RadarOnline.com reports that Billy Idol has surprised fans with his admission that he overcame his heroin addiction by using crack cocaine. The veteran rock star revealed this unexpected strategy helped him overcome one of the darkest periods in his life.
The 70-year-old British punk and rock icon, known for hits like Rebel Yell and White Wedding, shared his long battle with heroin addiction during an appearance on the Club Random with Bill Maher podcast.
Billy Idol discussed the drastic measures he took to escape heroin addiction after years of intense drug use at the peak of his career.
His addiction struggles are detailed in the documentary Billy Idol Should Be Dead, where he reflects on the tumultuous lifestyle that accompanied his rise in the rock industry.
Describing his attempts to quit heroin, Idol said: “Once you’re trying to get off heroin, what do you go to? You go to something else. I started smoking crack to get off heroin.”
In his conversation with Bill Maher, the host appeared taken aback by Idol’s revelation.
Maher asked: “Did you really?”
Idol laughed and confirmed his statement.
He explained: “It worked. It worked. This is probably the worst advert, but it worked. It’s kind of nasty… I liked taking drugs back then. It took me a long time to put them in the rearview mirror. At some point, I realised you had to do that.”
Idol’s admission has ignited discussions among music industry insiders about the pervasive drug culture among rock stars in the 1970s and 1980s.
One insider noted that Idol’s experience illustrates the chaotic environment often encountered by young musicians who suddenly achieved global fame.
They said: “Billy Idol came up during a time when drugs were deeply embedded in the rock scene, and many artists were trying to survive an environment where excess was normalized.”
Another source emphasized that Idol’s honesty underscores the complexity of addiction recovery for artists immersed in that lifestyle.
They said: “The fact he is openly talking about how messy the process was shows how difficult recovery really is.”
Idol also recounted a near-fatal overdose during his career peak in the early 1980s.
In the documentary, he described the harrowing incident just before he was set to appear on the British television show Top of the Pops after returning to the UK following his success in the United States.
Idol stated: “I did OD and nearly died. I went to America in March 1981 and came back to the U.K. in triumph in 1984, after Rebel Yell. I was due on Top of the Pops. I nearly ruined it and nobody knew.”
He recounted taking heroin with friends upon returning to London.
Idol said: “Everybody did a line and they all nodded out except me and a mate and we did a few more lines. I was basically dying. I was turning blue.”
“So they put me in an ice bath and walked me around on the roof of the building.”
Reflecting on the difficulty of quitting heroin, Idol described the withdrawal process as brutal.
He added: “Getting off heroin is one of the most awful 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.”
