Billy Idol’s Rebel Yell Continues in New EP, Documentary, TV Dubs

“I fought my demons for so long they became my friends,” Billy Idol sings on “Cage,” the title track of his upcoming four-track EP.

Outside the realm of personal demonology and in the court of pop culture, Idol has many other friends in 2022. You can hear his “Rebel Yell” in national TV spots for T-Mobile, and he licensed “Dancing with Myself” to the NBC competition show in the prime time slot that holds its title. Meanwhile, younger artists like Miley Cyrus are collaborating with Idol, bringing him to a whole new audience.

“Cage” is due out in September on Dhani Harrison’s Dark Horse Records, preceded by a single on August 17th. This match between label and artist may be a surprising combination, but Dhani says his father, George, would have approved: “My father was a fan of Billy Idol. One time we were watching ‘Beavis and Butt-head’ and they played ‘Dancing with Myself’ and I remember my dad loved Billy and Beavis and Butthead.

The singer reveals that a documentary is in the works with Grammy-winning Swedish music director Jonas Akerlund, of Madonna’s Ray of Light fame. With all that stuff in the bunker — plus an upcoming European tour opening for TV and a late-fall Las Vegas residency renewal — the Idol, who turns 67 in November, is far from a retired guy.

“The Cage EP” is the upbeat yin of last year’s dystopian four-track “The Roadside EP,” a burst of energy that comes with unblocking and contributions from newcomers like co-producer Tommy English, Joe Janiak and Sam Hollander. It also marks the latest step in a four-decade-long musical partnership between Idol and guitarist Steve Stevens, whose formula for combining punk energy with dancefloor rhythm dates back to their initial collaboration with Giorgio Moroder protégé Keith Forsey on songs like “Rebel Yell ”, “I dance with myself” and “White wedding”.

The EP’s four new songs are steeped in Idol’s past but firmly rooted in the present, showing how the singer turns his personal story into rocking anthems with powerful hooks and choruses, from the epic, whisper-to-scream “Running from the Ghost,” a song about triumphing over his history of drug addiction, to the blues-rock of “Rebel Like You,” a tribute to his 2-year-old granddaughter who recently dressed as an Idol around “Dancing with Myself” to see him at his residence in Las Vegas. The disc’s highlight is perhaps the raspy rap/R&B/funk of “Miss Nobody,” where Billy once again embraces outsiders, in this case a feisty homeless woman he glimpsed outside the MacArthur Park studio where they were recording, and got him thinking about how there, but for the grace of God goes each one of us.

“These new songs are festive because Steve and I are having fun,” says Billy. “It’s kind of wild to still be making music that we’re excited about.”

“We both grew up on the Beatles,” adds Stevens, “where every song and album was completely different. Billy and I both look at music as something of a journey. There is a method to our madness, but at the same time we throw away the formula and try other approaches. There are no rules. It’s just two guys with acoustic guitars and let’s see what we got.”

When he and his band were on tour late last year, they were joined by Åkerlund, who became interested in making a documentary about Idol — which is being produced by Live Nation Productions — after reading his 2015 biography, Dancing With Myself’ and Idol’s Own Narrative Audiobook.

“I said to Billy, ‘This is a movie … We have to tell this story,'” says Åkerlund, who has won three Grammys for his music films and videos with Madonna and Paul McCartney. “What an amazing time Billy has had in his career. He was there when punk rock happened in London, then he moved to New York just as MTV exploded, and now he’s in Los Angeles. I personally love his story, the amazing events in his life. And the music touched so many people.

Idol was part of the famed Bromley Contingent, the group of fans who rallied around the Sex Pistols — as captured in Danny Boyle’s recent FX series Pistol, which includes a glimpse of peroxide-blonde Billy wreaking havoc. Forty-five years later, the association continues. He has played with ex-Pistols Steve Jones and Paul Cook – as well as Tony Levin from his original 70s band Generation X – in Generation Sex, which performs a mix of Pistols and Gen X covers.

Idol liked Boyle’s FX series. “I really liked the Steve Jones book it’s based on,” says Idle. “If this series informs young people what these crazy kids did 45 years ago when we were facing a time when the economy wasn’t playing with us and adults were telling us there was no future, that would be a good thing. A lot is happening today. Our answer was to do what we love, like playing and listening to music. It’s a good history lesson. We believed in music so much that we thought it could cause a revolution.”

Idol’s self-created persona – a combination of Elvis Presley’s sneer, punk-rock skin and a hell of an attitude – is remarkably durable, with the music sounding as fresh and relevant today as it ever was. He has always been influenced by a variety of different types of music, from the reggae-dub elements of Gen X to the fresh disco beat of ‘Dancing With Myself’.

“Billy is willing to try anything,” Stevens says. “He’s going down the rabbit hole of some crazy concept while a lot of established singers are stuck in their ways. Fortunately, Billy is not one of those guys.

He and Idol will hit the road later this month with some West Coast dates, then fly to South America for Rock in Rio and some shows supporting Green Day, then a headlining tour of the UK and Europe with discovering legendary punk rockers on TV. He will also perform five concerts in November at the Cosmo in Las Vegas.

While he’s hardly the retired type, Idol got a glimpse of what could be when the pandemic curtailed his touring. Idol managed to play the amazing grandfather to his two granddaughters, aged two and seven months, by his daughter Bonnie Blue, one of his two children (along with Willem Wolf Brod, his son by his former longtime partner Perry Lister). “It was definitely one of the positives of the coronavirus that I got to spend quality time with them. So it wasn’t too bad for me.” He expresses satisfaction with his four-year relationship with actor-model China Chow.

Idol’s longevity and current prominence in pop culture raises the question of induction into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, where contemporaries such as Duran Duran and the Eurythmics have been honored.

“If it happens, great,” Stevens says. “If not, what can you do?”

“My reward is the audience,” Idol adds. “But that would be fantastic – a great thing. If Steve and I could be inducted at the same time, that would be amazing. He deserves it.”