Billy Idol has somehow found the fountain of youth, as the Punk icon brought his renowned energy and snarl into the Hard Rock Hotel New York to talk about his new album, Rock & Roll Hall of Fame nomination, and more.
LISTEN NOW: Billy Idol at the Hard Rock Hotel New York
"Doing the thing you love kind of keeps you, it helps a lot, right?" laughs Billy as Audacy's Race Taylor asks for his secret to staying so young. It's a journey that continues this year with a new album, Dream Into It, and a new tour with fellow trailblazer, Joan Jett.
"We've played shows together and we've never done a tour together, so this is gonna be fantastic," admits Idol. "I met Joan in 1978 when we I was doing a promo tour for the first Generation X album, the Punk Rock group I was in in 1978 and, I'd just seen The Germs and Dead Kennedys at the Whiskey a Go Go and then I hung out with Joan and about 20 other girls who were all like in little mini skirts and go go boots, and it's that scene, it was really a lot of fun. It was great meeting her and she's fantastic."
Joan is not only set to tour with Billy Idol this summer, but she's featured on the new album, Dream Into It, which arrives on April 25. "We just really thought we'd keep it to like a 9 song album, which back in the day that was how many songs you could get on vinyl and it would sound really good," Billy describes. "So, we just sort of thought, let's keep it to 9 songs, but let's make sure that as far as we're concerned, every song's killer. And I think that's what we've got here."
As Billy Idol begins his next "all killer, no filler" era, he also has one eye looking back at his career, as the "Rebel Yell" singer is nominated this year for the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame. "It would make an incredible cap to the year," says Billy. "If with this great album, and we're gonna be playing Madison Square Garden and at The Forum in LA, so, capping off the year with.. even just getting the nomination is great."
To hear much more from Billy Idol, check out the full interview above.