NEED TO KNOW
- Billy Idol says he nearly died of a heroin overdose in London in 1984
- He eventually quit the drug for good after a trip to Bangkok a few years later
- Idol opens up about his past in the new documentary Billy Idol Should Be Dead
Billy Idol is opening up about the drug addiction that nearly cost him his life.
The punk rocker, 69, suffered a near-fatal overdose in London in 1984 while riding the success of his second album Rebel Yell, he reveals in his new documentary Billy Idol Should Be Dead, which premiered at Tribeca Festival on June 10.
At the time, Idol was in his late 20s, and had found major success in the United States thanks to hits like “Rebel Yell” and “Eyes Without a Face.” He says in the documentary that he decided to return to England as a sort of victory lap, “because I’d done it.”
“I was coming back in triumph and I nearly ruined it,” he says. “We flew to London where we met a load of our pals that we knew. They had some of the strongest heroin. Everybody did a line or so and they all nodded out except for me and this mate of mine.”
With the rest of the group passed out, Idol says he and his friend continued to do more of the heroin.
“I was basically dying. I was turning blue,” he recalls. “So they put me in an ice cold bath and I remember them walking me around on the top of the building, on the roof.”
In the doc, the Grammy-nominated singer explains the allure of drugs during his hard-partying days, saying it was something that the rock scene really “embraced” at the time.
“A number of people were on it. But you know, you’re wide open for it. A lot of the people we loved were all heroin addicts,” he says. “Lou Reed wrote the song ‘Heroin.’ You weren’t thinking how dangerous it was. In fact, you’re thinking quite the opposite. Maybe this could unleash something.”
Elsewhere in the documentary, Idol reveals that he ultimately gave up heroin for good after a wild trip to Bangkok in which he and a friend racked up an estimated $75,000 in damages to a hotel. The trip took place when his son Willem, who was born in 1988, was a baby.
At one point, Idol recalls passing out in an elevator, with the elevator doors opening and closing on him.
“Mel Gibson was there with his family on holiday, horrified,” he says. On that same trip, he recalls picking up a large log and throwing it through a glass window, prompting a call to the police.
“The silver lining was I did put heroin behind me. It was too horrible, the whole experience. It actually really put me off,” he says. “Getting off heroin is one of the most awfulest experiences in the world. Boy George said it right when he said it’s like your skeleton trying to get out of your body. There’s no quick fix. It’s such a long time. You’re just counting the days, the seconds, the hours. Even after six months, you still feel lousy.”
Billy Idol Should Be Dead follows Idol’s “meteoric rise from sneering punk provocateur to MTV-era pop superstar. Using never-before-seen archival footage and intimate interviews, the film dives deep into Idol’s formative years and the personal chaos that nearly ended it all,” according to a synopsis.
If you or someone you know is struggling with substance abuse, please contact the SAMHSA helpline at 1-800-662-HELP.
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