Billy Idol is getting the feature-length documentary treatment his fascinating career has long warranted.
The film, entitled Billy Idol Should Be Dead, received its debut at the Tribeca Film Festival last year and goes on theatrical release in the US and Canada from 26 February. Ahead of that there are two special screenings – at the TCL Chinese Theatre in LA on 23 February and at New York’s Regal Union Square on 25 February. Both of these premieres will be followed by an acoustic performance from Idol and his longtime collaborator Steve Stevens.
The documentary’s blurb promises that, “Through never-before-seen archival and personal interviews with Idol, his family, peers and collaborators, the documentary digs deep into his emergence as a prototypical punk rocker, his meteoric rise as a global superstar in the MTV era and the myriad of challenges Idol had to overcome to not just survive, but to remain one of the most beloved figures in rock n roll, 50 years into his career.”
Now 70 years old, William Broad’s was one of the many lives that were changed forever by seeing an early gig by the Sex Pistols. He became part of the so-called Bromley contingent who became the group’s first fans and contributed much to the stylish miasma that surrounded the band.
Broad soon made the leap from fan to participant in the embryonic punk movement, first joining Chelsea and then quickly forming Generation X with Tony James.
And of course, in true punk fashion, he changed his name, to Billy Idol.
Generation X were moderately successful, but Idol’s smartest move was relocating to New York in 1981 and hooking up with guitarist Steve Stevens. Together they fashioned an MTV-friendly version of new wave that smoothed down punk’s rough edges for a mainstream rock audience.
Hit after hit after hit followed. It’s no exaggeration to say that, for much of the 1980s, Billy Idol – and his seemingly permanent curled lip - was punk for much of middle America.
In the midst of all this there is the usual gravy of rock docs – drug addiction, alcoholism, an overdose, a motorbike smash that almost cost him his leg, artistic decline and then revival.
There’s no news yet as to when Billy Idol Should Be Dead will receive a theatrical release in Europe, or even if it will.
In the meantime, click here for information and tickets for its screenings across North America.
