Review: Rockumentary, ‘Billy Idol Should Be Dead’ – And Thank Heaven He Isn’t!

Well, I finally settled in and watched the new rockumentary Billy Idol Should Be Dead this weekend. It was released theatrically last year (2025) and I believe has just recently been made available for streaming. I have to say, having now seen this documentary, yes, Billy Idol should be dead. Thank the universe that he isn’t!

I watched it as a fan with no intention of writing about it, but it was just so damn enjoyable I had to say something. Well, that and Idol tickets for a September show in KC are going on sale Friday and that sparked the creative juices. All of this on the heels of his latest LP, (his first in 11 years) last year’s Dream Into It. 

While the documentary was the standard fare of following Billy Idol’s life/career I did find it terribly interesting. They interview his mom and sister which was actually pretty funny. They show photographs of Billy when he was in school and he looked like a normal kid. Frankly, he looked like a couple of the older neighborhood guys who’d knock on the door to harass my babysitter while my parents were out on the town.

Like most rock n rollers Billy wasn’t terribly interested in school to the dismay of his parents. He decamped to London in 1976 and landed right in the middle of the Punk scene. Some of the flashbacks are done as animation, which normally I wouldn’t like but it worked here.

We get the story of his early band Generation X formed with his buddy bassist Tony James. Generation X must have been a lot bigger in England as I never heard their music or heard about them here in the American midwest. I think Punk scared the local burghers in my town and radio steered clear of it.

I remember 60 Minutes did a feature on Punk and I could see the fear in my father’s eyes. I’m surprised he didn’t send me and my brother to our room like he would when Love American Style was on TV. He knew I was drawn to rebellion.

I have to say young Billy Idol (real name, William Broad), other than maybe Paul Simonon, bassist of the Clash, was probably the best looking dude the Punk rock movement ever produced. He was wildly successful with the ladies.

Eventually the band splintered and Billy went solo. He moved to New York at the urging of his manager. Luckily for him, he met guitarist extraordinaire Steve Stevens. Those guys were the perfect team like a Punk Jagger/Richards. This is where my memories kicked into overdrive.

His self-titled debut came out in July of 1982 and I have zero recognition of that. However, his music videos quickly became a feature on the budding new music video station MTV. Idol was made for MTV with his…for lack of a better description…movie idol good looks and snarling attitude.

“White Wedding” was one of the first videos I remember seeing. Although I must admit, we were so programmed to be anti-Punk I’m not sure I tuned into the music. With his spiky bleached blonde hair he was the antithesis of the rock stars/rock bands we loved. Where is the long hair? The Rock Chick was more quickly on the Idol bandwagon, but again his looks probably swayed her.

It wasn’t until Rebel Yell, a favorite of one my roommates at the time named Walt, that I closed my eyes and just listened to the music. This was great stuff. It came out in November 1983 and in the time since his debut I’d gone from high school senior to college student. Maybe my mind was just ready to be open to Billy Idol.

That’s the fun part of this documentary. So many of us lived through it. I love seeing Beatles documentaries like Beatles ’64 or the Peter Jackson Get Back stuff, but that was before I was a cognizant human. I lived through the Idol era.

We follow Billy through the triumph of Rebel Yell and then to the disappointing follow up Whiplash Smile. It wasn’t a bad album – I included “To Be A Lover” on my Songs of 1986 Playlist – but our expectations were huge after Rebel Yell. And Billy had taken his eye off the ball a bit.

He wanted to be a movie star and that stole focus from his music. What is it with music guys like Sinatra, Elvis and Billy Idol wanting to be big movie stars? And actually, there are some movie stars want to be rock stars like Johnny Depp or Don Johnson. Is no one satisfied with their lot in life?

It didn’t help that Idol had taken three years to follow up Rebel Yell. And let’s face it the hard drugs and women probably didn’t help. Billy had developed a rather wicked heroin habit. I don’t think this is a spoiler as it’s been widely quoted in the press, but he actually says, “I started smoking crack to quit heroin.” You don’t get more rock n roll and Billy Idol than that quote.

We then follow Billy all the way from his broken leg (motor cycle accident, of course) to the present day as a doting grandfather. I think the reason I was so charmed by this rockumentary was at the heart of the story is just a good guy…albeit flawed. Who amongst us weren’t wild in the day… if I’d been a rock star, I would be dead and gone long ago.

He talks a lot about being a shy person who created this alter ego to be “Billy Idol.” Oddly, I get it. His face grew into the mask he was wearing. It all sounds like me as a shy teenager becoming a wildly obnoxious person after a beer or two in order to fit in. I could relate to it.

If you like Billy Idol or you were around and enjoyed the wild life back in the 80s, this rockumentary is for you. I really liked it a lot more than I expected. Again, at the heart of the story is that Billy Idol is a survivor. And that, more than anything, is a good story to hear.

Cheers!