69-year-old Billy Idol is still going strong and ahead of a European tour to promote his latest album ‘Dream Into It’, the English born singer spoke to Austrian outlet ‘Heute’.
With his spiky blond hairstyle, black leather and catchy tunes like “Rebel Yell,” “Sweet Sixteen,” and “White Wedding,” Idol became a global star in the 1980s.
Speaking to “Heute”, the Stanmore born native was more than happy to reflect on his career. “We’re currently working on a documentary about my life, and at my age you really start to look back on your life – I’ve never had that perspective before,” Idol said.
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“When we started writing the songs for the album, I was digging into different phases of my life—my punk days in Brixton, my solo years, my move to America, and so on. It was almost as if I was making the music themes of the documentary, but that wasn’t our intention when we started writing.” The result is a wild ride through five decades of rock ‘n’ roll.
“Everyone told us back then that we were the ‘No Future’ generation – and that’s how we lived. The world was my oyster,” Billy told “Heute” and openly admitted: “I slept around, drank, and took everything there was to offer.”
Idol’s new album
The album opens with the title track, in which Idol celebrates his very first love – music. Immediately afterward, “77” blasts into action, a duet with pop-punk icon Avril Lavigne, a wild look back at the beginnings of the punk revolt in England. “Too Much Fun” takes us over to America – and straight into the frenzy.
In “John Wayne” (a duet with Alison Mosshart of The Kills), Idol takes stock: “So this is the part of the album when I started to accept that I was an addict and to come to terms with the fact that I needed to stop. It has nothing to do with the ‘real’ John Wayne.
It’s more about his movie character, who was always pushing open doors, smashing things, stamping out fire, always punching and kicking… I’ve kind of been doing that my whole life, too. And at some point, you realize that’s not always the best way, and that you really need to resolve your issues and put them to rest.”
The 2025 version of Billy Idol admits he enjoys spending time with his grandchildren. “And when you talk or play with them, they don’t know your backstory. They only know your grandfather. They only know the person you are now. You know yourself that you are the sum of your life, but they only know you now. And then you realize: That’s the same person.”
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