Why Billy Idol Enlisted a Drug Dealer to Torture His Record Label

Billy Idol has detailed how he and his drug seller “tortured” the singer’s report label in an effort to acquire additional creative management.

The incident passed off in 1983 as Idol was readying his sophomore album, Rebel Yell. The singer’s label, Chrysalis Records, was focussed on getting the LP out shortly. So when Idol deemed Rebel Yell’s unique cowl artwork not adequate, the label responded by gruffly declaring they have been going to put the album out anyway.

“I went, ‘Wait a minute. We’ve worked really hard on this record. We just spent six months making sure this record is killer,” Idol recalled during a recent conversation with Yahoo Music. “The last thing I’m fucking doing is putting out a cover that’s not right!’ So, I went down to Electric Lady (studios) and received what I believed have been the grasp tapes. And I gave them to my heroin seller, James.”

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Idol and his drug seller held the tapes ransom, demanding the label pay attention to the singer’s request for a new album cowl.

“I said to [Chrysalis], ‘This guy’s on the street. He needs money. So, if you mess about too long, he’s just going to bootleg [the tapes]. He’s not going to sit on them forever!’” the rocker recalled. “James wouldn’t have actually done that, I don’t think. But it was great, frightening them to death. It really was torturing the record company; they’d tortured us, so we tortured them back a little bit!”

As luck would have it, the drug seller really had the incorrect grasp tapes – Idol had grabbed one other artist’s by mistake. Regardless, the plan labored.

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“They soon started listening to me,” the singer famous. “The cover was changed, and then everything went all right. I mean, for fuck’s sake, they were just being stupid. And after that, they never fucked with me again!”

‘Rebel Yell’ Turns 40

Released Nov. 10, 1983, Rebel Yell turned the best-selling album of Idol’s profession, transferring greater than 40 million copies worldwide.

In honor of the LP’s fortieth anniversary, Idol is readying a particular version launch that includes “quite a few extras.” Among them, a cowl of Rose Royce’s “Love Don’t Live Here Anymore,” which Idol deserted after discovering Madonna had her personal model on the Like a Virgin album.

“It’s not what you expect. My version is a kick-ass fucking rock song,” Idol declared. “I must’ve been broken up about something! I don’t [remember] if something was happening in my life at the time, or why I even wanted to do the song. I probably wanted to do it because I have always looked for covers that people couldn’t imagine me singing, like ‘Mony Mony’ and ‘To Be a Lover.’ … But if I do say so myself, actually we would’ve pissed all over Madonna’s version, because it’s a rock version.”

The fortieth anniversary version of Rebel Yell is predicted to be launched in 2024.