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White Wedding (song)

{{short description|1982 single by Billy Idol}}

{{Use British English|date=October 2014}}

{{Use dmy dates|date=October 2014}}

{{Infobox song

| name = White Wedding

| cover = Billy Idol - White Wedding 1982 single picture cover.jpg

| border = yes

| type = single

| artist = Billy Idol

| album = Billy Idol

| A-side = White Wedding (Parts 1 and 2)

| B-side = White Wedding (Part 2)

| released = October 1982

| recorded =

| studio =

| genre = *New wave{{cite web|url=https://ultimateclassicrock.com/new-wave-songs/|title=Top 50 New Wave Songs|first=Michael|last=Gallucci|date=November 7, 2024|website=Ultimate Classic Rock|access-date=November 8, 2024}}{{cite web|url=https://www.udiscovermusic.com/stories/billy-idol-rebel-yell-feature/|title=‘Rebel Yell’: How Billy Idol Conquered America|publisher=uDiscoverMusic|date=November 10, 2024|access-date=September 6, 2024|last=Allen|first=Jim}}

  • post-punk{{cite web|title=The Story Behind Billy Idol's Post-Punk Classic "White Wedding"|url=https://consequence.net/2022/11/billy-idol-white-wedding-story-behind-the-song/|publisher=Consequence Podcast Network|date=November 21, 2022|access-date=June 13, 2024}}

| length =

  • 4:12 (album version)
  • 3:30 (7-inch version)
  • 8:25 (12-inch version)

| label = Chrysalis

| writer = Billy Idol

| producer = Keith Forsey

| prev_title = Hot in the City

| prev_year = 1982

| next_title = Rebel Yell

| next_year = 1983

| misc = {{External music video|{{YouTube|AAZQaYKZMTI|"White Wedding Pt 1"}}}}

}}

"White Wedding" is a song by Billy Idol that was released as the second single from his self-titled studio album in 1982. Although not Idol's highest-charting hit, it is often considered one of his most recognizable songs. In the US, it peaked at No. 10 on the Billboard Bubbling Under the Hot 100 chart on 27 November 1982,{{cite magazine |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=0yQEAAAAMBAJ&pg=PT68 |page=68 |title=Bubbling Under the Hot 100 |magazine=Billboard |date=27 November 1982 |volume=94 |number=47 |issn=0006-2510}} then reached No. 36 on the Billboard Hot 100 on 2 July 1983 after it was re-issued.{{cite magazine|url=https://www.billboard.com/charts/hot-100|title=Top 100 Songs - Billboard Hot 100 Chart|magazine=Billboard|access-date=27 June 2019}} In the UK, it reached No. 6 in the UK Singles Chart upon its re-release there on 1 July 1985, when it was re-issued to promote the Vital Idol remix album.{{cite web|url=https://www.bpi.co.uk/award/8229-3082-1|title=BPI}}

Reception

Cash Box called it "a powerful entry" whose "ominous guitar intro" and "accusatory tone" command attention.{{cite magazine|title=Reviews|magazine=Cash Box|url=https://worldradiohistory.com/Archive-All-Music/Cash-Box/80s/1983/CB-1983-05-14.pdf|date=May 14, 1983|accessdate=2022-07-19|page=9}}

Music video

The music video, featuring Idol attending a goth wedding, is one of his best-known. The bride is played by Perri Lister, Idol's real-life girlfriend at the time. She is also one of the three dancers clad in black leather, who slap their buttocks in time with the clap track in the song as they shimmy downwards near the end. "That's the kind of thing they love in England", says Idol.{{cite book|last=Marks|first=Craig|title=I Want My MTV: The Uncensored Story of the Music Video Revolution|year=2011|publisher=Dutton|location=New York, NY|isbn=978-0-525-95230-5|pages=[https://archive.org/details/iwantmymtvuncens00mark/page/124 124–125]|author2=Tannenbaum, Rob|url-access=registration|url=https://archive.org/details/iwantmymtvuncens00mark/page/124}}

In one scene, Idol forces a wedding ring made of barbed wire onto Lister's finger and cuts her knuckle. Lister insisted that her knuckle actually be cut in order for the scene to appear more realistic. MTV initially removed this scene from the video.Billy Idol, Biography, A & E 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" when he had the extras reach toward the bride and did not realize how it looked until after it was filmed.

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.

Other versions and appearances

The song was featured in the 1998 film The Wedding Singer (in which Idol appears), on the American TV series My Name Is Earl and on 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 entered the playing field on a hovercraft when he managed to sing only two words before a power failure prematurely ended the performance.{{cite web|url=http://www.theage.com.au/articles/2002/10/07/1033538851161.html |title=Idol idle: rebel's yell silenced |work=The Age |date=7 October 2002 |access-date=9 April 2014}}

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.{{cite web|title=Demons soundtrack info on IMDB|website = IMDb|url=https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0089013/soundtrack/?ref_=tt_trv_snd}}

On The Colbert Report, a couple who had been prevented from marrying at the Jefferson Memorial, by the 2013 government shutdown, were married. The couple shared their first dance as Audra McDonald sang the song.{{cite web|author=Randee Dawn |url=http://www.today.com/entertainment/stephen-colbert-marries-couple-whose-wedding-was-shut-out-shutdown-8C11336421 |title=Stephen Colbert marries couple whose wedding was shut out by shutdown |publisher=TODAY.com |date=2013-10-04 |access-date=2014-04-09}}

