Yungblud on Freddie Mercury and David Bowie: ‘That’s when I knew I wanted to be a rock star’
“All my life I looked at a fucking picture on the wall [and] I wanted to be that picture on the wall”
By Aaron Sugg
Yungblud has opened up about the music legends who shaped his vision of what it means to be a rock star — namely, Freddie Mercury and David Bowie.
The ‘Zombie’ singer is our latest cover star, and just last week was acknowledged as a Pride ICON award winner at the PEUGEOT Attitude PRIDE Awards Europe 2025, supported by British Airways at the Peninsula London.
To order issue 365 of Attitude with Yungblud on the cover, click here.
Speaking about his early inspiration, the artist — born Dominic Harrison — said that seeing Queen musical We Will Rock You in London cemented his dream.
“That’s when I knew I wanted to be a rock star” – Yungblud
In an interview with Attitude, the Attitude cover star said: “There was this big fucking statue of Freddie [Mercury] outside the theatre… That’s when I knew I wanted to be a rock star.”
The pansexual singer admitted his family had reservations, however: “They were almost like the grim reaper of people who didn’t make it in bands because they’d all come into the shop,” he says. “It was like: ‘You want to be a rock star? It’s fucking hard, son.’”
Drawing on this inspiration: “I always find inspiration in artists like that: you know, massive visionaries like Bowie, Madonna, Trent Reznor.”
“Because she is fearless and, like me, does not give a fuck about putting her head above the trench first and getting shot at,” said the singer on Madonna.
“All my life I looked at a fucking picture on the wall [and] I wanted to be that picture on the wall,” he explained.
“Everything I learnt from them was within me”
“For some people, I became that picture on the wall, and I realised that it never fucking had any answers,” he added. “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 Yungblud’s Attitude cover interview in full, check out issue 365 of Attitude magazine, available to order here, and alongside 15 years of back issues on the free Attitude app.