“If you’re going to do something like this, this is where to do it”: Watch Billy Idol play Rebel Yell live at the top of the Empire State Building

Billy Idol has celebrated the 40th anniversary of the release of his breakthrough Rebel Yell album by performing an acoustic version of the title track while tethered to a narrow 103rd floor balcony near the top of New York’s iconic Empire State Building. 

The 103rd floor was originally built as a disembarkation point for passengers of airships tethered to the Empire State’s spire, and is not open to the public. Idol was joined for the historic shoot, which took place in April, by longtime guitarist Steve Stevens.

“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,” says Idol. “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!”

“I believe the idea to shoot the video came from Billy’s team,” Steven Gottlieb, the video’s producer, tells Time Out New York. “They came to me and said they wanted to film a performance at the top of the Empire State Building and they had a connection with a drone company that could help so it was sort of all pieced together nicely.

“It almost feels unreal, as if it’s visual effects, but they’re not. 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.”

With this latest exploit, Idol joins a long list of bands who’ve played rooftop shows, including The Beatles (Apple Building, London, 1969), U2 (Republic liquor store, Los Angeles, 1987) and 90s indie icons The Family Cat (HMV Megastore, Plymouth, 1993). Last year Idol played at another famous American landmark, performing a show for 250 fans at the Hoover Dam on the Border of Arizona and Nevada.

Online Editor at Louder/Classic Rock magazine since 2014. 38 years in music industry, online for 25. Also bylines for: Metal Hammer, Prog Magazine, The Word Magazine, The Guardian, The New Statesman, Saga, Music365. Former Head of Music at Xfm Radio, A&R at Fiction Records, early blogger, ex-roadie, published author. Once appeared in a Cure video dressed as a cowboy, and thinks any situation can be improved by the introduction of cats. Favourite Serbian trumpeter: Dejan Petrović.