The German heavy metal singer Doro Pesch featured a cover of "White Wedding" on her 2000 album Calling the Wild.{{Citation |title=Doro - White Wedding | date=29 July 2011 |url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Lt_eH1pY7_Q |language=en |access-date=2023-02-25}}

The American metal band In This Moment was set to collaborate with Idol on the track "Black Wedding" off their sixth album Ritual; the song's chorus contains the line, "it's a nice night for a black wedding," an obvious homage to Idol's "White Wedding." Due to claimed scheduling difficulties, Rob Halford of Judas Priest was featured on the track instead.{{cite web|author=Blabbermouth |url=http://www.blabbermouth.net/news/in-this-moments-ritual-album-to-feature-guest-appearance-by-judas-priests-rob-halford/ |title=In This Moment's Ritual Album to Feature Guest Appearance by Judas Priest's Rob Halford |publisher=blabbermouth.com |date=2017-05-12 |access-date=2017-06-22}}

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."{{cite web|url=https://www.officialcharts.com/artist/165/murderdolls/|title=MURDERDOLLS - full Official Chart History - Official Charts Company|website=Officialcharts.com|access-date=27 June 2019}}

The American rock band Queens of the Stone Age released a cover of the song in 2007.

Track listing

{{col-begin}}

{{col-2}}

=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

{{col-2}}

=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"

{{col-end}}

Charts

{{col-begin}}

{{col-2}}

=Weekly charts=

class="wikitable sortable plainrowheaders" style="text-align:center"

|+Weekly chart performance for "White Wedding"

! scope="col"| Chart (1982–1985)

! scope="col"| Peak
position

scope="row"| Australia (Kent Music Report){{cite book|last=Kent|first=David|author-link=David Kent (historian)|title=Australian Chart Book 1970–1992|edition=Illustrated|publisher=Australian Chart Book|location=St Ives, N.S.W.|year=1993|isbn=0-646-11917-6|page=147}} N.B. The Kent Report chart was licensed by ARIA from mid-1983 until 12 June 1988.

| 9

{{single chart|Canadatopsingles|1|chartid=6259|rowheader=true|access-date=March 29, 2020}}
{{single chart|New Zealand|5|artist=Billy Idol|song=White Wedding|rowheader=true}}
{{single chart|UK|6|date=1985-08-04|rowheader=true}}
{{singlechart|Billboardhot100|36|artist=Billy Idol|rowheader=true|access-date=21 November 2024}}
{{singlechart|Billboarddanceclubplay|10|artist=Billy Idol|rowheader=true|access-date=21 November 2024}}
{{singlechart|Billboardmainstreamrock|4|artist=Billy Idol|rowheader=true|access-date=21 November 2024}}

{{col-2}}

=Year end charts=

class="wikitable sortable plainrowheaders" style="text-align:center"

|+Year-end chart performance for "White Wedding"

! scope="col"| Chart (1983)

! scope="col"| Position

scope="row"| Australia (Kent Music Report){{cite web|url=https://i.imgur.com/860ttad.jpg|title=Kent Music Report – National Top 100 Singles for 1983|publisher=Kent Music Report|via=Imgur.com|access-date=5 August 2020}}

| 61

scope="row"| Canada Top Singles (RPM){{cite web|url=https://www.bac-lac.gc.ca/eng/discover/films-videos-sound-recordings/rpm/Pages/image.aspx?Image=nlc008388.6699&URLjpg=http%3a%2f%2fwww.collectionscanada.gc.ca%2fobj%2f028020%2ff4%2fnlc008388.6699.gif&Ecopy=nlc008388.6699|title=The Top Singles of 1983|work=RPM|date=17 July 2013 |publisher=Library and Archives Canada|access-date=10 August 2023}}

| 21

scope="row"| New Zealand (Recorded Music NZ){{cite web|url=https://aotearoamusiccharts.co.nz/archive/annual-singles/1983-12-31|title=Top Selling Singles of 1983|publisher=Recorded Music NZ|access-date=10 August 2023}}

| 11

class="wikitable plainrowheaders" style="text-align:center"
scope="col"| Chart (1985)

! scope="col"| Position

scope="row"| UK Singles (OCC){{cite magazine|title=Top 100 Singles|magazine=Music Week|publisher=Spotlight Publications|location=London, England|page=10|date=18 January 1986}}

| 58

{{col-end}}

Certifications

{{Certification Table Top|caption=Certifications for "White Wedding"}}

{{Certification Table Entry|region=Canada|type=single|artist=Billy Idol|title=White Wedding|award=Gold|relyear=1982|certyear=1983|access-date=20 July 2023}}

{{Certification Table Entry|region=New Zealand|artist=Billy Idol|title=White Wedding|award=Platinum|source=radioscope|type=single|relyear=1982|certyear=2021|access-date=18 December 2024}}

{{Certification Table Entry|region=United Kingdom|type=single|artist=Billy Idol|title=White Wedding|award=Platinum|relyear=2004|certyear=2025|access-date=1 February 2025|id=8229-237-1}}

{{Certification Table Bottom|nosales=true|streaming=true}}

References

{{Reflist}}

{{Billy Idol}}

{{Authority control}}

Category:1982 songs

Category:1982 singles

Category:Billy Idol songs

Category:Chrysalis Records singles

Category:Music videos directed by David Mallet (director)

Category:RPM Top Singles number-one singles

Category:Song recordings produced by Keith Forsey

Category:Songs about marriage

Category:Songs written by Billy Idol