White Wedding (song)

"White Wedding"
Single by Billy Idol
from the album Billy Idol
A-side	"White Wedding (Parts 1 and 2)"
B-side	"White Wedding (Part 2)"
Released	October 23, 1982
Genre	New wave[1] rock[2] post-punk[3]
Length	4:12 (album version) 3:30 (7-inch version) 8:25 (12-inch version)
Label	Chrysalis
Songwriter(s)	Billy Idol
Producer(s)	Keith Forsey
Billy Idol singles chronology
"Hot in the City" (1982) "White Wedding" (1982) "Rebel Yell" (1983)
Music video
"White Wedding Pt 1" on YouTube

"White Wedding" is a song by English rock muscian Billy Idol. It was released as the second single from his self-titled studio album in 1982. It's not one of Idol's highest-charting hits. Despite this, it's one of his most well known songs.

In the US, it peaked at No. 10 on the Billboard Bubbling Under the Hot 100 chart on 27 November 1982.^[4] After it was re-issued, the song reached No. 36 on the Billboard Hot 100 on 2 July 1983 .^[5] In the UK, it reached No. 6 in the UK Singles Chart upon its re-release there in 1985, when it was re-issued to promote the Vital Idol remix album.

Reception

Cash Box called it "a powerful entry" whose "ominous guitar intro" and "accusatory tone" command attention.^[6]

Music video

The music video has Idol attend a goth wedding. The bride is played by Perri Lister, Idol's real-life girlfriend at the time. She is also one of the three dancers in black leather, who slap their buttocks in time with the clap track in the song. "That's the kind of thing they love in England", says Idol.^[7]

In one scene, Idol forces a wedding ring made of barbed wire onto Lister's finger and cuts her knuckle. Lister wanted her knuckle to actually be cut. This would've made the scene appear more realistic.^[7] MTV initially removed this scene from the video.^[8] Also controversial were the apparent Nazi salutes made by the crowd toward the couple. Director David Mallet says he was merely "playing with the power of crowd imagery." He did not realize how it looked until after it was filmed.^[7]

The MTV-edited version of the video is included on the DVD portion of The Very Best of Billy Idol: Idolize Yourself CD/DVD package.

Appearances and covers

The song was featured in the 1998 film The Wedding Singer (in which Idol appears). It was also on the American TV series My Name Is Earl as well as the British TV series Blackpool.

Idol performed the song as part of the pre-game entertainment for the 2002 NRL Grand Final in Sydney, Australia. Idol got on the playing field by hovercraft. He only managed to sing two words before a power failure ended the performance.^[9]

The line "It's a nice day to start again" was featured on the sticker on the front of Idol's 2005 album, Devil's Playground.

The song is featured in the 1985 Italian horror film Demons.^[10]

On The Colbert Report, a couple that was prevented from wedding at the Jefferson Memorial, by the 2013 government shutdown, got married. They shared their first dance as Audra McDonald sang the song.^[11]

The German heavy metal singer Doro Pesch featured a cover of "White Wedding" on her 2000 album Calling the Wild.^[12]

The American metal band In This Moment was set to collaborate with Idol on the track "Black Wedding." In the song's chorus is the line, "it's a nice night for a black wedding," a homage to Idol's "White Wedding." Due to schedule iussues, Rob Halford of Judas Priest was featured on the track instead.^[13]

Slipknot drummer Joey Jordison's side project – the US horror punk band Murderdolls – reached number 24 on the UK Singles chart in 2003 with their cover of "White Wedding."^[14]

1982 release

7″: Chrysalis – CHS 2656 (UK)

1. "White Wedding" (3:30)
2. "Hole in the Wall" (4:14)

12″: Chrysalis – CHS 12 2656 (UK)

1. "White Wedding (Parts 1 and 2)" (8:20)
2. "White Wedding" (3:30)
3. "Hole in the Wall" (4:14)

7″: Chrysalis – CHS 2648 (US)

1. "White Wedding" (3:30)
2. "Dead on Arrival" (3:54)

12″: Chrysalis – EPC 5002 (US)

1. "White Wedding (Parts 1 and 2)" (8:20)
2. "White Wedding (Part 2)" (4:27)

1983 release

12″: Chrysalis – 4V9 42685 (US)

1. "White Wedding (Parts 1 and 2)" (8:20)
2. "White Wedding (Part 2)" (4:27)

7″: Chrysalis – CHS 42697 (US)

1. "White Wedding" (3:30)
2. "Dead on Arrival" (3:54)

1985 re-issue

7″: Chrysalis – IDOL 5 (UK)

