Billy Idol nearly died from heroin overdose
The 69-year-old rocker had returned to London in 1984 to celebrate his success in the US but his partying with friends got out of hand
Billy Idol
(Image: Guy Bell/REX/Shutterstock )
Billy Idol almost died from a heroin overdose.
The 69-year-old rocker had returned to London in 1984 to celebrate his success in the US but his partying with friends got out of hand and the group had to revive the Rebel Yell hitmaker when he "turned blue" and collapsed.
Speaking on documentary Billy Idol Should Be Dead, which premiered at the Tribeca Festival on Tuesday (10.06.25), he said: "I was coming back in triumph and I nearly ruined it.
"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."
As the rest of the group passed out, Billy and his friend kept taking the drug.
He continued: "I was basically dying. I was turning blue. 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."
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Billy insisted he and his peers never considered the dangers of heroin and it was a drug the music scene had "embraced" at the time.
He said: "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.
"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."
The White Wedding rocker ultimately gave up the drug for good when he and a friend caused $75,000 damages to a hotel in Bangkok at a time when his son Willem, now 36, was a baby.
At one point, he recalled passing out in an elevator with the doors opening and closing him, while police were called when he threw a log through a glass window.
He said: "Mel Gibson was there with his family on holiday, horrified.
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"The silver lining was I did put heroin behind me. It was too horrible, the whole experience. It actually really put me off.
"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."
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