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.

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'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".

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".

Follow Newsbeat on Instagram, Facebook, Twitter and YouTube.

Listen to Newsbeat live at 12:45 and 17:45 weekdays - or listen back here.