Live from above New York, it’s Billy Idol. In celebration of the 40th anniversary of Rebel Yell, Idol performed the album’s iconic title track on the balcony of the 103rd floor of the Empire State Building, more than 1,000 feet above the ground. Joined by his longtime collaborator Steve Stevens on guitar, the video sees Idol performing an unplugged version of the track as the camera pans to show the clouds above the NYC skyline.
Time Out spoke to the video’s producer, Steve Gottlieb, who explained that Idol’s team reached out with the idea to shoot a video with drones from the Empire State Building. “It almost feels unreal, as if it’s visual effects, but they’re not,” says Gottlieb. “It’s all real. It’s just an angle of the city that you almost never see. Everything that Billy does is larger than life and the Empire State Building is probably the most iconic tall building in the world so if you’re going to do something like this, this is where to do it.” He additionally revealed that the video was impressively shot in only two takes.
Idol shared his own thoughts on making the video, reminiscing, “When I was a little boy we lived in Long Island for a few years and my mom and dad took me to visit the Empire State Building, probably in 1959. Hard to fathom that 65 years later I’d be playing rock n roll on top of the building! Then and now the Empire State Building is an unrivaled jewel of Art Deco magic. A career highlight for sure!”
That night, the landmark was additionally lit up in Rebel Yell colors in honor of its anniversary. In April, when the video was filmed, Idol released a deluxe expanded version of Rebel Yell. The reissue includes a selection of previously unreleased songs and demos, the Poolside remix of Idol’s smash hit “Eyes Without A Face,” and the never-before-heard Billy Idol/Steve Stevens original “Best Way Out of Here” from the original sessions.
