The Smashing Pumpkins join forces with Yungblud to reimagine his Zombie single

5 January 2026, 17:42 | Updated: 5 January 2026, 17:51

The Smashing Pumpkins and Yungblud join forces — The Smashing Pumpkins and Yungblud have released their collaborative project. Picture: Press

By Jenny Mensah

The single marks the alt legends first ever collaborative release with another artist. Watch its official video here.

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Yungblud and The Smashing Pumpkins have come together to release a reworking of the Doncaster rocker's Zombie single.

The reimagined version of the track - which is nominated for Best Rock Song at this year's GRAMMYs and produced by Matt Schwartz and Billy Corgan, marks the first time the alt legends have featured on another artist’s recording and unleashed it on the world.

Zombie, which was originally released last year to widespread acclaim, currently stands as Yungblud’s fastest-streaming solo single of his career with over 100 million streams to date.

Watch their Charlie Sarsfield official music video, which sees the rockers take to a graveyard scene:

YUNGBLUD, The Smashing Pumpkins - Zombie (Official Music Video)

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Speaking on the collaboration, Yungblud said: “Siamese Dream was an album that was there for me more than I could ever explain when I was growing so to be making music with the band that created it is really quite hard to comprehend. Billy has always been such a massive inspiration to me but more recently a huge mentor of mine. His outlook on the importance of truth in art is something that I’ve always held close to my heart.

‘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: "Yungblud’s 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 honor him in return.”

Yungblud first crossed paths with Billy Corgan in Birmingham last July during Black Sabbath legend Ozzy Osbourne's farewell show at Birmingham's Villa Park.

Their connection, however, dates back further — with Corgan first discovering Yungblud through a live performance video and immediately recognizing his raw potential and powerful voice.

In a 2023 interview with Allison Hagendorf, Corgan noted of Yungblud’s trajectory: “I can tell where he’s going, and if I’m right, we’ll be talking about him for the next 50 years.”

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