alternatively, try smart youtube

I go to settings and clear the cache and data Ect.... force close it. Then Reopen it

On a side note, is there any way to play Youtube (videos/music) in the background? Not a fan of how it all shuts down when I go back to the home screen.

Go to settings, turn ON developer options, search for and turn ON an option to show background ANRs, every time the app crashes, you'll see a little notification in the middle of the screen, select "send feedback", fill in the form with any information you want regarding the crash and hit send at the top right corner of the screen, that information is valuable to YouTube developers to fix the issue, the more you send, the merrier.