Rock’s Wildest Twist: Aerosmith and Yungblud Upend the UK Charts

Mia Reynolds, 11/29/2025Aerosmith achieves their first No. 1 on the UK albums chart with "One More Time," featuring collaboration with Yungblud. This unexpected success bridges generations and revives the essence of rock, inviting both old fans and newcomers to experience the magic of live music once more.

It’s the kind of chart news that, for a moment, seems to fold time in on itself. There’s Steven Tyler’s unmistakable howl—equal parts late-night radio and haunted carnival ride—meeting the raw voltage of Yungblud’s voice, tangled up in a hail of familiar guitars that sound as if someone broke into a time capsule and wired it straight to the main stage. Is it nostalgic? Maybe. But it skitters past easy sentimentality, bridging a generation gap with all the subtlety of a stadium lights flare.

This isn’t Aerosmith’s first dance with UK charts, but it’s the first time they’ve led the procession. Their maiden chart voyage was back in the late 1980s, with "Permanent Vacation"—a record that, by now, pre-dates TikTok trends, streaming culture, and, ironically, a hefty slice of today’s Aerosmith audience. Somehow, perhaps because rock never quite stops reinventing its own mythology, these road-worn veterans are now topping a list crowded with pop’s latest architects, elbowing their way past newcomers and the usual stream of chart royalty.

Yungblud, or Dominic Harrison if you’re collecting signatures, hasn’t hidden his elation. And who could blame him? These moments don’t come wrapped in velvet every week. “No words can express how grateful I am for this... my second official number one of 2025,” he practically shouts in press copy that feels entirely unrehearsed. There’s a kind of breathlessness to his gratitude, an awareness that he’s writing himself into a rock and roll legend’s margins. For Aerosmith, whose discography is as much lore as playlist staple, this chart climb is both a curtain call and a second act.

What’s quietly poetic is the timing. "One More Time" isn’t just ruling the traditional charts; it’s also found a home with UK vinyl enthusiasts and independent record stores, as though the resurgence of LPs is plotting to outlast even the dustiest rock band. There’s a certain romance in imagining the ritual of unwrapping a new vinyl—static, cardstock, that first gentle scratch as the needle drops. In a world where songs evaporate across digital platforms faster than you can shout “skip,” the tangible weight of an album in your hands reads almost as rebellion.

Meanwhile, the music landscape in 2025 is as dense and unpredictable as ever. The Stone Roses, shaken by the passing of bassist Gary ‘Mani’ Mounfield, see their back catalogue spiking as a kind of collective remembrance—old melodies surfacing in streams and record racks. Elsewhere in the same week, the upper reaches of the UK albums chart are stitched together by the likes of Olivia Dean, Taylor Swift, Tate McRae, and Olly Murs. It’s a swirling mix, endlessly mutating, boundary lines blurring until you wonder if genre ever really meant anything at all.

On the singles side, Taylor Swift’s “The Fate Of Ophelia” remains unbothered atop the charts, holding on for a sixth non-consecutive week—her tenure as pop’s reigning tactician seems set to outlast even the algorithm’s patience. And then there’s the new guard, typified by the cryptic EsDeeKid, whose debut top 10 with "Century" is already the stuff of TikTok legend (with bonus points for internet-fueled speculation involving a certain Timothée C.). Sometimes the old guard returns, sometimes the new gatecrash, but there’s never a shortage of intrigue.

Yet, circling back to Aerosmith and Yungblud: the real story isn’t about figures or even crowd chants, not exactly. Instead, it’s threaded through a kind of optimism that rock’s best records have always carried—a belief that the next big chorus could still be around the corner, that harmony can exist between wrinkled icons and up-all-night rebels. Rebellion gets a lot of press, but perhaps the purest form is reinvention, especially when it’s done with a bit of vulnerability. "One More Time" isn’t so much about proving doubters wrong as it is about inviting everyone (old fans, new converts, vinyl purists) for one more spin.

There’s an undeniable satisfaction in that. For those who’ve stuck around since days when music meant rewinding a cassette or flipping over a record after side A, this moment feels like vindication. The applause is real, and it might be just a bit louder for all those years spent believing the right song could still shake up the world. For fans newly discovering Aerosmith—maybe via Yungblud’s hyperactive fanbase—it’s a welcome to the eternal afterparty of loud guitars and overdue dreams.

And, honestly, the larger lesson isn’t lost amid the chart-dust. Sometimes, persistence wins. Sometimes the survivors get their parade, even if it’s decades in coming. There’ll always be a place for those willing to risk a little emotional vertigo for the chance to hit the high notes one more time.

Perhaps, in 2025, that’s the truest definition of rock and roll—one part memory, one part future, forever stitched together at the chorus. So hats off to the legends, the wild cards, and the record spinners still believing that the best stories aren’t finished yet.

