Yungblud is a contradiction, but a good one. He’s brash, he’s bold, he doesn’t give a you-know-what. He’s also sensitive, deep, and cares about world issues. The British singer is a role model and inspiration for many of the Gen-Z generation and beyond with his outspoken lyrics, gender fluid dress sense (dress being the operative word), and the fact that he is open and honest about his struggles meaning that a lot of his fans can relate to him and what he has been through.
Foo Fighters frontman Dave Grohl apparently described him as the future of rock and roll. But what is it that inspires and drives Yungblud? What shaped and influenced him when he was younger and made him into the person and performer he is today? For that, we need to delve a little further back and take a look at his childhood and what made him into the artist we know and love.
10 Northern Roots
Yungblud was born Dominic Richard Harrison (his friends call him Dom) in the northern town of Doncaster in South Yorkshire, where none other than One Direction's Louis Tomlinson hails from. Many ‘northerners’ in the UK are proud of their roots. Northerners are known for being strong, gritty, no-nonsense and no BS. There is often friendly rivalry and ‘banter' between the north and what they call the ‘soft southerners’ in London and the south of England.
9 School Days
Yungblud had Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) growing up. This much misunderstood and missed condition meant that he was often in trouble in school as his teachers didn’t understand his behavior and his need for attention or his inability to concentrate. He was also somewhat of a loner. However, he was able to channel his energies into his interest in music and songwriting from an early age.
8 Musical Family
Yungblud was raised in a musical household and has been singing and playing guitar since he was around two. His dad owned a guitar shop and his grandfather, Rick Harrison, played guitar and piano and once reportedly performed with 70s rock band T-Rex, although T-Rex singer Marc Bolan allegedly has no recollection of this. That’s not to say it didn’t happen! Rick helped Yungblud musically in terms of learning instruments. He can play guitar, piano, drums and bass.
7 Musical Influences
Aside from his grandad, Yungblud had many diverse musical influences growing up, many of which have shaped his look and sound today. They include Marilyn Manson, Lady Gaga, David Bowie, The Cure’s Robert Smith, and the Brit band Arctic Monkeys. Lead singer Alex Turner has a distinctive northern twang to his voice when he sings, much like Yungblud who still retains his northern accent, despite moving to London at 16. He said Alex was someone he could relate to growing up and hearing his voice and he hopes to inspire others the same way.
6 Volatile Household
Yungblud said that although his parents gave him and his sisters lots of love and care, they often fought with each other, sometimes the fights even turning physical. Yungblud said this gave him a distorted view of love and one he didn’t want or want to replicate. It was only when he fell in love for the first time that he realised, despite getting his heart broken, love didn’t have to be this way.
5 Female And LGBTQ Solidarity
Yungblud grew up with two younger sisters, Jemima and Isobel, who he is close to and finds he can relate to women and girls well. Growing up in Doncaster, he would go out aged 14 and see young girls and teens stumbling out of clubs drunk and being taken advantage of by opportunist men and this opened his eyes. The lyrics and video for his song Polygraph Eyes reflect how he feels about it. He also grew up with a positive mindset, that of accepting everyone as they are, including the LGBTQ+ community, of which he is a part.
4 Performing Arts
After leaving home at 16, Yungblud attended a performing arts school in London where he sang, danced, and acted. Although it may have helped shape his talents, he didn’t feel it was helping shape him as a person and he felt that he did not belong there. He said: “It was kind of a place where they would tell me what to do and how to express myself, and I didn’t agree with that.”
3 Acting
Yungblud had acting as well as musical aspirations as a child. He appeared in two productions, Disney’s The Lodge, which was later canceled, and ITV’s Emmerdale, a British soap about a Yorkshire farming community. On The Lodge, he was a recurring character Oz, an out-of-town musician who stirred up trouble and on Emmerdale he was Matt, starring in just one episode in 2015. From this pic, we think he would make a pretty cool lead in a remake of Beetlejuice.
2 Mental Health
Yungblud has lived with depression and anxiety from an early age and says that he has been in some dark places, even attempting suicide, but is proof that things can and will get better and hopes to serve as a support and inspiration for other sufferers. He said: “People say that it’s triggering and uncomfortable. I suffer from anxiety and depression, and I have [for] a lot of my life. Do you know what’s more uncomfortable than that? Someone not understanding what you’re going through.” He also worked on the soundtrack for Netflix show 13 Reasons Why.
1 Self-Expression and Acceptance
Even from a young age, Yungblud liked to express himself musically, verbally, and image-wise and realized he was a non-conformist. He was inspired by the 1950s Teddy Boy look as a child. He is known for his outlandish outfits on stage, including wearing an LBD along with his infamous pink socks. The singer came out as pansexual last year. In an interview with Attitude magazine, he said: “We’ve been brought up with such boundaries: woman wears dress, man sees woman’s curves, you can make baby. Western civilization put women in dresses and men in trousers. Before that, in medieval times, every ****er wore a dress.” And Yungblud, that’s why we love you.