Billy Idol remembers ‘whirlwind’ of ’80s, talks new ‘vantage point’
Billy Idol’s documentary has a bracing title: “Billy Idol Should Be Dead.”
The new song that closes the nearly two-hour retrospective of a rock star who survived excessive drug use and a horrific motorcycle accident carries an equally striking title: “Dying to Live.”
The specter of death followed Idol during the dawning of his punk rock days in Generation X through his massive ‘80s breakthrough with hits such as “Rebel Yell,” “White Wedding” and “Dancing with Myself” fueled by MTV and a photogenic sneer.
But Idol is more reflective in his current role as a grandfather who still sports an impressively spiky coif and can fist pump his way through a visceral rock performance.
His documentary has played the film circuit throughout the year and is expected to be released in early 2026. The film examines his wayward days as a young music star enjoying the spoils of celebrity through vintage footage and recent interviews. Throughout, clever animation is used to explore areas of Idol’s life not caught on camera, but there are also personal artifacts, such as gruesome hospital photos following Idol’s 1990 accident, anchoring “Billy Idol Should Be Dead.”
Fresh from a recently wrapped tour with Joan Jett to support his latest album, “Dream Into It,” Idol chatted on a video call from his home in Los Angeles about the current “vantage point” of his life, discussing drug abuse with Boy George and how he plans to spend his 70th birthday.
Question: You’ve been on the film festival circuit this year with Tribeca in June and Middleburg, Virginia this fall. How are you finding the film fest world?
Idol: It’s a whole different world, but it’s been fun seeing people‘s reaction to the documentary and to the song we wrote for the end piece. We deliberately wrote this kind of song to draw all of the strands of the doc together and give you an emotional end.
It’s really cool seeing footage that juxtaposed you as a young guy walking down an arena hallway to the stage with a current shot of you doing the same thing with one of your grandchildren. Do you look at moments like that and think, how did I get there?
It’s a new world when you see your life played out in front of you because you could have never imagined that when we started 50 years ago. You never thought one day wow, your life will be encapsulated. We should have been filming ourselves 24/7, but we didn’t do that. It would have been great, but then again, there was that sense of freedom. I think today you get the feeling of you have to watch everything you do.
It’s great to see your mom in the film. She died in 2020, so how long have you been working on this?
That was around 2019. We did some filming during the (COVID-19) virus, so we’ve had about six years with a chance to really live with it and see what we didn’t have and look for what we needed.
There is a great lineup of artists in the film talking about you, such as Pete Townshend and John Taylor of Duran Duran. Are you particularly close with them?
I’ve known Pete since 1977. I met him in a pub – The Ship – and he punched my drummer and was saying who are you? I don’t know if he got us confused with the Sex Pistols (laughs). But I’ve known him and Roger Daltrey and of course the other guys, Keith Moon and John Entwistle and was with them on the (20th anniversary of “Tommy”) charity concert in 1989 and the “Quadrophenia” (revival) tour in 1996. And John I’ve known since 1981. The whole band came to Generation X gigs in Birmingham.
You mention in the film that Boy George was right about what heroin does to someone. Do you talk about drug addiction with him?
I’ve known him since he was 14 and when we met up, of course we had something in common that hopefully we’ve put in the past. At the time, he was really going through it … We were all going through a similar thing (with drugs), which we could talk about later and how we got out alive.
Tell me about the head space you had to get into to write “Dying to Live” with J. Ralph?
The thing is, the documentary was informing the song. While filming and going back to all of the places I hadn’t been in years, like the club in Covent Garden and seeing the people involved in my life, you couldn’t help but write some kind of song to draw the strands together.
Is this the first Billy Idol song with strings?
It is! There were some sampled strings on (2014’s) “Kings and Queens of the Underground,” but this really is me with a string quartet and real instruments. It seems cinematic and that’s how I felt about my life.
You sing “first came luck, then pressure/one-man roller coaster.” Do you still feel like a one-man roller coaster?
Not today so much. I was singing about the past, those kind of heady days of the ‘80s and it was like that, flying by the seat of your pants. It’s a whirlwind kind of thing. You become successful and then you’re caught in the eye of the storm. In my case, with MTV, you really were beamed into people’s homes and MTV kept that craziness going.
You turn 70 at the end of the month. Any big plans?
We’re going to be in Mexico and South America (to perform), so maybe we’ll have a blowout in Lima!
A decade ago you wrote your autobiography (“Dancing with Myself”) and now you have the documentary. Do you feel like your story has been properly told now?
When I wrote the book, I didn’t think I could see the landscape of my life. At this stage you’re a little divorced from the person you were because time has given you the landscape. It gives you a vantage point. My dad died at 90 and I’m glad my mom could be in (the film). A lot of people around me are starting to pass. It’s time to do it while people are still here.