Singer Yungblud has described Greta Thunberg as “the Karl Marx of our generation”, and is an example of what young people are capable of today.
The 22-year-old alternative rock and pop-punk musician said that he believes people in his age group are an “underrated youth”, and that they have the power to change the future.
Comparing the 16-year-old climate change activist to German philosopher Marx, Yungblud told the PA news agency that he thinks she is “f****** great”, adding: “That’s an example, her and Emma Gonzalez, they are prime examples of what our generation is doing.
“They’re a prime example of the intelligence and what young people today are capable of and what we think about and how well-informed we are.”
Gonzalez, 19, one of the survivors of the Stoneman Douglas High School shooting in Parkland, Florida, in 2018, is a prominent activist for gun control in America.
Thunberg is considered one of the world’s leading voices in climate change campaigning, and her activism has sparked a global strike movement that has seen millions of youngsters from across the world protest by refusing to go to school.
Singer-songwriter Yungblud, real name Dominic Harrison, recently released an EP called The Underrated Youth, and he said: “It’s a statement saying, the one common denominator in the people I’ve met – and trust me, I’ve met a lot of people in every continent by now – the one common denominator is the constant optimism, intelligence, fight, desire for equality and unity that’s embedded inside our head.
“As I said, ultimately, for this underrated youth, I believe the future’s bright simply because we’re in it.”
Yungblud also praised the power of social media for those in his demographic as it “provides opportunity” that those in previous generations may not have had.
“I think you need people, you need people now, that’s the difference between my generation and other generations,” he said.
“We aren’t more intelligent than other generations, we’ve just got more opportunity because we can connect to people internationally who relate to us and who are similar to us and who we can learn as much information as we want from – that’s why we’re so f****** intelligent.
“That’s why we have so much to say.”
Rising star Yungblud, who released his debut album 21st Century Liability last year and who is is known for his song 11 Minutes, with Halsey and Travis Barker, and for the track Falling Skies, which appeared on the soundtrack to Netflix teenage drama 13 Reasons Why.