There’s a story brewing in the music world that reads almost like the final act of a classic film—one with an unexpected twist and just the right amount of swagger. Aerosmith, who’ve been occupying the edges (and, let’s be honest, often the neon-lit center) of American rock for more than five decades, have pulled off a feat that probably even their most stubborn fans didn’t dare to put money on: after all those years, they’re sitting at No. 1 on the UK albums chart for the very first time. Not with a vintage classic, but with a brand new record called "One More Time," thanks to some artistic cross-pollination with Yungblud—the fiery British pop-rocker known for making even a Tuesday afternoon feel like a mosh pit.It’s the kind of chart news that, for a moment, seems to fold time in on itself. There’s Steven Tyler’s unmistakable howl—equal parts late-night radio and haunted carnival ride—meeting the raw voltage of Yungblud’s voice, tangled up in a hail of familiar guitars that sound as if someone broke into a time capsule and wired it straight to the main stage. Is it nostalgic? Maybe. But it skitters past easy sentimentality, bridging a generation gap with all the subtlety of a stadium lights flare.This isn’t Aerosmith’s first dance with UK charts, but it’s the first time they’ve led the procession. Their maiden chart voyage was back in the late 1980s, with "Permanent Vacation"—a record that, by now, pre-dates TikTok trends, streaming culture, and, ironically, a hefty slice of today’s Aerosmith audience. Somehow, perhaps because rock never quite stops reinventing its own mythology, these road-worn veterans are now topping a list crowded with pop’s latest architects, elbowing their way past newcomers and the usual stream of chart royalty.Yungblud, or Dominic Harrison if you’re collecting signatures, hasn’t hidden his elation. And who could blame him? These moments don’t come wrapped in velvet every week. “No words can express how grateful I am for this... my second official number one of 2025,” he practically shouts in press copy that feels entirely unrehearsed. There’s a kind of breathlessness to his gratitude, an awareness that he’s writing himself into a rock and roll legend’s margins. For Aerosmith, whose discography is as much lore as playlist staple, this chart climb is both a curtain call and a second act.What’s quietly poetic is the timing. "One More Time" isn’t just ruling the traditional charts; it’s also found a home with UK vinyl enthusiasts and independent record stores, as though the resurgence of LPs is plotting to outlast even the dustiest rock band. There’s a certain romance in imagining the ritual of unwrapping a new vinyl—static, cardstock, that first gentle scratch as the needle drops. In a world where songs evaporate across digital platforms faster than you can shout “skip,” the tangible weight of an album in your hands reads almost as rebellion.Meanwhile, the music landscape in 2025 is as dense and unpredictable as ever. The Stone Roses, shaken by the passing of bassist Gary ‘Mani’ Mounfield, see their back catalogue spiking as a kind of collective remembrance—old melodies surfacing in streams and record racks. Elsewhere in the same week, the upper reaches of the UK albums chart are stitched together by the likes of Olivia Dean, Taylor Swift, Tate McRae, and Olly Murs. It’s a swirling mix, endlessly mutating, boundary lines blurring until you wonder if genre ever really meant anything at all.On the singles side, Taylor Swift’s “The Fate Of Ophelia” remains unbothered atop the charts, holding on for a sixth non-consecutive week—her tenure as pop’s reigning tactician seems set to outlast even the algorithm’s patience. And then there’s the new guard, typified by the cryptic EsDeeKid, whose debut top 10 with "Century" is already the stuff of TikTok legend (with bonus points for internet-fueled speculation involving a certain Timothée C.). Sometimes the old guard returns, sometimes the new gatecrash, but there’s never a shortage of intrigue.Yet, circling back to Aerosmith and Yungblud: the real story isn’t about figures or even crowd chants, not exactly. Instead, it’s threaded through a kind of optimism that rock’s best records have always carried—a belief that the next big chorus could still be around the corner, that harmony can exist between wrinkled icons and up-all-night rebels. Rebellion gets a lot of press, but perhaps the purest form is reinvention, especially when it’s done with a bit of vulnerability. "One More Time" isn’t so much about proving doubters wrong as it is about inviting everyone (old fans, new converts, vinyl purists) for one more spin.There’s an undeniable satisfaction in that. For those who’ve stuck around since days when music meant rewinding a cassette or flipping over a record after side A, this moment feels like vindication. The applause is real, and it might be just a bit louder for all those years spent believing the right song could still shake up the world. For fans newly discovering Aerosmith—maybe via Yungblud’s hyperactive fanbase—it’s a welcome to the eternal afterparty of loud guitars and overdue dreams.And, honestly, the larger lesson isn’t lost amid the chart-dust. Sometimes, persistence wins. Sometimes the survivors get their parade, even if it’s decades in coming. There’ll always be a place for those willing to risk a little emotional vertigo for the chance to hit the high notes one more time.Perhaps, in 2025, that’s the truest definition of rock and roll—one part memory, one part future, forever stitched together at the chorus. So hats off to the legends, the wild cards, and the record spinners still believing that the best stories aren’t finished yet.