1. "White Wedding" (3:30)
2. "Mega-Idol Mix" (5:34)

• 7" Mega-Idol comprises "Flesh For Fantasy" and "Hot in the City"

12″: Chrysalis – IDOLX 5 (UK)

1. "White Wedding Parts I & II (Shot Gun Mix)" (8:20)
2. "Mega-Idol Mix" (7:50)

• 12″ Mega-Idol comprises "Flesh For Fantasy," "Hot in the City" and "Dancing With Myself"

Charts

Weekly charts

Chart (1982–1983)	Peak position
Australia (Kent Music Report)[15]	9
Canada Top Singles (RPM)[16]	1
New Zealand (Recorded Music NZ)[17]	5
US Billboard Hot 100[18]	36
US Billboard Top Tracks[18]	4
US Billboard Dance/Disco Top 80	10
Chart (1985)	Peak position
UK Singles (OCC)[19]	6

Year end charts

Chart (1983)	Position
Australia (Kent Music Report)[20]	61
Canada Top Singles (RPM)[21]	21
New Zealand (Recorded Music NZ)[22]	11
Chart (1985)	Position
UK Singles (OCC)[23]	58

Certifications

Region	Certification	Certified units/sales
Canada (Music Canada)[24]	Gold	50,000^^
United Kingdom (BPI)[25]	Gold	400,000
^^shipments figures based on certification alone sales+streaming figures based on certification alone

References

1. Allen, Jim (November 10, 2024). "'Rebel Yell': How Billy Idol Conquered America". uDiscoverMusic. Retrieved September 6, 2024.
2. Breihan, Tom (March 26, 2021). "The Number Ones: Billy Idol's "Mony Mony". Stereogum. Retrieved November 8, 2023.
3. "The Story Behind Billy Idol's Post-Punk Classic "White Wedding"". Consequence Podcast Network. November 21, 2022. Retrieved June 13, 2024.
4. "Bubbling Under the Hot 100". Billboard. Vol. 94, no. 47. 27 November 1982. p. 68. ISSN 0006-2510.
5. "Top 100 Songs - Billboard Hot 100 Chart". Billboard. Retrieved 27 June 2019.
6. "Reviews" (PDF). Cash Box. May 14, 1983. p. 9. Retrieved 2022-07-19.
7. Marks, Craig; Tannenbaum, Rob (2011). I Want My MTV: The Uncensored Story of the Music Video Revolution. New York, NY: Dutton. pp. 124–125. ISBN 978-0-525-95230-5.
8. Billy Idol, Biography, A & E
9. "Idol idle: rebel's yell silenced". The Age. 7 October 2002. Retrieved 9 April 2014.
10. "Demons soundtrack info on IMDB". IMDb.
11. Randee Dawn (2013-10-04). "Stephen Colbert marries couple whose wedding was shut out by shutdown". TODAY.com. Retrieved 2014-04-09.
12. Doro - White Wedding, retrieved 2023-02-25
13. Blabbermouth (2017-05-12). "In This Moment's Ritual Album to Feature Guest Appearance by Judas Priest's Rob Halford". blabbermouth.com. Retrieved 2017-06-22.
14. "MURDERDOLLS - full Official Chart History - Official Charts Company". Officialcharts.com. Retrieved 27 June 2019.
15. Kent, David (1993). Australian Chart Book 1970–1992 (Illustrated ed.). St Ives, N.S.W.: Australian Chart Book. p. 147. ISBN 0-646-11917-6. N.B. The Kent Report chart was licensed by ARIA from mid-1983 until 12 June 1988.
16. "Top RPM Singles: Issue 6259." RPM. Library and Archives Canada. Retrieved March 29, 2020.
17. "Billy Idol – White Wedding". Top 40 Singles.
18. "Billy Idol | Awards". AllMusic. 1955-11-30. Retrieved 2014-04-09.
19. "Official Singles Chart Top 100". Official Charts Company.
20. "Kent Music Report – National Top 100 Singles for 1983". Kent Music Report. Retrieved 5 August 2020 – via Imgur.com.
21. "The Top Singles of 1983". RPM. Library and Archives Canada. Retrieved 10 August 2023.
22. "Top Selling Singles of 1983". Recorded Music NZ. Archived from the original on 30 May 2022. Retrieved 10 August 2023.
23. "Top 100 Singles". Music Week. London, England: Spotlight Publications. 18 January 1986. p. 10.
24. "Canadian single certifications – Billy Idol – White Wedding". Music Canada. Retrieved 20 July 2023.
25. "British single certifications – Billy Idol – White Wedding". British Phonographic Industry. Retrieved 26 September 2022.