"Almost a Decade of Being Misunderstood: The Rise of YUNGBLUD"
(Artist Report)
Written by: Runwylde
To some people, YUNGBLUD suddenly appeared everywhere. One moment he was the loud, eyeliner-wearing kid many rock fans dismissed as a “poser”; the next he was standing at Villa Park singing Black Sabbath’s “Changes”, collaborating with some of the biggest names in rock and collecting a Grammy. But calling Dominic Harrison an overnight success ignores almost a decade of relentless work, criticism, reinvention and community-building.
Long before the wider rock world started paying attention, Dom already knew he wanted to be on a stage. Born in Doncaster, he grew up around music but often felt that his creativity, ambition and identity did not fit comfortably into the environment around him. As a teenager, London became an escape. Camden in particular gave him a place where music, fashion, sexuality and identity could overlap without needing to fit neatly into one category. It was there that he began finding the freedom to explore who he was - and eventually who YUNGBLUD could become.
That difficulty fitting into one box would follow him throughout his career. His eyeliner, painted nails, dresses, fishnets and deliberately androgynous looks became an easy target. His sexuality was questioned publicly, and accusations of “queerbaiting” followed him even after he openly discussed his sexual fluidity and later described himself as pansexual. Others focused on his background, portraying him as a privileged kid playing at rebellion. Dom has never denied that his family supported him when he moved to London, but he has also pushed back against the idea that his career was simply bought for him. What often seems to frustrate people most about YUNGBLUD is perhaps much simpler: he is difficult to categorise.
And humans like categories. They help us understand what we are looking at. Rocker. Pop star. Punk. Queer artist. Mainstream. Underground. Masculine. Feminine. YUNGBLUD has spent most of his career sitting somewhere between those definitions, sometimes occupying several of them at once. In 2019, he summed up that feeling himself when he said that no one could put his personality into one box - he felt as though he belonged in seven. For some listeners, that ambiguity has always been the problem. For the people who connected with him, it became the point.
Those people eventually became the Black Hearts Club. YUNGBLUD has repeatedly resisted describing them simply as “fans”, preferring the idea of a community or family. It grew through shows, social media and the feeling that his music could give people a reason to find one another. Friendships formed in queues, at concerts and later at BLUDFEST; people who might never otherwise have met suddenly had something connecting them. The community did not appear when the mainstream decided YUNGBLUD was worth watching. It had already been growing for years.
That is also why 2025 matters so much. YUNGBLUD was already successful before then - WEIRD! had reached number one in the UK in 2020, his self-titled album repeated that achievement in 2022 and IDOLS became another chart-topper in 2025. But commercial success and acceptance from the wider rock world are not necessarily the same thing. His appearance at Black Sabbath and Ozzy Osbourne’s farewell concert at Villa Park became the moment those two worlds seemed to collide.
YUNGBLUD later estimated that of the roughly 50,000 people in front of him that day, around half had no idea who he was and many others thought he was a poser. Then he stood there and sang “Changes”. The performance did not rely on jumping around, outrageous clothes or provocation. It was simply a singer, a song and an audience that had every opportunity to reject him. Instead, it became one of the most talked-about performances of the event.
Ozzy’s role in that story goes deeper than one performance. YUNGBLUD has spoken about calling him when he felt misunderstood and receiving the same advice repeatedly: people may not understand you, but do not change direction because of it. He described Ozzy not only as his hero but as family. When Osbourne died shortly after the farewell show, “Changes” became something different again. YUNGBLUD vowed to continue performing it, and today there are moments when the emotion visibly catches up with him as thousands of people sing the song back. For an artist who is often caricatured as chaotic and attention-seeking, those performances reveal another side entirely.
To some people, YUNGBLUD suddenly appeared everywhere. One moment he was the loud, eyeliner-wearing kid many rock fans dismissed as a “poser”; the next he was standing at Villa Park singing Black Sabbath’s “Changes”, collaborating with some of the biggest names in rock and collecting a Grammy. But calling Dominic Harrison an overnight success ignores almost a decade of relentless work, criticism, reinvention and community-building.
