To mark the 40th anniversary of his album ‘Rebel Yell’, Billy Idol performed the title track at the top of the Empire State Building, 103 floor up in New York.
The singer performed the track with his guitarist Steve Stevens at the venue, celebrating 40 years since the release of Idol’s second solo album.
Rebel Yell was also recorded across three days at Jimi Hendrix’s studio Electric Lady Studios in New York. According to reports, Idol got the inspiration for the song at a party thrown by The Rolling Stones where he drank Rebel Yell.
Check out this special performance below.
Billy Idol Celebrates ‘Eyes Without A Face’
Back in April, Billy Idol announced plans to take fans on a behind-the-scenes journey of his 1984 hit ‘Eyes Without A Face’.
Idol uses the video to explain how keen he was to produce an anti-love song, as the 1980s were already full of soppy, love songs, according to the punk music legend.
The singer revealed that ‘Eyes Without A Face’ was a murder track. He also added that he was inspired by many silent movies.
“I liked a lot of silent movies… there was an old book I had that had a lot of old stills [from] Boris Karloff movies, The Black Cat, where he’s in front of an altar with a load of crosses behind him. A lot of these things were influencing me with the ‘White Wedding’ video, with ‘Eyes Without A Face.’ So that’s what I was bringing into my videos, this kind of old influence of movies a hundred years before”.
“We were really trying to do a lot with nothing, and I think that they still hold up. They look pretty good. In fact, Miley Cyrus says they’re the sexiest videos she liked to watch. So thank you, Miley”.
Idol also noted their similarities in making a major impact despite issues over budget and resources.
More on this story from Nova here.
