The 70-year-old rocker opened up about his past drug struggles on the Club Random With Bill Maher podcast. Idol revealed he turned to crack to kick his heroin habit. He emphasized that starting drugs later in life is a bad idea.
Billy Idol, the 70-year-old singer known for hits like “Eyes Without a Face,” got real about his drug history during a recent appearance on the Club Random With Bill Maher podcast. Chatting with host Bill Maher, who joked about trying heroin himself, Idol laid it out straight: “I wouldn’t start now. You’re doing really well. Don’t ruin it.”
He reflected on the perils of late-life drug use, saying, “That’s the most scary thing I think, when people start taking drugs and they’re old…I’m glad I did it in my 20s or when I was a teenager…not now. You need energy to be a drug addict and I don’t have that kind of energy.” Idol admitted his unconventional path to sobriety: “Once you’re trying to get off heroin, once you go to something else…I started smoking crack to get off heroin.” He called it “probably the worst advert, but it worked.”
Looking back, Idol didn't sugarcoat the experience. “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 realized you had to do that,” he shared. This candid confession comes as Idol is among the nominees for the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame class of 2026. Talk about spilling the tea on a legendary life—will this boost his Hall chances, or just remind us rockstars keep it messy? 🔥
