Legendary rocker Billy Idol is celebrating the 40th anniversary of his landmark Rebel Yell album by hitting the road this summer, playing 13 Canadian cities from coast-to-coast.
The trek kicks off in Vancouver on July 30 and goes east for the final leg, playing Moncton on Aug. 21, Halifax on Aug. 23 and wrapping up in St. John’s, N.L., on Aug. 25.
Joining Idol is his longtime backing band, including his lead guitarist and collaborator of over 40 years, Steve Stevens, with Canadian Walk of Fame inductees Platinum Blonde appearing as special guests across all stops.
The country holds a special place for the singer known for such hits as Dancing with Myself , Mony Mony , White Wedding and many more.
“I remember playing a show in Calgary where a kid danced himself off the balcony on the White Wedding Tour,” Idol says with a chuckle in a phone interview. “I always remember that. I was sure he’d be going to hospital, but then he was outside the hotel … We had this young audience and they were really excited. I think they were sort of discovering the ’80s like we were. The ’80s was a new decade and I think they were excited about it and we were excited to be up there. It was just really fun.”
It was on that same tour that Idol wrote the lyrics to Eyes Without a Face , one of the biggest hits from Rebel Yell .
“We had to go from Winnipeg to New Jersey and that was like a two-day bus drive and I was tripping out of my mind and that’s what I put into Eyes Without a Face ,” he says. “It was almost like a psychedelic trip. So Canada influenced the Rebel Yell album.”
Originally released in November 1983, Rebel Yell was the twice-platinum follow-up to Idol’s self-titled debut. In addition to the eponymous title track, the record featured the iconic singles Eyes Without a Face , Flesh for Fantasy , and Catch My Fall .
“We had just come off the first Billy Idol record, which had done really well with Hot in the City and White Wedding . We had broken through onto MTV and I think people were ready for the next thing,” the British-born singer says reflecting on the album’s success.
After starting out as a U.K. punk rocker with Generation X in the late ’70s, Idol enjoyed tremendous popularity in the ’80s, when he ruled MTV. He kept his hit streak going with Whiplash Smile in 1986 and Charmed Life in 1990. But as a new decade got underway, Idol’s career hit speedbumps. He nearly died after suffering a motorbike accident in 1990. A musical detour on 1993’s Cyberpunk wasn’t received warmly and Idol didn’t record new music again until Devil’s Playground over a decade later in 2005.
Still, Idol managed to survive and thrive, hitting the stage regularly over the years, landing an ongoing residency in Las Vegas and selling 40 million albums along the way. After performing Rebel Yell as a duet with Miley Cyrus in 2016, the two collaborated on the song Night Crawling for her 2020 record Plastic Hearts, exposing him to a brand-new demographic.
“I grew up with a lot of eclectic albums, so that’s what we started to make; albums that weren’t just about one thing. They had a number of different styles and songs,” he says, pondering his career longevity.
Now 68, a grandfather and completely sober, Idol can’t wait to get back onstage to revisit his old catalogue with a new generation of fans in the audience.
“We have an audience that’s been with us a long time, but there are younger people there as well and I love that they can get a taste of what things were like back in the day from us. They really want to get a taste of what the ’80s was like and they can come and see us and get a vibe of what it was like,” the three-time Grammy nominee says, chuckling.
Concertgoers seeing him play live nowadays are getting to watch a different performer.
“Back in the ’80s, I was probably a few sheets to the wind … I used to have a bit of a bar behind me with loads of different drinks,” he laughs. “Nowadays, I’m not distracted by being high and that only adds more energy I can put into the songs. There’s a natural high I get from playing every night. And that’s a great feeling.”
To coincide with the tour, Idol will also release an Expanded Edition of Rebel Yell with previously unreleased songs and demos, including a cover of Rose Royce’s Love Don’t Live Here Anymore and the never-before-heard Idol/Steve Stevens original Best Way Out of Here .
He’ll also release a new full-length record later this year — his first since 2014’s Kings & Queens of the Underground .
“We don’t just do old stuff. We’ve got an album coming out in October, which I think is going to be a kickass record. I really enjoyed making that. So we’re just as fired up about what we’re doing today as we ever were, and I can see the same on the faces in the audience,” he says.
When asked if th e Rebel Yell Tour marks the beginning of the end of his touring days, Idol lets out a big belly laugh.
“No, of course not. Not right now and hopefully, I never stop,” he says. “I’m just thinking I’ll rock til I drop. That’s kind of my ethos.”
Tickets for Billy Idol’s Rebel Yell Canada 2024 arena tour go on sale Friday, April 12, at livenation.com .
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