Yungblud 'honoured' to have David Bowie cover played on Mars

"I'm from Doncaster, and I went to Mars last night."

Yungblud was a little surprised when his manager called him to say Nasa had been in touch.

"What, are you leaving me to become an astronaut?" the singer asked. "And he's like: 'No, you idiot, it's about you."

Nasa were ringing to say they wanted to play Yungblud's song, a cover of David Bowie's Life On Mars, as Nasa's Perseverance rover landed on Mars.

The one-tonne robot touched down on the red planet on Thursday.

• Nasa rover in 'great shape' after Mars landing

The singer told Radio 1 Newsbeat that having his music involved made him "a little bit emotional".

"It's one thing being asked to cover one of your idol's most influential songs - on Earth. But to do it in partnership with a landing on a different planet is just mad.

"If someone told you you were going to do that... when I was younger I would never expect that."

Nasa are looking for signs of past life on the planet

Nasa's YouTube channel live-streamed the journey to the planet, and once the robot successfully landed, the song began to play.

Yungblud said it's a "real privilege" to be part of something "so much bigger than the world".

'I felt like I belonged on a different planet'

Being involved in the Mars journey was particularly special for Yungblud, who says he has always been interested in space.

He said: "To be honest, all my life I have felt a bit like an alien. Not a lot of people got me, and it got me down when I was younger.

"I found Bowie and I found Lady Gaga, and I found Oasis. I found these world-builders, and they literally helped me through. I felt like I belonged on a different planet."

He says he was "honoured" to be part of something that's "not really been done yet".

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