GRAMMY® Award-winning musician YUNGBLUD delivers a special live version of his smash song “Zombie,” which he played at Chicago’s storied Riviera Theater with Billy Corgan of The Smashing Pumpkins. The small-scale show is the only live performance of YUNGBLUD and Corgan’s revised rendition of “Zombie.”
Watch “Zombie (Live From The Riviera Theater) (feat. Billy Corgan)” by clicking this link. You may listen to the song HERE.
One day before YUNGBLUD hit the stage at Lollapalooza to perform the penultimate set before The Smashing Pumpkins’ Friday night headline show, the performance was recorded in Chicago on July 30, during a historic week for both artists.
“Zombie,” which was first published on YUNGBLUD’s hit album IDOLS, swiftly rose to prominence as one of the era’s defining songs and was nominated for a GRAMMY® for Best Rock Song. With over 200 million plays, the song is currently YUNGBLUD’s fastest-streaming single to date. Later, YUNGBLUD and The Smashing Pumpkins collaborated to reinvent the song, giving it a new lease on life.
Produced by Matt Schwartz and Billy Corgan, the collaboration brought Corgan’s distinctive guitar sound to a song heavily influenced by The Smashing Pumpkins, completing the circle of their relationship. Jimmy Chamberlin and James Iha of The Smashing Pumpkins also contributed drums and guitar, resulting in a completely reimagined version of the original composition.
Charlie Sarsfield’s official music video, which included YUNGBLUD and The Smashing Pumpkins, was released alongside the studio version. Go HERE to view the official music video.
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. NME also praised The Smashing Pumpkins’ iconic “colossal wall of sound” and the collaboration’s transformation throughout the 1990s.
The release coincides with YUNGBLUD’s hectic year. The British musician has continued his fully sold-out “IDOLS World Tour” since the release of his chart-topping, GRAMMY®-nominated album IDOLS, introducing the record to fans worldwide. Through a string of partnerships, such as “One More Time” with Aerosmith, which topped both the U.K. Albums list and Billboard’s Top Rock Albums list, he has also continued to span generations of rock.
Watch Billy Corgan and YUNGBLUD perform “Zombie” live from the Riviera Theater HERE.
You can listen to YUNGBLUD and The Smashing Pumpkins’ “Zombie” HERE. Go HERE to view the original music video.
YUNGBLUD’s most recent album, IDOLS, is currently available everywhere.
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