Yungblud‘s recent cover of Queen‘s ‘We Are The Champions’ has prompted Brian May to compare the young singer to Freddie Mercury.
The Doncaster star – whose real name is Dominic Harrison – delivered his own take on the Queen’s 1977 hit for Apple Music, which May claimed carried some of the qualities of the band’s legendary former singer.
“Every now and then, while idly scrolling in the park, you come upon something that makes you go ‘wow,’” May wrote alongside sharing footage of the performance. “And you just have to press that ‘follow’ button. Very classy.”
Responding to negative reactions in the comments, the guitarist added: “Well, this has been an eye-opener for me. I’m smiling quietly at all the ‘no’ comments. I remember so clearly the same kind of derision being poured on Freddie when we started out as Queen. As soon as I see someone who can inspire such strong reactions, positive and negative, I’m sure this person is a star performer.”
Offering some advice to the 25-year-old artist’s detractors, May concluded: “But just carry on kicking if you need to; perhaps it will make you feel better! I think the rest of us will keep an open mind.”
See May’s comments in full and listen to Yungblud’s acoustic take on ‘We Are The Champions’ below.
WE ARE THE CHAMPIONS FOR @applemusic @QueenWillRock 🖤🖤🖤 pic.twitter.com/3LH9pbgWeB
— YUNGBLUD (@yungblud) October 8, 2022
Last month (November 22), Yungblud opened up about the impact of witnessing his parents’ “abusive” relationship growing up.
Speaking on a new series of Louis Theroux Interviews…, he said: “My parents had this weird, beautifully dark relationship where I don’t know if I’ve ever seen two people love each other as much as they have, but I don’t think I’ve seen anybody hurt each other as much.
“It was physically and mentally and emotionally abusive. I’ve always wanted to build a world where I could exist to escape what was going on around me.”