Backstage in the Hard Rock Artist Lounge at our 2022 Audacy Beach Festival in Ft. Lauderdale, FL this weekend, YUNGBLUD spoke about his Avril Lavigne collab "I'm A Mess," and played a round of "Who Would You Rather?" with host Kevan Kenney.
LISTEN NOW: YUNGBLUD at Audacy Beach Festival
For YUNGBLUD, getting to work with Avril on her latest Love Sux single "I'm A Mess," which has been steadily gaining traction on radio stations nationwide, has been nothing but a "crazy" experience. "You know when you've heard someone's voice for your whole life; they were literally on your bedroom wall? It's like, at first it did it when I worked with Travis Barker for the first time, but when you hear Avril Lavigne... sing the words that have come out of your head, that's crazy, you know what I mean? It's beautiful and wild."
Produced by John Feldmann, the track came about over one day during the recording sessions for Lavigne's 2022 album after meeting and hitting the studio together "just for fun," YUNGBLUD admits. "If I was gonna do a song with Avril Lavigne, it was gonna be a song like that -- because she touched me. She touched my spirit through songs like 'Complicated,' and 'I'm with You'. It just happened, I don't know... it's got weight, and it's got substance that song, and it means something. I think if I was gonna do a song with Rancid it would be off its head, or if I was gonna do a song with blink-182 it would be off its head, or a song with Oasis it would be off its head," he adds. "But if you do it with Avril Lavigne, you want to hear her sing and you want to hear her touch your heart in a way -- that's what she did for me."
The whirlwind of getting to work with his childhood musical heroes still catches YUNGBLUD off guard at times, and there's likely more to come as we follow along. "I think I'm always down, if it's good and it's real," he says. "No one top of mind, but everything happens by accident."
WATCH NOW: YUNGBLUD at Audacy Beach Festival
Always ready for a good game and a good kiss, Kevin grilled YUNGBLUD on a number of "Would You Rather?" questions after receiving a peck of his own, starting off with who he would rather smooch: MOD SUN or Avril. "Sorry MOD, for kissing your girlfriend," he said with a smirk. Next up were Audacy Beach Festival performers Machine Gun Kelly and Muse frontman Matt Bellamy. "I mean, I've already kissed Kells," he admits. "I just think Matt Bellamy would be shocked," he adds, although "fully" believes he's a good kisser. "You know, when I see him in the parking lot later I'm just gonna kiss him, probably get punched by his security."
Other nominees included Charlie Puth and Miley Cyrus, Taylor Swift (who he hopes to get some "songwriting juices off the cheek") and Camila Cabello, Matty Healy of The 1975 and Billie Eilish (choosing a very kissable of late Matty for the TikTok-ability), as well as his pal Travis Barker or any member of BTS which caused a bit of anxiety because he says, "all those BTS boys are gorgeous like, it's mental! They're beautiful to look at. It's like they shimmer."
Beginning to sweat, whether from the hot Florida sun or all the kissing BTS talk, YUNGBLUD was finally asked if he'd rather kiss Pop phenom Harry Styles (whom he's expressed interest in before) or Kevan himself, whom he'd already given a kiss at the beginning of their talk. "He keeps quite a low profile, but you know Harry Styles has kissed a lot of people," says YUNGBLUD with a smile, "but I don't mind." Finally, after some soul-searching, he gave a very friendly answer: "I'm a kisser, man. I'm a lover."
Catch the full interview above and be sure to follow along for more updates from the beach.
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