Long before the wider rock world started paying attention, Dom already knew he wanted to be on a stage. Born in Doncaster, he grew up around music but often felt that his creativity, ambition and identity did not fit comfortably into the environment around him. As a teenager, London became an escape. Camden in particular gave him a place where music, fashion, sexuality and identity could overlap without needing to fit neatly into one category. It was there that he began finding the freedom to explore who he was - and eventually who YUNGBLUD could become.
That difficulty fitting into one box would follow him throughout his career. His eyeliner, painted nails, dresses, fishnets and deliberately androgynous looks became an easy target. His sexuality was questioned publicly, and accusations of “queerbaiting” followed him even after he openly discussed his sexual fluidity and later described himself as pansexual. Others focused on his background, portraying him as a privileged kid playing at rebellion. Dom has never denied that his family supported him when he moved to London, but he has also pushed back against the idea that his career was simply bought for him. What often seems to frustrate people most about YUNGBLUD is perhaps much simpler: he is difficult to categorise.
And humans like categories. They help us understand what we are looking at. Rocker. Pop star. Punk. Queer artist. Mainstream. Underground. Masculine. Feminine. YUNGBLUD has spent most of his career sitting somewhere between those definitions, sometimes occupying several of them at once. In 2019, he summed up that feeling himself when he said that no one could put his personality into one box - he felt as though he belonged in seven. For some listeners, that ambiguity has always been the problem. For the people who connected with him, it became the point.
Those people eventually became the Black Hearts Club. YUNGBLUD has repeatedly resisted describing them simply as “fans”, preferring the idea of a community or family. It grew through shows, social media and the feeling that his music could give people a reason to find one another. Friendships formed in queues, at concerts and later at BLUDFEST; people who might never otherwise have met suddenly had something connecting them. The community did not appear when the mainstream decided YUNGBLUD was worth watching. It had already been growing for years.
That is also why 2025 matters so much. YUNGBLUD was already successful before then - WEIRD! had reached number one in the UK in 2020, his self-titled album repeated that achievement in 2022 and IDOLS became another chart-topper in 2025. But commercial success and acceptance from the wider rock world are not necessarily the same thing. His appearance at Black Sabbath and Ozzy Osbourne’s farewell concert at Villa Park became the moment those two worlds seemed to collide.
YUNGBLUD later estimated that of the roughly 50,000 people in front of him that day, around half had no idea who he was and many others thought he was a poser. Then he stood there and sang “Changes”. The performance did not rely on jumping around, outrageous clothes or provocation. It was simply a singer, a song and an audience that had every opportunity to reject him. Instead, it became one of the most talked-about performances of the event.
Ozzy’s role in that story goes deeper than one performance. YUNGBLUD has spoken about calling him when he felt misunderstood and receiving the same advice repeatedly: people may not understand you, but do not change direction because of it. He described Ozzy not only as his hero but as family. When Osbourne died shortly after the farewell show, “Changes” became something different again. YUNGBLUD vowed to continue performing it, and today there are moments when the emotion visibly catches up with him as thousands of people sing the song back. For an artist who is often caricatured as chaotic and attention-seeking, those performances reveal another side entirely.
(Sources)
Website/EPK/Contact,
Spotify,
Youtube,
Meta,
TikTok,
Officials Chart,
NME,
Grammy,
Aerosmith,
Runwylde,
Support Soundwave!
We need your support to keep Soundwave running and expanding. check out our shop and become part of the music mission!!
If you want to support the team and everything we do here at Soundwave, consider donating to The Soundwave Foundation!
Our donor base keeps us truly independent and free—no paywalls on any of our content, no corporate strings attached. Your support lets us stay focused on what matters: delivering daily coverage of the great music being made today, preserving the history that got us here, and expanding with more shows, interviews, live broadcasts, and deep dives into indie and alternative rock. Every contribution—big or small—helps fuel our growth and ensures this space remains open and accessible for fans and artists alike. Donations are tax-deductible through our nonprofit partnership with Fractured Atlas.