true self. What resulted was a 12 track opus that can only be described as uniquely YUNGBLUD. With this #1, it now becomes his second chart-topping album following 2022’s self-titled release – and is testament to YUNGBLUD’s hard work and belief in the album and how he’s connected with fans since its release.
The album has also been nominated in the Best Rock Album category at the 68th Annual GRAMMY® Awards, which are to be held in Los Angeles on Monday 2 February AU time.
The album’s first release Hello Heaven, Hello broke the mould of the traditional single, with the tracks full 9 minutes and six seconds. The raucous Lovesick Lullaby followed thereafter which was described by BBC News as “combining Liam Gallagher’s sneer with Beach Boys’ harmonies.”
Then came Zombie, a song which has continued to gather momentum since its release in mid-2025. It’s a song that YUNGBLUD said was about “the feeling of deterioration and ugliness; shutting out the world and the people we love out of the fear of becoming a burden or an embarrassment.” Zombie has also been nominated for a GRAMMY® in the Best Rock Song category at the awards, with an additional nomination for Best Rock Performance for his live rendition of Black Sabbath’s Changes rounding out his GRAMMY® nominations.
A new version of Zombie has also just been released which features one of YUNGBLUD’s idols (!) The Smashing Pumpkins. YUNGBLUD said of the new version: ‘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.”
The Smashing Pumpkins founder and front-man, Billy Corgan adds, “YUNGBLUDs’ 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. 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 honour him in return.”
All said and done – it’s abundantly clear that Australia loves YUNGBLUD – and even more so that YUNGBLUD loves Australia. In his own words – “Australia I have felt love like no other. Truly the greatest experience of my life. Thank you from the bottom of my heart. I love you. Till death”.
YUNGBLUD has always said that Idols will be an album in 2 parts. With Part II on the way – there’s no telling just how much further this star will continue to rise.
