Yungblud on sexuality, authenticity and how ‘fearless’ Madonna influenced his new album (EXCLUSIVE)

Yungblud knows he’s a “really polarising” figure. He volunteers it within 10 minutes of meeting me. “People either love me or fucking hate me, put every ounce of belief into me or don’t believe [in] me whatsoever,” he says, sounding more bullish than self-pitying. Nearly an hour later, the 27-year-old rock iconoclast notes that despite “having three fucking number one albums in this country”, he’s never been to the BRIT Awards. 

He was nominated once, for British Male Solo Artist in 2021, but he’s really never been? “Never been,” the honouree at the PEUGEOT Attitude PRIDE Awards 2025, supported by British Airways replies, enunciating each word for extra impact. “Because I’m not part of the system in terms of ‘it’s easy [to digest]’. I’m dangerous. I’m gonna say what I think. I’m gonna say what I mean, and it’s not based on numbers, figures, clicks and money. It’s based on real fucking stories and healing.”

The artist born Dominic Harrison is hardly the first rock star to present himself as a system-shaking renegade. And he isn’t the first to get slightly carried away. When we meet in early June at a Soho members’ club, he still has two UK number one albums to his name, though a third is surely coming when he drops Idols, his glorious fourth LP, which will be released by the time you read this. 

We’ve got a room to ourselves, but Harrison gives a friendly nod to anyone who passes through. He’s a coiled spring of charisma, charm and unvarnished chat whose energy barely flags during our time talking. When he does pause for thought, you can bet that his subsequent answer will be even livelier — and swearier — than the previous one.

Harrison has always spoken frankly about his sexuality, which continued to evolve after he broke through as Yungblud eight years ago. In 2020, having previously said he was “more straight” but “very fluid with it”, he told Attitude he now felt comfortable describing himself as pansexual and polyamorous. He also said he’s grown to consider himself part of the LGBTQ+ community. Today, Harrison feels “safe as a fucking box” in that identity. “I am the pan man — I’m the fucking saucepan,” he says playfully, before pivoting to a more serious answer. “Because it’s the [label] that allows me to be who I am; it’s the one with the most room for manoeuvre. Do you know what I’m saying? I do feel like I am less insecure about it.”

Winning a Pride Icon Award at this year’s PEUGEOT Attitude PRIDE Awards Europe, supported by British Airways, is immensely validating for him, though he views it as a team effort. “I’m honoured to receive any award, but I’ll make it about what we’ve done in my community,” he says. He’s talking about the Black Hearts Club, the fanbase he’s built on the tenets of love, acceptance and authentically being yourself, and Bludfest, the affordable music festival he launched last year at the National Bowl, Milton Keynes. The second Bludfest has just taken place at the same venue, with ticket prices starting at a Gen Z-friendly £65. “I think that’s what deserves the most credit, in terms of how many young people are allowed to feel safe in our space, or come out in our space, or really feel loved in our space. I think that’s what I feel most proud of when we talk about Pride,” he says.

The second Bludfest took place on 21 June, a day after Harrison dropped Idols, his ferociously entertaining fourth album. The singer’s previous LP, 2022’s self-titled Yungblud, barrelled through 12 tracks in 33 minutes, in a concession, presumably, to the short attention spans fostered by TikTok and Spotify. Idols, the first part of a planned double album, is a different, more sprawling affair. It opens with ‘Hello Heaven, Hello’, a nine-minute stadium rock epic filled with guitar riffs and myth-making: “And since I was a little boy, I always held a tear upon my face,” he roars, “They’d hit me in the mouth and they told me, ‘It’s time to act your age’”. Elsewhere, there’s lashings of Britpop swagger — Harrison drops truth bombs like a young Robbie Williams on ‘Lovesick Lullaby’ — and arena-ready balladry on the swelling ‘Ghosts’ and Oasis-esque ‘War’. 

Perhaps surprisingly, Harrison says Madonna was also an influence on the album. “Because she is fearless and, like me, does not give a fuck about putting her head above the trench first and getting shot at,” he explains. “And I always find inspiration in artists like that: you know, massive visionaries like Bowie, Madonna, Trent Reznor.” He named the album Idols because his own views on hero worship have changed since he became one. 

“All my life I looked at a fucking picture on the wall [and] I wanted to be that picture on the wall,” he explains. “For some people, I became that picture on the wall, and I realised that it never fucking had any answers. I never met Freddie [Mercury], I never met Mick Jagger — well, I did eventually — but I never met Bowie. Everything I learnt from them was within me. The photograph was a mirror, and I really wanted to explore the thought process of why we give these people so much credit to our own lives.”

To read this interview in full, check out issue 365 of Attitude magazine, available to order online here and alongside 15 years of back issues on the free Attitude app.

Words: @NickLevine
Photography: @TomPallant
Styling: @MarcEram