Yungblud & Roger Daltrey

On staying fashionable in music, how ego ruined social media, and saying no fucking way’ to The Voice

- By Hannah Ewens.

Roger Daltrey walks through Kore Studios near London's Shepherd's Bush, opening doors and looking for Yungblud. "Is he here?" the Who frontman asks. Yes, he is. "A young musician on time! Unheard of," Daltrey booms. Everyone within earshot laughs.

This location was chosen for its familiarity (Daltrey has recorded here) and for ease - the 78-year-old lives not too far from Kore, just outside London. On the contrary, the much younger star he's meeting has flown in from Paris, where he played a show last night, and will soon hop on a flight to LA.

It's the first in-person meeting for Daltrey, one of the quintessential frontmen of British rock music, and the 25-year-old Yungblud - real name Dominic Harrison - the new face of British pop rock. Both are invested in this conversation in their own way: Daltrey is genuinely curious about how Yungblud manages the modern music industry and social media, both of which he finds disagreeable, and has questions from his granddaughters, two big Yungblud fans. Yungblud, a new UK style icon who released his self-titled album in September, is simply in awe of Daltrey, having grown up listening to his music being played by his dad and granddad.

DALTREY: I feel sorry for young people now there's so much real style, sharp style in the past.

YUNGBLUD: I remember when I was kind of figuring out what I wanted to look like. It was you lads, the Clash. It was Jamie Reid, who did all the Sex Pistols designs. And it was just like, 'How the hell can I bring that to young people today?' Everyone I was seeing in music was just wearing jeans and a T-shirt.

DALTREY: I've got to tell you, when Axl [Rose] first appeared with shorts and T-shirts onstage, we all fucking laughed.

YUNGBLUD: I want people to have identity because there were so many [sub]cultures back then.