BIZARRE: 2 - What They Never Told You

“We wanted the listeners to know that the pirates are on their way!”: How guitarist Steve Stevens kickstarted Billy Idol’s classic hits White Wedding and Rebel Yell

"Our producer said, ‘You need a flag at the top'"

MusicRadar · May 21, 2025

"I was doing a ton of crack. And I took pills to try and calm down": The growing pains and artistic rebirth of Billy Idol

Twenty years on from Rebel Yell and 10 years after overdosing on crack, Billy came back in 2005 with a trademark sneer and an album that did what he does best

Louder · May 19, 2025

“I remember saying, ‘Come on, you’re gonna edit it down to, what, four bars?’ Harold goes, ‘No, we’re gonna keep everything.’ And they did!”: How a guitar hero's epic 64-bar solo lit up a classic movie theme

"We got the whole thing done in three hours"

MusicRadar · May 12, 2025

“When I got the call to record with Michael, I was thinking, oh, there’s going to be an entourage, and the monkey’s going to be jumping around…”: How guitarist Steve Stevens recorded Dirty Diana with Michael Jackson

“When I got the call to record with Michael, I was thinking, oh, there’s going to be an entourage, and the monkey’s going to be jumping around…”: How guitarist Steve Stevens recorded Dirty Diana with Michael Jackson

MusicRadar · Mar 25, 2025

“When I met Billy, I didn’t really have an amazing guitar. He said, ‘Oh, you gotta have a Les Paul, mate’”: Steve Stevens on why the ’80s were Hamer time for the Billy Idol guitarist – and it was all thanks to Paul Stanley

Steve Stevens turns the clock back to May 1986 to tell us all about the Hamer SS1 he is holding on the cover of GW, and what became of all those other Hamers

Guitar World · Mar 13, 2025

“Paul Reed Smith and I grew up on the same street. He knew I was finishing guitars and one day asked for help. Eventually we needed somebody to head up the factory. He said, 'You’re it’”: How Joe Knaggs became one of America’s most respected guitar makers

Having cut his teeth working at the PRS factory, rising from finishing assistant to production manager and head of Private Stock, Knaggs built his brand from the ground up. Here’s his story…

Guitar World · Jan 30, 2025

“Modeling is just not fun. It doesn’t give you any sort of feeling. You gotta shake the pant legs and feel that air”: Dave Friedman, who’s built amps for Jerry Cantrell, Steve Stevens, and Chris Shiflett, is not ready to hop off the tube train

The amp guru looks back on a career of modding Marshalls, building rigs for Eddie Van Halen, and developing his most simple product ever – and looks forward to the future of NAMM and boutique tech

Guitar World · Jan 23, 2025

“I was approached to join David Lee Roth’s band, initially… I didn’t want to be Eddie Van Halen part two”: Steve Stevens on laying down the Dirty Diana solo with Michael Jackson and Quincy Jones, recording Rebel Yell – and why Vai got it right with Roth

Billy Idol guitarist discusses the folk guitar lick he adapted for one of his boss’ biggest hits, his secret-weapon amp, and how his early work is echoed in Idol’s upcoming return-to-punk record

Guitar World · Dec 12, 2024

“It was Michael Jackson, Quincy Jones, and the engineer. Quincy said, ‘Go in there, and do what you want’”: Steve Stevens on following in Eddie Van Halen’s footsteps to record the ‘spiritual successor’ to Beat It

When Jackson and Jones sought to revisit the sound they experimented with on Beat It, they turned to the Billy Idol guitarist for a hard rock edge

Guitar World · Nov 14, 2024

"All abooooaard!" Watch the all-star Hall Of Fame tribute to Ozzy Osbourne starring Maynard James Keenan, Billy Idol, Rob Trujillo, Chad Smith, Wolfgang Van Halen, Andrew Watt, Adam Wakeman, Steve Stevens, Zakk Wylde and Jelly Roll

The all-star band assembled in Cleveland to pay tribute to the Prince Of Darkness as he was inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall Of Fame for the second time

Metal Hammer · Oct 21, 2024